Phimmasone Kym Owens is the Founder and Executive Director of Refugee Garden Initiatives (RGI). She graduated from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 2023, earning a degree in General Studies. She will be pursuing her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in Fall 2026. She moved to Chicago from Laos in 1981, and has lived in many places throughout the Midwest, including Wisconsin, South Dakota, Iowa, and now, Michigan. She moved to Ann Arbor in 2014, and began living in Ypsilanti in 2024. Phimmasone is very passionate about working toward a future of food sovereignty, spreading awareness about refugee experiences, engaging youth in her advocacy work, and finding solutions that are community driven. She is the mother of three children who inspire her to do better every day and continue advocating for a more socially just world. She believes that food is a universal language that has the power to promote peace, understanding, togetherness, and empathy for people across all different backgrounds. Impressively, she was awarded a 2025 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) grant to launch The Heirloom Project–which strives to combat harmful myths about refugees and provide refugee families with new, free professional portraits to help restore pieces of their old lives that were lost. She wrote the Proclamation that the governor of Michigan signed for Lao Heritage Month in 2024, has her portrait displayed in a Witness Change exhibition in Washington D.C., and was featured in the book, A Secret War Within US: The Lao’d One Speaks by Laura Robertson. She enjoys nature, botany, environmental science, camping, thrifting, and interior design. Some additional fun facts about Phimmasone is that she originally wanted to be an environmental lawyer; is currently writing a children’s book; and has a photograph of herself with Anthony Bourdain that hangs in her kitchen for inspiration whenever she cooks, along with an autographed copy of his book.
