A new chapter for Immigrants Rising
I have some news. I’ll be leaving my role as Executive Director of Immigrants Rising later this year.
My reasons are pretty straightforward: I’m eager to step aside in order to create space for new leadership. For over 15 years, my professional life has been wholly devoted to building Immigrants Rising, and while I am deeply proud of what we have accomplished together during that time, I’m excited to see what’s next for me. I won’t be completely separating from Immigrants Rising, though. Much of my life and many of my most sustaining relationships are forever interwoven with this beautiful community.
It’s hard to believe at times, but this year we’ll be serving over 3,000 people through our grants, programs, and services; making over $2.8 million in grants to individuals; and reaching almost 750,000 people through our online resources. That’s tremendous growth since the first year of our scholarship fund (back in the early E4FC days) when we awarded just $14,000 to seven scholars!
I feel confident that this is the perfect time for this transition to happen. We have an excellent team, a unique role and voice in the immigrant rights movement, a strong reputation, passionate supporters, and stable finances, all of which are enabling us to evolve to meet the changing needs of the undocumented community. I could not be more optimistic about Immigrants Rising’s future.
I recognize that this news may come as a surprise to some members of our community, but our team has been laying a strong foundation for this leadership transition for several years and actively planning for several months. We’ve formed a Transition Committee, composed of staff and Leadership Council members, and have recently hired the executive search firm Axis Talent Partners to help us find strong candidates for the role.
Stay tuned for more updates from the Transition Committee coming soon!
I look forward to the rebirth that closing this chapter will make possible, both for myself and for the organization. To all of you who have supported our work and participated in our programs over the years, I want to say a heartfelt thank you. Immigrants Rising (and I) would not be where we are today without you.
With love and gratitude,
Katharine Gin
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Immigrants Rising
