TeAda began in 1996 with a commitment to highlighting marginalized stories for public discourse. TeAda performances are developed by combining community-based story gathering, social justice practices and devised ensemble techniques.

Annual core programming is free or low cost and consists of: 1) Local Programs that engage immigrant, refugee and asylum seeking adults and youth in workshops and community sharing performances; 2) Diaspora Programs which include residencies, national and international touring shows featuring a community we are in partnership with; 3) Professional development including ensemble building and training opportunities for emerging and mid-career artists of color.

Cross-sector TeAda partners have included: Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program Oregon, UCLA Labor Center, Pilipino Workers Center, and Program for Torture Victims. Past TeAda national touring productions include: Refugee Nation, created in 2005. It was the first nationally touring play about Laotian refugees in the U.S. TeAda’s current touring play Nothing Micro About Micronesia, premiered in 2024 at Honolulu Theatre for Youth, and has toured inter-island to Hilo and Maui, and across the Pacific to Saipan and Guam.