Krish O'Mara Vignarajah

Krish is the President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. She previously served in the Obama White House as Policy Director for First Lady Michelle Obama and at the State Department as Senior Advisor under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State John Kerry.

Transcript

Krish O'Mara Vignarajah

[00:00:00] Intro: Welcome to the Holden Village Podcast. Holden is a community of education, programming, and worship located in the remote wilderness of the Cascade Mountains. These snapshots provide a glimpse into the learnings taking place in our community. Let's tune in to this week's highlight.

[00:00:22] Dev: Welcome to another episode of the Holden Village podcast. I am your host, Dev. He, him pronouns. And I am with one of our week six, faculty members in our 2023 summer program at Holden Village. krish O'Mara Vignarajah. 

[00:00:40] Krish: Perfect. 

[00:00:41] Dev: Excellent. 

[00:00:42] Krish: Thanks for having me. 

[00:00:43] Dev: Absolutely. is this your first time at Holden? 

[00:00:46] Krish: Yeah, it is.

[00:00:47] Dev: Okay. What are your first impressions? 

[00:00:49] Krish: It's been magical. on a professional level, it's incredible to see the enthusiasm and engagement in terms of the issue of immigration and what we do at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. obviously it's a hot button topic, so it's really great to have a conversation, uh, where we can fight fiction with fact. where we can talk about solutions. it's not rocket science, right? 

So it's really, uh, not a question of policy. It's a question of, politics and political will. And getting our message out, getting people to engage, a lot of questions after lectures of Well, how can we help? What can we do? How can we go into our communities? And I'm like, great. Both be LRS ambassadors, because that's what we need. 

Um, on a personal level, it's a really spectacular and unique place where. Having a six year old, a three month old, to not worry about our six year old and, feeling like she can roam around in the way that his children, me and my husband would.

Um, not having to feel like we're hovering and, and having to be helicopter parents. it's such a safe space. and I really think it has given life to that African proverb, it takes a village to raise a child, it's just amazing how many people have offered to hold the baby as we're grabbing food, or, take our daughter to the playground as we're, um, you know, coming back from a, a lecture. it's been a really wonderful week. 

[00:02:11] Dev: Would you ever consider... living in an intentional community like this or have you in the past? 

[00:02:16] Krish: In terms of kind of looking to the future, can dream about one day. I, I was just saying to someone earlier at lunch that, the week has just flown by. I, Could imagine what a luxury it would feel like if, if we lived here for even a month, let alone a year. 

[00:02:35] Dev: A month is better than a week. 

[00:02:36] Krish: That's right. Um, and so it, it has been nice. Obviously, it's, it's difficult, between the, you know, new responsibilities of, of being a mom to a newborn, you know, my husband runs the National Wildlife Federation. I run, you know, national immigration nonprofit. So it's a little bit difficult as you're trying to balance a lot of these demands. Um, you know, just as I was traveling to Holden, I got a text from a congressman who was like You know, will you support this bill?

Can you beat a press conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday? And I was like, nope, I'm gonna be, you know, and, um, and so it's, you know, it's tough to imagine in the near term, but I think it could be such an incredible opportunity, certainly we hope we'll have an invitation to come back to Holden Village and certainly, um, you know, Uh, figure out whether we can swing it for a week or two.

[00:03:25] Dev: Absolutely. Well, you've definitely packed Fireside with, uh, your plenaries and so that's, uh, yeah. You're definitely drawing a lot of really great enthusiasm in the village. Thank you. And people are loving what you're bringing to the table. Speaking of which, how would you like to articulate what you are sharing with the village this week?

[00:03:44] Krish: I come at the issue of immigration, as someone who never worked exclusively on immigration before I took this role at LIRS. And so I always try to draw connections between the work we do, and really every aspect of our lives. whether it's the role that immigration has played, in faith communities.

Um, how so many are drawn to this mission of welcoming the stranger, because it's a part of their practice, of their faith, whether it's drawing connections between immigration and, our U. S. economy. inflation's obviously a hot topic that we're talking about every day and, and my point during a lecture that I had focused on that issue was, well, inflation is in large part driven by the lack of immigration that we've seen.

but I also have tried to draw connections between the immigration crisis and the climate crisis. we know that the clients that we serve today, at least a third of them are driven by some sudden or slow onset climate disaster. And that's only going to get worse. When we think about the traditional reasons for protection, they are going to be dwarfed by people having to... Flea their homes because of wildfires and droughts and floods and hurricanes and tornadoes and, you know, their island becoming uninhabitable because of sea level rise. and that is not an impending crisis that we have two decades to prepare for. It's happening today. and it's going to get worse tomorrow.

and then, uh, we've talked a lot about the humanitarian pathways. Obviously, the invasion of Ukraine has made this a front and center issue. And the U. S. has to lead. We've always been a global humanitarian leader. And when we lead, people follow. Um, and this is where, more than ever before, our country has to show the leadership, because we are, passing some really grim milestones.

