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.
#VETSVolunteerVoices aims to bring you the stories of our passionate VETS program volunteers from the field. Meet Ian Parfitt, a GIS Mapping Advisor who spent three months in Cambodia (January–April 2025) supporting organic agriculture and digital transformation with our local partner, AVSF Cambodia.
Megan Sylka, Senior Program Officer at VWB, shares how her recent visit to Kenya revealed the powerful ripple effects of the VETS program—highlighting how Community One Health Champion Shelmith Mwai is transforming her dairy farm, her family dynamics, and her community through knowledge, leadership, and collaboration.
This article examines how a One Health approach can transform food safety systems by addressing the interconnected health of people, animals, and the environment—highlighting the importance of cross-sector collaboration, innovations like Canada’s CFSIN, and global strategies to mitigate risks such as antimicrobial resistance, climate change, and zoonotic disease.
