Meet the Board

Devon Alisa Abdallah, PhD, is a Pacific Northwest native of Lebanese descent on her father's side and a fourth generation Arab American. A community activist, Devon is a founding member and past secretary of the Arab American Community Coalition, a civil rights organization founded after September 11th, a past board member of the Japanese American Citizens League Seattle Chapter, an active member of the JACL's Civil Rights Committee, and a past Advisory Board Member of the Iraqi Community Center. For the City of Seattle, Devon is an active board member on the Immigrant & Refugee Advisory Board and a member of the Race and Social Justice Community Roundtable. She is also a former Community Organizer (2002-2003) for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington having worked primarily on civil rights issues related to the aftermath of September 11th. Devon has spoken on numerous panels, workshops and forums on civil rights and the Arab community since September 11th. Devon enjoys research, is a published author, and holds a masters degree from the London School of Economics as well as a PhD in Organizational Psychology from Alliant International University, California School of Organizational Studies. Her true passion is experiencing life through traveling and has traveled and lived throughout the world. Most recently, Devon visited Lebanon and her father's family's village - Serhel. She was the first Abdallah to visit in 3 generations.

Ashraf Alazadi, an Iraqi immigrant who believes adapting to a new environment is crucial to ensuring success within a multicultural society. Ashraf is a graduate of Central Washington University, receiving his Bachelors in Sociology in just three years with Dean's Honors. He has a deep understanding and familiarity of the issues that face immigrants and refugees in Seattle because he has personally experienced challenges in his personal life as well as gaining a wealth of experience in volunteering for World Relief. Ashraf served as a Peer Counselor for the College Success Foundation in Achievers and ACE Camps where he mentored high school students, as well as assisting students in the college application process. Currently, Ashraf works for the Minority Achievers Program at the YMCA of Snohomish County; whose mission is to motivate and support students of color and immigrant students to achieve higher educational and career goals. Ashraf is a Youth Appointee for the Seattle Immigrant and Refugee Advisory Board who is bilingual, fluent in Arabic.

Andrea Caupain For over a decade, Andrea has worked to make a positive impact on issues of poverty and racial equality. As CAMP's Executive Director and a recent Puget Sound Business Journal 40 Under 40 Award Winner, she is leading the agency into a new era. She has implemented effective strategies to lay the foundation for future growth, including opening new programs to educate community advocates and address the fundamental causes of poverty. Andrea brings a strong sense of leadership and vision to CAMP, an agency with a long legacy serving the community and providing lifeline services to the poor. Prior to CAMP, she worked for four years for the Washington State Governor's Commission on African-American Affairs, providing analysis and development on strategic legislative projects. Her work has also involved legislative casework for the Washington State House of Representatives. Andrea is extremely active in the non-profit sector, including serving on several local non-profit Boards including the City of Seattle's Immigrant and Refugee Advisory Board and the Guyanese Heritage Foundation. She has a Master's Degree In Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Evergreen State College.

Cherry Cayabyab is a well-respected young community leader with a considerable amount of professional experience. Cherry has strong proven organizational, policy analysis and advocacy skills that have benefited not only the Asian Pacific Islander community but also the diverse immigrant and refugee communities in Seattle and beyond. Cherry's high caliber attributes have been demonstrated through her work with the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development in Washington DC as well as in her affiliations with other multi-cultural and multi-racial groups. Her attributes have not only been applauded but have been sought after by various entities. A few of the most notable landmarks of Cherry's experience are: her work as a congressional fellow, a board member of several large organizations and her current tenure as Executive Director of Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Foundation. The qualifications that she brings with her are much needed and integral to the success of the Immigrant and Refugee Advisory Board.

Shree Ram Dahal came to the United States as a student and has lived in Seattle area since 1999. Due to personal experiences of living in different places and the desire to stay socially connected, Shree understands the difficulties immigrant and refugee communities go through during the process of adjustment in a new country. Actively involved with Nepal Seattle Society (NSS) and representing and advocating for a community of people of Nepali origin and friends of Nepal in Seattle area and Washington State, Shree is president of NSS. NSS regularly advise new members on various personal and social issues during their adjustment in the community. Through NSS Shree interacts with other communities in the region and is also a Board member of Association of Nepali in America and a regional Delegate to Non-Resident Nepali Association - America. Both of these organizations operate on national and international level to serve the interest of the people of Nepali origin.