Um, and so this lecture has been about highlighting the scale of the problems, but I never want to talk about a problem without talking about solutions. And so every lecture's been about here's, you know, the scope of the problem that we're facing, but don't get overwhelmed, because we can do this. But we've got to do this together. We've got to do it now. 

[00:05:52] Dev: Eden is Calling. I'm curious what that means to you and how you've been able to ponder that theme this week. 

[00:05:58] Krish: I think Eden is calling to me is about how do we, respect, and protect, our surroundings. How do we make sure, that we employ the adaptation, the resilience, the mitigation strategies that we need to recognize that, this is the only planet we will ever know, right? And, um, it's not disposable. and so for me, that's about us kind of returning, to our roots, recognizing that all of these issues are interconnected.

it was really exciting to have my husband guest lecture alongside me today because I think just drawing those connections, the intersectionality of so many issues that we're talking about, is a chance for us to ground ourselves in this theme of Eden is Calling. 

[00:06:42] Dev: Beautiful. Do you have an association with Lutheranism in particular or are there other cultural paradigms that you're, that you resonate with?

[00:06:50] Krish: I'm really proud to lead Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Um, we have such a strong Lutheran legacy. Um, LIRS wouldn't exist without it. Um, but for the support of Lutheran congregations and councils who undertook this work of beginning, um, you know, before 1939, but launched the organization then.

I myself am a Hindu, I, I feel like it's, the nature of immigration work in the U. S. that it is faith based, um, but that is kind of broader, than just our Lutheran roots. Um, we obviously work with so many incredible Lutheran social service organizations, but we also work with Islamic entities and Jewish entities, and, uh, you know, a number of other, um, community based organizations, some of which are not driven to this work by faith at all.

but I think it is funny that, uh, you know, I'm a Hindu married to a Catholic who leads a Lutheran organization, um, because I think that is, uh, you know, I, I think that's America. Um, and I think that's the strength of our country. 

[00:07:46] Dev: Agreed. naturally the work that you do, that your husband does, it's serious work. Something I always like to ask is, how do you bring levity into your work? Um, how are you able to balance the seriousness of what you do with a sense of...

[00:08:02] Krish: That's how you bring levity. 

[00:08:06] Dev: That's how, yeah, totally. The kids. Where are the children? Um, but, uh. yeah, how would you like to answer that question? 

[00:08:13] Krish: Yeah, and I think that when you work in the immigration space, so many days feel like it's doom and gloom. You know, for me, I see the beauty in our work, which is the beauty of America. it's thinking about the richness that different cultures bring. that, you know, we wouldn't have the richness of food.

or music, um, or culture, but for the fact that we are a nation of immigrants. and so that allows me to try to be as playful as I can. I actually, you know, I've really been focused on bringing that levity through, a great book series that we launched. Um, we did something called, uh, Culture Kitchen.

where I am not a great cook. And so I feel like it's been mostly a blooper reel. And I think my staff has had a lot of fun watching me kind of run around like a chicken with its head cut off because I have no idea what I'm doing. but it's been really fun because I think it's a way to highlight the positive side of immigration that, you know, we don't want to buy into the fear mongering and, you know, so many of these negative Um, so I really try to highlight the positivity, of immigration and what it has meant for our communities and culture.

[00:09:25] Dev: On the topic of cooking, what is your favorite cuisine? 

[00:09:28] Krish: Oh, um, I love sushi, uh, but it is delicious, right? But it's funny because, um, you know, so as I mentioned, I have a three month old now. And while I was pregnant with her, I, you know, the cravings that I had were actually for, um, Indian food. I like the spiciness.

Um, uh, it never translates because this was true even for my older daughter. And when I ask her to try something that's, you know, has, has a little bit of a kick to it. She's always like, oh my gosh, this is so hot, mom. And I'm like, I can barely register the spice. And she's like, well, this is cause like, you're not me and you don't know, uh, what it is to be me.

