We Are Called to Rise
Represented by Stephanie Cabot
As borders harden and aid disappears, people continue to flee—not by choice, but by necessity. In the margins of broken systems, displaced women are quietly rewriting the rules of survival, work, and leadership.
We Are Called to Rise is a narrative exploration of the economic power of refugee women—the power policymakers overlook, governments fail to harness, and stereotypes erase. Through deeply human stories woven with research, policy insight, and lived experience, it reveals both the hidden costs displaced women bear and the ingenuity with which they navigate and rewrite them.
Drawing on two decades of listening to women building futures where doors are closed, this book offers a new playbook—one that challenges outdated systems and shows how individuals, institutions, and societies can act differently. Moving between intimate stories and practical solutions, it invites readers not only to rethink refugee power, but to reshape the narratives that define who belongs.
Because when the most vulnerable rise, we all rise.
Reviews
“Jina Krause-Vilmar nimbly weaves together the stories of resourceful, resilient and relentless refugee women with mirroring vignettes of her own life, raised by a single refugee mother in Texas… This book is a tribute unlike any other to the daunting daily hustle of refugee women and to the most modest of dreams achieved when enough people choose to stand rather than sit, and to speak rather than remain silent. This is the right dose of inspiration we need for these turbulent times.”—Putsata Reang, author of Ma and Me, winner of the 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Award
“Told with compassion and a keen eye, We Are Called To Rise is a moving, intimate exploration of the strength, power and resilience of refugee women. Jina Krause-Vilmar draws on personal experiences, dispatches from a career spent in the field, and social scientific research to shed much-needed light on the challenges faced by these communities and the opportunities that emerge when those challenges can be overcome.”—Rebecca Grant, author of Access (longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence)