Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition

PICC Selects and Welcomes Natasha Kelemen as its New Executive Director!

Jul 10 2012    

The Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC) Board of Directors is proud to announce its selection of Natasha Kelemen as Executive Director.

Natasha Kelemen has been an active member of PICC since 2000 and served as the co-chair of PICC’s Health Care Committee for several years. Ms. Kelemen has more than ten years of experience working with immigrant and refugee communities in Philadelphia, the U.K, Belgium and Angola. She comes to us from the Nationalities Service Center (NSC), where she led the formation of the Philadelphia Refugee Health Collaborative – a nationally-recognized model in refugee health care.  Prior to joining NSC, Ms. Kelemen was the Health Services Director at the Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition (SEAMAAC) responsible for oversight of multiple community health education, outreach and case management programs.  Ms. Kelemen has extensive experience in fundraising, coalition building, program development and community outreach. She holds a Master of Social Service degree from Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research.

Tasha is excited about the opportunity to lead PICC into the future, working to build the power of the immigrant voice in Pennsylvania by expanding PICC’s civic engagement, targeted advocacy and capacity building programs.

“As an immigrant to this country myself, I am deeply committed to protecting immigrant rights and supporting immigrants’ contributions and integration into our communities”, says Tasha. “This is a crucial time in PICC’s history and an opportunity to take the organization to the next level.  I look forward to strengthening Pennsylvania’s role in the dynamic immigrant rights movement happening across the country. Beginning with the upcoming national election, I look forward to leading PICC’s effort to bring about real changes in our immigration system and to make our Commonwealth a more welcoming place for all immigrants.”

Please join us in welcoming Tasha at PICC’s summer fundraiser on Thursday, July 12th at 6pm where we will officially introduce her as our new Executive Director! We also want to thank PICC’s Interim Director, Susan Kim, for her leadership and commitment to the organization during this transition time and to Rebecca Hufstader for her invaluable program work. We could not have done it without you!