Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP)Co Executive Director
Jan. 2022 - Dec. 2023New York City Metropolitan Area•Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP) is a collaborative of grassroots immigrant community organizations working together to win permanent status for our members and communities, and build a more inclusive immigrant rights movement that centers the needs and experiences of Black, Arab, and Asian immigrants. The collaborative includes 5 anchor organizations Adhikaar, African Communities Together, Haitian Bridge Alliance, National Network for Arab American Communities, and Undocublack Network.
•Co-lead the collaborative’s work and built new infrastructure to win policy change at the local, state, and federal level.
•Worked with designated staff of anchor organizations to coordinate\ align key decisions that advance our communities’ permanent status in the US. •Co-led and mentored a team of 15+ to operationalize CUSP’s vision and values. •Built out structure, processes, and systems for CUSP and fostered alignment and consensus. •Created and nurture beneficial relationships with external groups around Black migrants, climate migration, asylum, and border policy. •Articulated strategy, plans, and accomplishments to funders, including funder briefings on the root causes of migration, climate migration and the intersectional analysis required to advocate for racialized migrants. •Co-Led on communications and outreach strategy, ensuring key messages and stories are strategically shared with media, influencers, stakeholders and directly impacted community members. •Represented CUSP with key government stakeholders, and humanitarian and international organizational leaders.
•Monitored members’ relevant research, communications, and advocacy efforts •Conducted legal and policy research to support high impact campaigns around TPS, Asylum and Border Enforcement. •Participated in 2 humanitarian visits to Puerto Rico and Panama to serve as an advocate, translator, and interviewer of 100+ migrants on the move seeking refuge.