And I'm like, oh my gosh, and you're only six. Um, but yeah, that's a, but I will tell you that the, um, reputation of food at Holden. Precedes it because I heard from a few of my staff who had, you know, the lucky opportunity to visit That the food is great and it's been phenomenal. 

[00:10:28] Dev: Oh Well, there you hear it the kitchen staff of Holden shout out to you And yeah food is such a beautiful just way of bringing people together. How would you like to see your work evolve? 

[00:10:39] Krish: I mean, look, I'd love to put myself out of business in the sense of not having to fight every day. Um, to feel like, you know, we need to fight the good fight to remain a welcoming nation. and it's tough because I feel like it has never been.

As divisive an issue as it feels like today, but then you take a step back and you realize that. So many immigrant communities have experienced xenophobia and anti immigration sentiment, right? And whether it was the Irish or the Italians. 

And you realize that, well, you know, decades ago they would have been ostracized as anti, American, you know, in an immigrant who doesn't belong in our country. So it, it gives context to the fact that, the rhetoric ebbs and flows. It's not new. and. My hope is that this too will pass, but I feel like right now, you have one side that has decided immigration's wedge issue and the other side has.

it as it's Achilles heel. And so they don't want to talk about immigration feeling like if you don't talk about it, it'll go away. And that's obviously not the case. Um, and so my hope in the future is that, you know, I, I won't sometimes feel as isolated as I do. Um, sometimes I feel like I'm that lone voice out there.

and I also hope that, uh, you know, anytime I get a chance to go on, like Glenn Beck or to go into, a really conservative. of a red state, where sometimes my staff will say, well, that's going to the lion's den. And I'm like, no, this is exactly what we need to do because kind of being in the echo chamber, it's great to have a pep rally and to feel like you're talking to, you know, you're preaching to the choir, but.

That's not, going to make progress if we all kind of, crouch in our own corners. we've got to get out there. We've got to have these hard conversations. and, and that's what I welcome. Um, and that's kind of where I, I hope we go. That we have these hard conversations. We realize that there's more that unites us.

and divides us. And then we actually, we make change. Um, because immigration's been a dysfunctional system and that's been true across administrations. and it's not charity anymore. It's a necessity. Um, our country, faces a demographic cliff and we've got to figure out immigration. 

[00:12:54] Dev: You know, there are thoughts that one of the ways, the only way to combat, you know, xenophobic behavior is through education and that, you know, our educational system is Particularly poor, at this moment. you subscribe to that? Um, or are there other ways that you think would help, help the melting pot? 

[00:13:11] Krish: Yeah, I mean, certainly it's education. you know, as I said, I feel like half my job is myth busting, and fighting fiction with fact. Part of it is also, you know, civic education, um, social studies is, not prioritized in the way that I would like to see.

Um, I think some of what I hear in xenophobia is ignorance. Um, cause sometimes people will say, well, you know, why would a parent send a child on a thousand mile journey alone? And while the answer is because. that parent feels like they have no other choice, that it is better to risk the unknown than to face the known.

and I think that's really worrisome. And I think it's, um, the people don't get that, right? They don't get the circumstances of what families are experiencing right now. Um, and how much crisis is enveloping, uh, the globe. but in particular our hemisphere. 

But I also think part of it is, as you said, storytelling. Um, you know, I threw out a lot of Facts and figures during my lecture, but I also want to intersperse that with the storytelling, um, the personal narratives, uh, the anecdotes of, of a family, um, or a mom or a dad, because I know that that's how we foster empathy make sure that people appreciate and recognize the humanity. 

you know, my parents fled a, uh, civil war, a country that was on the brink of civil war in Sri Lanka, um, and it was because we were part of the ethnic and religious minority. And so the idea of fleeing a country where you would be persecuted for who you, prayed to, and coming to a country like America where the work of welcome is done by Lutherans working alongside Catholics, working alongside Jews, working alongside Muslims, working alongside Presbyterians, working alongside those who are not called to this work by faith.

It's pretty incredible, and to me... That's kind of how America has always, um, conducted this work of welcome. Um, and so I think in that way, being Hindu, coming from a country where, uh, you could be killed for that reason, um, has made me appreciate, uh, why this work is so critical. 

[00:15:26] Outro: Thanks for joining us. Be sure to view the links in the description for more information or visit our website to find out more about the village. We hope you will make a pilgrimage to Holden. Blessings and peace to you.