Staff & Board

View profiles of RCUSA's staff and board members.

People are our mission.

RCUSA’s staff and board members have a broad range of knowledge, experience, and expertise across the fields of forced displacement, humanitarian protection, and nonprofit management. RCUSA strives to provide opportunities for people with lived experience of forced displacement to guide our work.

Staff

John Slocum He/Him

Executive Director

Emily Wood She/Her

Director of Programs

Mariam Sayeed She/Her

Communications Manager

Meredith Owen Edwards

Meredith Owen Edwards She/Her

Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy

Olga Diaz-Nasser

Olga Diaz-Nasser She/Her

Program Assistant

Board

Hardy Vieux He/Him

RCUSA Board Chair; Chief of Staff at Kids in Need of Defense

Kristyn Peck She/Her

RCUSA Vice Chair; CEO, Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area

Mohammed Naeem He/Him

RCUSA Secretary; Senior Director for Advocacy Strategy, Refugees International

Diya Abdo She/Her

Executive Director, Every Campus A Refuge; Lincoln Financial Professor of English, Guilford College

Basma Alawee She/Her

Deputy Executive Director, Community Sponsorship Hub

Sharif Aly He/Him

President, International Refugee Assistance Project

Joseph Azam He/Him

Senior Director; Associate General Counsel, Ethics, Compliance & Brand Protection, Cisco

Ellen Beattie She/Her

Vice President, Program Excellence at International Rescue Committee

Dr. Tawnya Brown She/Her

Senior VP of Operational Strategy & Global, Refugee, and Immigrant Services, Corporate at Bethany Christian Services

Amber French She/Her

Executive Director, Democracy House

Rachel Perić She/Her

Executive Director, Welcoming America

Kimahli Powell He/Him

Carr Center Fellow, Carr Center for Human Rights, Harvard Kennedy School

Katherine Rehberg

Katherine Rehberg She/Her

Chief Operating Officer, Church World Service

Naomi Steinberg

Naomi Steinberg She/Her

Vice President, Policy and Advocacy, HIAS

Essey Workie She/Her

Owner & Executive Coach, Multicultural Coaching

Nili Sarit Yossinger

Nili Sarit Yossinger She/Her

Executive Director, Refugee Congress

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