Tanja Kisslinger is the Director of Communications at Veterinarians Without Borders North America/Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Amérique du Nord.
Tanja is a cross-cultural storyteller and communications-for-development specialist. For more than 18 years, she has worked with international development and relief organizations (such as CARE International, Save the Children, Children in Crossfire, and Medair) to promote and protect human rights. Along the way, Tanja has lived, worked and volunteered in diverse places, including Tanzania, Zambia, India, Cambodia, Nepal, Mongolia, Romania, Peru, and Jordan.
Across countries and contexts, Tanja’s aim is consistent: to give voice and visibility to situations of injustice or vulnerability. This path began with a study of political prisoners in the USA (a graduate thesis) and has gone on to include work with street children in Tanzania, displaced families in post-earthquake Nepal, and food insecure communities in Southern Africa. Tanja recently worked with CARE Canada’s Global Health department, where she led and implemented the 3.5 year “Feed Her Future” engagement campaign (@FeedHerFuture). The campaign raised awareness of the social and gender norms that affect women’s and children’s access to nutrition in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia.
Tanja holds a Master’s degree in Criminology and an Honors degree in Psychology. She also holds professional certifications in communication across cultures and in emergencies.
Register now for our upcoming World Rabies Day webinar which explores how One Health approaches are driving change, shares practical insights from the frontlines of rabies prevention, and highlights how local efforts are contributing to the global goal of ending human rabies deaths by 2030.
#VETSVolunteerVoices brings you stories of our passionate volunteers from the field. Meet Dayo Olaniyan, a Gender Advisor who spent three months in Ghana (May–August 2025) with our local partner, GAPNET, strengthening gender equity in livestock production and empowering rural communities.
In this edition of Ask an Expert, we connected with Dr. Richard Rusk, a public health physician and clinician who grew up in South Africa and is now based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. With expertise in the epidemiology of infectious and vector-borne diseases, he brings both human and animal clinical experience, along with a systems-level perspective, to addressing challenges facing communities in Canada and around the world.
