In 2013, Lisa Tresch and Isaac Akromah founded Rising Village to partner with people in the margins and find creative solutions that help them rise from dependency to self-sufficiency. Their work focused on single mothers and orphaned children in seven villages in Ghana, West Africa. 

 

*The U.S. non-profit continues to facilitate resourcing and relationships between students and their sponsors in the U.S. but has transitioned their focus to the local work in Tulsa. As resourcing grows in Ghana, the work there is moving under the umbrella of the local NGO, giving more independence to staff and assuring that decisions made are those that work best for the Ghanaian people. 

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In 2018, Lisa and Vung Lun, a Burmese-American, began the RiSE program in Tulsa, a creative enterprise for refugee and immigrant women. Many of the women who have resettled in our community have language and cultural challenges, making it difficult to find jobs that pay a fair wage and provide positive working conditions. We partner with reputable, local textile businesses to connect them with women in our program, as well as provide an opportunity for them to work in our RiSE Workshop. The program also provides social integration, communication skills, and business skills training. 

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Today, Rising Village is continually seeking out new initiatives to help marginalized people become full participants in their communities. Click here to learn more about the RiSE program. CIick here to learn more about Conversation Café. Click here to learn more about supporting refugee resettlement.

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