Meet Our Team
Who are we? We are executives, analysts, future doctors, academics, scholars, citizens of the world and, above all: humanitarians. Our team is a dedicated group of young professionals who believe in doing their part to create a more just, honest, open, and socially equitable city to call home.
Alisa Roadcup
Board of Directors presidentAlisa believes when you empower a girl; you empower an entire community and generations beyond. She is a social entrepreneur and executive strategist passionate about creating a safer, more just world for girls and young women. Alisa’s seventeen-year career has focused within the human rights sector as an advocate for women and girls, namely refugees and asylum seekers, especially those displaced throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.
From 2012-2018 she led RefuSHE, an award-winning international NGO. Alisa's leadership was honored as an International Woman Leader by Chicago Woman magazine and named a 2017 Emerging Leader by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She has appeared on BBC Worldwide, WBEZ Worldview (NPR) radio, MSN, Refinery29, The Chicago Tribune, ABC7 primetime news and NewsDeeply and frequently speaks on issues of forced migration and women’s rights. Alisa holds certifications in Forced Migration from Northwestern and Oxford Universities, a BA in Humanities and an MA in Comparative Religions. Alisa currently serves on Chicago Council on Global Affairs Women and Global Development Advisory Committee Jamia Jowers
Jamia Jowers currently serves as the Director of the
Obama Foundation Scholars for the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. With over 10 years of experience in international affairs, she designs strategies and programing for rising global leaders to continue their service, build on their expertise, innovate, and elevate creating a path toward finding the solutions to the most pressing challenges in their communities. She previously served as the Associate Director of Student Recruitment & Global Outreach where she contributed to engagement efforts, strategic development, and recruiting and outreach across public policy programs with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Jamia also worked for the Office of Academic Leadership, Advancement, and Diversity under the Provost where she fostered a diverse and inclusive campus community through initiatives aimed at underrepresented minorities. Prior to that post, Jamia was a staffer with the National Security Council (NSC -African Affairs) at the White House and spent two years in the Multilateral Affairs office advocating for human rights and U.N. reform. In her position with the African Affairs Directorate, Jamia was instrumental in the U.S. – Africa Leaders Summit which focused on trade, investment, and security on the continent. While in the Multilateral Affairs office, she contributed to the Atrocity Prevention Board, the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, and the Presidential Memorandum on International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQ Persons. Before joining the NSC, Jamia also served in the White House as the director of student correspondence. She received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois and her M.A. in International Relations from Salve Regina University. Nhu Phan
Board of directors member
Nhu Phan is currently a project manager at World Vision USA, working to provide access to clean water to children and communities worldwide.
She is passionate about serving others, especially vulnerable groups like refugees and immigrants, as an immigrant herself and granddaughter to refugees of the Vietnam War. Nhu graduated from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration. She went on to completed her graduate education at Sciences Po in Paris, France where she earned a Master’s in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action. Additionally, she was a Fulbright Scholar in South Korea. Signe Hanson
Board of directors memberSigne Hanson leads the Procurement Excellence team at Home Chef, a Chicago food startup recently purchased by Kroger. She found her way to Chicago in February 2017, after a brief stint planning events for the International Peace Institute in New York City.
Signe studied International Affairs and Portuguese at the University of Georgia. In Georgia, she founded a non-profit that focuses on access to education for at-risk youth in Athens-Clarke County. A participant in the U.S. Department of Defense's Portuguese Flagship program, Signe spent two years in Brazil learning the language, interning, and working on community development projects. |
Esperance gikundiro
Board of Directors MemberÉsperance Gikundiro brings both professional and personal passion for helping refugees thrive. She has worked extensively with different refugee groups and understands their challenges not only through her work, but through her experiences as an alumni and fromer Board Member with RefuSHE.
Since her U.S. arrival with her daughter in 2014 as a refugee assisted by catholic social services, Ésperance has been a tireless advocate for refugees. She dedicates the majority of her personal and professional time to assist refugees and the displaced. Ésperance recognizes the enormous, and all too often overlooked, potential of refugees and supports them to shape a brighter future for their families and their communities. She comes with expertise in program creation, fundraising strategies, and resource management. She volunteers with Welcome Dayton, Bunco for Charity, and Catholic Social Services which recently conferred two awards upon her for activism on behalf of refugee families from the city of Dayton. Esperance works as a Residential Advisor for at-risk students and currently attends Clark College. Esperance believes in improving the community and making refugees feel at home away from home. Purvi Patel
Purvi has lived and worked in Latin America since 2013, working on projects for NGOs and for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on labor rights, forced migration, and refugee protection in Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Prior to 2013, Purvi practiced as a health & disability lawyer in Chicago. She has a developed a deep interest in the using data analytics to drive more targeted, inclusive, and intersectional responses to legal protection and humanitarian interventions for families caught up in mass population displacement. Purvi believes very strongly that humanitarian response must move past old colonial models to better incorporate diverse perspectives and the voices of displaced families to help them reestablish their lives with dignity.
