PROFILE   |   Olivia Issa

Olivia Issa Program Lead, NASH TIER

Olivia Issa serves as Program Lead at TIER, working to connect higher education with resettlement pathways and expand opportunities for displaced populations. At NASH’s TIER, Olivia helps implement a statewide scholarship in Kentucky for refugee and displaced students; oversees the internship program for the initiative; works with public relations firm Good Rebellion to manage communications for the team; and leads the recently launched the first Educational Hub for Displaced Ukrainians (EduHub) in Chicago, in partnership with Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science, the City Colleges of Chicago, and the Association of Innovative and Digital Education; among other projects.

Olivia has been engaged in migrant-advocacy and resettlement work since the age of 15, founding and leading initiatives to increase the inclusion of refugee and other forcibly displaced students in higher education, and engaging in lobbying, volunteering, and education efforts. She has mentored over 60 young women and girls with refugee backgrounds, supporting college applications, job readiness, and social integration. Currently a mentor with the Immigrant and Refugee Outreach Center (IROC), Olivia remains active in the immigrant and Arab American community near her home in northern Virginia. She is also a co-author of two chapters for the 2023 book, Accessing Quality Education: Local and Global Perspectives from Refugees, which examines refugees’ access to education in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area. Olivia holds a bachelor’s of arts in political science from the George Washington University.