Mohamed Sheikh Hassan, a long-standing leader in the community and founder and Director of Afrique Service Center in Rainier Valley, with the relationships and trust to bring the African immigrant and refugee communities to the table where their issues and concerns can be addressed and their talents can be shared. Mohamed has worked tirelessly to strengthen the base of immigrants and refugees in King County through community organizing, building grassroots leadership, and advocating for issues that are very important for resources within the community. Currently, Mohamed is a Community Jobs Program Coordinator assisting refugees from Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe in partnership with the Seattle Jobs Initiative, the program assists clients in obtaining employment, budgeting skills, and guidance for social issues related to immigration. Mohamed is multi-lingual in English, Somali, Arabic, and Swahili.

Lesley Irizarry-Hougan is an attorney who has been practicing immigration law exclusively for over three years since she graduated from Northern Illinois University Law School in 2004. As an immigration lawyer, practicing mainly family immigration and immigration court litigation, she is familiar with the problems immigrants and refugees in the area face in all aspects of their lives. Lesley has volunteered countless hours at legal clinics geared towards the immigrant and refugee population including Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and Volunteer Advocates for Immigration Justice. Lesley's fluency in Spanish has assisted her in working with immigrant populations. Recently, Lesley has opened her own solo practice in Pioneer Square, making her both a minority and female small business owner. Her legal practice allows Lesley to bring first-hand knowledge of the impact of policies and decisions on immigrant residents in the Seattle area to the board. Lesley has a passion for advocating for those who would not normally have a voice, and also listening to others with differing opinions.

Bincy Jacob is the Executive Director at the Asian & Pacific Islander Women & Family Safety Center, an organization committed to organizing communities and serving survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. Bincy began her work at Safe Horizon, working as a domestic violence advocate with the New York City Police Department, and went on to work as a clinical consultant for NYC Child Protective Services. After 5 years of direct service work, Bincy accepted a position as Training Coordinator at My Sisters' Place, a domestic violence & human trafficking agency in Westchester, NY, later taking the position of Deputy Director of Policy and Training where she served in a leadership role in agency, county, and state policy issues. Bincy has also worked as a community organizer with the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice, primarily working with trafficked H2-B guest workers in a bi-national campaign. Bincy is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany.

Michael T. Neguse is a trusted leader in the East African community and has worked in tandem with the City of Seattle on several projects related to housing, mental health and crime prevention. Michael is a community organizer working with all people in his community, whether it be mentoring at-risk youth, offering translation and facilitating conflict resolution among differing ethnic groups, or teaching English as a Second Language for seniors. Seattle Human Rights Day Award Winner of 2008, Michael also offers guidance for newly-arrived immigrants seeking employment and teaches U.S. Citizenship in Amharic and Tigrigna. Michael serves as Crime Prevention Coordinator with Seattle Police Department providing crime prevention and outreach services to Seattle's African immigrant communities, as well as to East African immigrants to provide information about crime prevention to parents and youth. He also recruits residents to participate in SPD's East African Advisory Council and with the African/African American Unity Group. Michael speaks many languages including Amharic, Tigrinya, Somali, and Arabic.

Jesús Ybarra Rodríguez was born in Mexico and currently serves as the Leadership Development Coordinator at the Nonprofit Assistance Center. He is married with three children and lives in Everett, WA. He received a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy from the University of Texas at El Paso and went on to complete a Master of Arts Degree in Romance Languages & Literature from the University of Washington in Seattle. He has also completed coursework in Early Childhood Education towards a PhD. Jesus served as the interim Director of Sand Point Childcare Center while he was a student at UW and has worked extensively with Latino parents and their children on early childhood issues for over 20 years. He has coordinated leadership programs in the Seattle area for the Northwest Area and the Annie E. Casey Foundations and trained multicultural community leaders in community organizing, civic engagement, asset mapping, capacity building, cultural awareness/competency, grassroots fundraising, juvenile justice reform, Latino immigration reform efforts, bilingual education and Latino health service delivery.

