Transitions

April 2024

Dear IRLC Community,

As some of you have heard by now, I will be stepping down from my role as Executive Director at the end of June. It’s been such an honor to lead IRLC and serve Cincinnati’s immigrant and refugee community over the past 6.5 years. Now it’s time to leave it in the very capable hands of my amazing team and move onto my next adventure.

I am thrilled that Mayra Jackson will be taking my place as IRLC’s Executive Director. An integral part of the IRLC team, Mayra has led our school-based work and community outreach. She has extensive experience working with Cincinnati’s immigrant community, and as a native of Peru the cause is near and dear to her heart. Her passion, enthusiasm, and skills make her the perfect successor. I have every confidence that she and the IRLC team will successfully continue our critical work in the community, and I am excited about the organization’s next phase. I will stay involved as a member of IRLC’s board of directors.

For my next chapter I will move to the University of Cincinnati College of Law in the newly created position of Director of International Peace and Security Initiatives. In this role I will be developing a new Center for International Peace and Security as a practice-based wing of the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights. The center will work with students and experts to support global organizations and institutions dedicated to advancing human rights, gender, peace, and security, and to build expertise in the field. You can read more about it here.

As a passionate international human rights and gender, peace and security advocate who has spent most of her career working globally, and an alum of UC Law and the Urban Morgan Institute, I couldn’t imagine a better next step for me. And I get to continue to be a part of initiatives that impact our community.

I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to all of you who have supported me and IRLC over the years. You can feel confident that it’s in the best of hands.

This is certainly not a goodbye; it’s an “I’ll see you around in another role.” I look forward to continuing to see IRLC, and our community, grow.

With gratitude and hopes for peace,