Tetyana Robbins: Ukrainian refugees in Alaska in 2025

Today's guest is the executive director of Project Alaska, Tetyana Robbins. Project Alaska is an organization that helps Ukrainian refugees find meaningful employment in Alaska. From helping improve their English language skills, to navigating the American immigration system, to helping with certifications and even transportation, Project Alaska does everything it can to make sure Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country can quickly achieve self-sufficiency here in Alaska. Tetyana immigrated to Anchorage herself from Kharkiv, Ukraine, over 20 years ago when she married her husband Mike Robbins. With her Masters degree in accounting and auditing, she was a natural fit for her husband’s business ventures where she tracked the finances and kept the books. When war broke out in her home country in 2022, she and her husband founded the Ukraine Relief Program which helped Ukrainians escape to Alaska, contributing to one of the biggest waves of foreign resettlement our state has ever seen. Now, as the legal status of those recent refugees is called into question, she is advocating the federal government to find a path to citizenship for the over 2,000 Ukrainians who are vital to our state's workforce.