Magdaleno M. Rose-Avila is the son of immigrant parents and one of 12 children. He began his working life in the onion fields of southeast Colorado at the early age of 11. By 13, he was traveling the migrant stream picking fruits and vegetables. The difficult work of thinning onions as a child provided the background and impetus needed to advocate for workers rights at a very young age. After spending several years organizing workers in Colorado, Magdaleno took on the position of lead organizer and spokesperson for the efforts of Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers Union in the state of Colorado. He was a leading voice and figure in the Chicano Movement of the 1960's and 70's and ran for public office for La Raza Unida Party. Throughout his career, Magdaleno has been a United States Peace Corps Country Director in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Paraguay and Micronesia. He has run congressional campaigns and worked for the Democratic National Committee, Colorado Legal Services and The Colorado Migrant Council. In addition, he taught theatre and sociology at the University of Colorado, and sociology at Colorado College. Between 1985 and 1993 he worked in a variety of administrative and leadership positions for the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization Amnesty International USA. He was the Western Director for Amnesty International's Campaign to Abolish the Death Penalty and served as the inaugural Executive Director for the Cesar E Chavez Foundation. More recently he served as the Executive Director for the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project in Washington State for four years and currently is the Chief of Party for the International Relief and Development's Miami Project. A gifted public speaker, he has inspired thousands throughout his career speaking at high schools, colleges, universities, meetings, conferences, and various public events. He holds a degree in communications from University of Colorado in Boulder.

Pradeepta Upadhyay, a Planning and Development Director with over fourteen years of experience working in the areas of community development and health and human services. Recently, she was Director of Programs for the South Asian Network (SAN), a grassroots community organization based in Artesia, CA, she worked extensively on social justice and health care issues faced by immigrant communities (with a particular focus on South Asian communities). She developed and implemented programs on domestic violence prevention, trafficking, worker's rights, health care access, HIV/AIDS education for adolescents and breast cancer education. She played a leadership role in planning the Community Health Action Initiative, the first comprehensive preventive health education program in the United States designed for South Asians. Pradeepta has significant international experience in community health, gender issues and development. As the founder of Women's Inspiration Community, a nonprofit organization in her hometown of Katmandu, Nepal, she successfully planned and implemented HIV/AIDS education programs for at-risk groups, reproductive health programs for rural women, gender sensitization programs for men, and income generation programs aimed at empowering rural communities. She currently served on the Board of the Non Profit Assistance Center (NAC) and serves on Board of the Women's Funding Alliance in Seattle and has served on the Selection Committee for the Women's Leadership Scholarship for 2 years.

Yasemin San has over 30 years of experience serving immigrant and refugee communities in Seattle. Yasemin is a volunteer in the Meskhetian Turkish Refugee Community where she serves as an advisor, consultant, interpreter and liaison person. Yasemin has helped these refugees settle in their new home by providing several open sessions for families to talk about how to adjust to new life and US systems. Yasemin is the co-founder and program manager for Turkfest, a Turkish cultural festival that promotes Turkish culture in Seattle through folk dance, artwork, documentaries and presentations in public schools. Yasemin is also the founder of the Anadolu Turkish Folk Dance Group where she has worked since the 80's to bring Turkish folk dance to numerous ethnic festivals and performing art productions. Yasemin is a former member and president of the Ethnic Heritage Council of the Pacific Northwest. In 1978, Yasemin received her master's in Linguistics from the University of Bosphorus in Turkey. In addition to her background in teaching, she currently works in the private sector as a real estate specialist and translator.

Tsegaba Woldehaimanot holds a Masters in Social Work degree from the University of Washington and has over seven years experience in the field of mental health, including working as a mental health therapist providing therapeutic services to children and adults. Tsegaba was born in Sudan where her family took refuge after fleeing their homeland of Eritrea because of war and violence. She and her family later migrated to America as refugees to make better lives for themselves. Witnessing first-hand the challenges faced by many refugees, Tsegaba has long been interested in issues of emotional distress in refugee populations, and how communities can best meet those needs. She is well-acquainted with both the local refugee community and community mental health system. Tsegaba currently works at Asian Counseling and Referral Service as the Outreach Coordinator for the Pathways to Wellness Project. She reaches out to various refugee communities to learn the emotional and mental needs of their members working to connect them to appropriate resources. She also connects with local mental health agencies interested in increasing their capacity to serve this community.