In this episode of Across Archives, host Kristi speaks with Heather Oman, Associate Director at Their Story Is Our Story (TSOS) — a storytelling organization dedicated to amplifying refugee and displaced voices around the world. Heather shares her journey from writer to refugee advocate, joining TSOS in its early days during the Syrian refugee crisis. She explains how storytelling can bridge divides, change hearts, and create empathy by allowing refugees to represent themselves in their own words. Together, we explore what it means to tell stories ethically and with consent, how TSOS collects narratives from around the world — from Germany to Bangladesh to the United States — and why every story, no matter how small, helps connect us as one global family. Heather also reflects on the challenges of data privacy, AI, and consent in storytelling, and how TSOS continues to train others in trauma-informed interviewing to ensure that every story is treated with respect and care.

Key Topics

• Heather’s journey from writer to Associate Director at TSOS

• The founding and growth of Their Story Is Our Story

• Storytelling trips to Germany, Greece, Bangladesh, Ukraine, and the U.S.

• How refugee stories build empathy and challenge stereotypes • Ethical storytelling and robust consent processes

• The impact of AI and digital security on refugee archives

• Trauma-informed interviewing and training initiatives

• Why storytelling changes hearts more effectively than statistics

• Building global connection through refugee narratives

Resources & Links

Their Story Is Our Story: https://tsosrefugees.orgScholars Archive (BYU): https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu

About Across ArchivesAcross Archives is produced by The Refugee Archive. It’s a space that highlights storytelling projects, archives, and oral histories that share the experiences of migrants, immigrants, internally displaced people (IDPs), and refugees around the world. Special attention is given to female-headed households and single mothers in displacement. Together, these efforts bridge divides, build solidarity, and reshape how the record of displacement is remembered.

🎧 At the end of every episode, we invite listeners to continue the journey on The Archive Speaks, our oral history audio archive featuring the real voices of women and mothers experiencing displacement.