Purvi hold a law degree from Northeastern University School of Law, and a master’s in public health from Tufts University School of Medicine. She also has earned certificates in Forced Migration from the Oxford University in the United Kingdom, and in Data Analytics & Visualization from the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico. Katie Sonnefeldt
Board of directors member
Born and raised in the Windy City, Katie recently returned to Chicago after serving for three and a half years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the West African Nation of Togo. As an extension agent for the Community Health and Malaria Prevention program, she developed a malaria prevention curriculum and organized events to promote women’s and girls’ empowerment. Afterwards, Katie chose to extend her service to work with Catholic Relief Services in Lomé, Togo where she provided program quality support for a variety of projects within the Togo country office and acted as the lead proposal developer for a six- month, youth social cohesion and peace building project which was awarded by the U.S. Embassy in Togo’s Sector of Public Affairs.
In 2014 Katie graduated from the University of Wisconsin- Madison with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, Life Sciences Communication and a certificate in Public Health. Eda Akyar
Board of directors member
Eda Akyar is a medical student at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. She is in the Global Health Honors and Research Honors Programs. Her research focuses on infectious disease transmission and community health, with projects including Hepatitis C infection in Ghana and the use of dental varnishes among pediatric populations in Chicago. Eda has a strong interest in the intersection of medicine and social justice.
Eda graduated from the Science and Humanities Scholars Program at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences and a minor in Chemistry. After her undergraduate years, Eda completed a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship in Indonesia where she taught English to 10th and 11th grade students in Tana Toraja. Following her Fulbright, Eda earned a Master of Public Health from Yale University with a focus on the Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases. |
Connor Mautner
Founder & Managing directorConnor Mautner is the Founder and current Managing Director for the Chicago Refugee Coalition (CRC). A Floridian, Mautner graduated cum laude from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida with a B.A. in International Affairs.
During his time at Rollins, Mautner completed a fellowship with the Arab American Community Centers of Central Florida where he orchestrated mutual aid initiatives with a primary emphasis on food security, domestic violence prevention, and financial literacy. Mautner served as a staffer with the United States Senate for three years while congruently earning his Master's Degree in Public Policy and Public Administration from Northwestern University. As a graduate student, Mautner's primary research emphasis focused on the political economies of failed/fragile states with an emphasis on the Islamic World. Mautner founded CRC in June 2018. He is currently working towards his Ph.D. in Political Science at Loyola University Chicago where his research is focused on forced migration, political violence, civil wars, decolonization, and insurgencies. He can be reached directly at cmautner@chicagorefugee.org |
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Abdi nor iftin
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When the civil war in Somalia began, Abdi Nor Iftin was five; he and his brother became the sole providers for the family while they also attended a madrassa. Amidst the daily shelling and the famine, Abdi had one escape: American movies and music. At neighborhood showings of Rambo, Commando, and The Terminator, Abdi learned of America, and taught himself English, and began to dream of a life in the United States.
In his memoir Call Me American, Iftin recounts his harrowing, extraordinary, and uplifting story. His love of western culture and music earned him the name “Abdi American.” This became a liability when Islamic extremism took hold of Somalia. Evading conscription by al-Shabaab while secretly filing stories for NPR under penalty of death, he stayed in Somalia until he had no choice but to flee. He smuggled himself into Kenya, where a different but grinding life of hopelessness awaited. He spent days hiding silently in an apartment from raids by Kenyan police, once passing time reading memoirs and watching more movies. And then, a stroke of incredible luck: he won the Diversity Visa Lottery. Now a proud and legal resident of Maine, Abdi is advocating for the refugee rights he is also a community navigator. He’s on the advising council for Refugee International with some of America’s most distinguished diplomats and prominent international human rights leaders. Abdi was also a TEDx Amoskeag 2019 speaker. |
On Janauary 17th 2020, Abdi’s long-life dream came true after he was sworn in as a naturalized American citizen in Portland, Maine. For the first ever, Abdi is voting in the US elections and exercising his American rights, one which many Americans take for granted. But for Abdi it is liberating to have a voice in America.
Today’s America and the travel/immigration ban worry Abdi, a Muslim, a former refugee and a displaced person. Abdi’s dramatic, deeply stirring memoir is truly a story for our time: a vivid portrait of the desperation refugees seeks to escape, and a reminder of why western democracies still beckon to those looking to make a better life. You can learn more about Abdi and his work by visiting his website. |
To Our community partners, Thank you!
Our mission of providing support to refugees, empowering communities, and supporting developing economies is something that we can not do alone. We believe that it takes a coalition style effort to achieve these aims and we are sincerely grateful to our community partners and donors who make this vision a reality. We can't do this alone. Thank you for your support of our work!
For more information about how to support the Chicago Refugee Coalition, please contact us at: info@chicagorefugee.org.
For more information about how to support the Chicago Refugee Coalition, please contact us at: info@chicagorefugee.org.
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A public Trust
We believe in total transparency in all of our operations. After all, the work we do depends on the public trust of our supporters and those to whom we serve. Our records are available upon request.
Additionally, our organization has listed our 501(c)(3) IRS designation letter for your review. As always, if you have any questions, please contact us at: info@chicagorefugee.org.
Additionally, our organization has listed our 501(c)(3) IRS designation letter for your review. As always, if you have any questions, please contact us at: info@chicagorefugee.org.
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