Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Awards
Admissions
Timeline
Generic

Kel White

Washington

Summary

Obtain the role of Program Manager, Normalizing Migration with OSF.

Driven and strategic thinking movement lawyer who centers impacted people in every step. Talent for predicting future trends. Proven track record of building strong relationships across faith, abolition, union, private section, and community organizing groups and leading campaigns to success. Possesses deep understanding of migration from experience working as a subcontractor for UNHCR, to refugee resettlement agency, direct legal services, policy making, and impact litigation. Understands the impossible is possible and applies that to driving social change with dignity and compassion, and quiet persistence. Accountable to the movement and driving complex initiatives through innovative solutions, art, and collaborative efforts.

Overview

14
14
years of professional experience

Work History

Associate Director Learning & Development- Legal Access and Representation Programs

Acacia Center for Justice
11.2023 - Current
  • Elevated and normalized (with impact) migration stories for federal law makers, public, and media
  • Educated policy makers on downstream consequences of decisions
  • Dynamically organized colleagues in anticipation of U.S. policy shifts
  • Identified partners for Zero Tolerance Separated Families Settlement Implementation
  • Provided technical legal support for immigration programs across the nation
  • Strategically developed relationships with grantmakers when state lost the only detained representation non-profit, conducted listening sessions to digest and coordinate effort
  • Ensured continuous incorporation of Race, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion principles in panels and thought gatherings
  • Identified and recruited new migration advocates to Acacia’s networks
  • Reduced and inoculated divisive approaches in collaborating among national and local partners
  • Co-authored Board of Immigration Appeals Amicus Brief on the duty of the Immigration Judge to develop the record of unrepresented migrants
  • Power mapped with colleagues, legal access deserts and resources
  • Monitored and assessed legal training programs, developing best practices
  • Tracked patterns across representation and legal access programs
  • Identified and connected strategic litigators with migration advocates and impacted people
  • Attended weekly partner and network calls and set up day-to-day connections with advocates to support navigating new and persistent challenges
  • Collaborated across data, program, and communications teams to leverage and democratically ensure migration challenges addressed
  • Adapted team expectations to rapidly changing political environment, suggesting alternatives
  • Educated cross-teams on sensitive concerns of migration advocates and partners
  • Published Chapter 8 of Mental Health Manual: Detention Manual
  • Identified with synergy Co-authors and strategy to address gender pro noun concerns in immigration court through webinar and publication of the Gender Affirming Language Advisory
  • Supported team in hosting 3 migrant advocacy conferences as well as over 10 webinars throughout the year
  • Worked with International Organizations on interrelated projects
  • Worked with technical compliance to ensure contract goals met
  • Collaborated across teams for grant review, reporting, payment processing, and negotiation of provisions.
  • Aligned strategic litigation goals with novel data collection strategies.
  • Identified raids and unconstitutional arrests for tracking

Vice Chair, Executive Committee

American Immigration Lawyers Association -DC Chapter
06.2023 - Current
  • Co-managed budget and chapter dues for 1,300 member chapter of immigration attorneys
  • Advocate with Congress on migration policy concerns of chapter members
  • Recognized and tracked migration and court patterns for referral to strategic litigation and leveraging
  • Sponsored 500-person conference with 4-tracks and 28 panels for migration advocates
  • Democratically assessed and voted to fund strategic litigation initiatives
  • Thought through risks of engagement and political stances on key public topics
  • Built consensus among cohorts to move organization forward in pro-migrant direction
  • Assembled & supported DEI Committee with consultation from expert
  • Oversaw budget planning and resource allocation, optimizing the use of funds to achieve organizational goals
  • Coordinated resources on military base for Afghans

Director of Strategic Partnerships & Community Engagement

Amica Center (former Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition, CAIR Coalition)
08.2023 - 11.2023
  • Campaigned & Educated Public and Lawmakers on Immigration & Migration Access Programs
  • Elevated voices of people impacted (local actors) by migration in lawmaking forum
  • Built confidence in inclusive immigration systems through data collection migration narratives, centering migrants
  • Connected art to migration policy change via The Jungle (play)
  • Debunked wedge issues and scarcity of resource concerns
  • Engaged as a key thought partner in multi-year social and political change initiatives both legislative and social campaigns in DC, Maryland, and Virginia
  • Simmered divisive linchpins in the abolition and representation movements while listening to and organizing with unions, religious groups, and impacted community
  • Planned, implemented, and evaluated programs and strategic goals as executive member of leadership team with $8+ million-dollar budget and 90+ employees
  • Holistically Supervised a team of 45 employees and fellows representing 400+ detained persons in their removal cases (per year) and in application for federal immigration benefits and petitions
  • Launched 4 of the first universal representation detained programs in the DC-metro region.
  • Oversaw and collaborated with Detained Adult managers tracking patterns by asylum officers in Credible Fear/Reasonable Fear Interviews, decisions by IJs, trends in Notices to Appear by DHS for pro se and representation programs
  • Declarant, Organizational Plaintiff, in Federal Litigation
  • Envisioned and prompted employee support program for vulnerable immigrant colleagues
  • Mentored 100+ pro bono (law firm) attorneys on detained removal defense cases at trial court, appeals, and circuit court level
  • Supervised senior and staff attorneys on representation of UC age-outs, refugees, asylees, asylum seekers, parolees, and victims of human trafficking in connection with federal immigration benefits
  • Ensured sensitive approach and trigger-warnings in team discussions as well as DEI inclusive name-pronunciations
  • Maintained and analyzed work of supervisees on Virginia Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions Chart
  • Advised members of the private criminal bar on immigration consequences of criminal pleas
  • Liaised with the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) field offices in Maryland and DC, and other regions; the USCIS Asylum office in Arlington, VA; and OCC as well as EOIR in Arlington and Baltimore
  • Worked on sanctuary policies with local government
  • Educated lawmakers on ICE detainers
  • Provided technical immigration legal support to public interest immigration agencies nationally to the Legal Orientation Programs, National Qualified Representation Program, and SAFE Networks and to private bar, AILA
  • Analyzed and interpreted Circuit law, Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Immigration and Nationality Act and corresponding federal regulations in connection with extremely complex cases as well as sending out impact emails to staff as changes in law occurred
  • Fund raised extensively to support program operations with both private donors and in state and local budget forums, then monitored and assessed funding streams
  • Ensured program compliance with government service contracts and private grants
  • Supervised and evaluate program staff including attorneys and administrative staff on direct casework
  • Conducted podcasts, briefings, and trainings to legal and other professional audiences
  • Reviewed organizational comments to proposed federal regulations
  • Identified impact issues and then organize and present at regional and national conferences as a subject matter expert on novel and persistent challenges in detained asylum and discretion-based law
  • Cultivated and maintain relationships with government partners, think tanks, advocacy groups, Legal Service Providers (LSPs) NGOs, private foundations and others in furtherance of public interest objectives that benefit detained persons, refugees, asylees and other impacted non-citizens
  • Elevated socials to fundraise and educate, humanize, normalize migration

Staff Attorney for Immigration Services

CWS- Immigration and Refugee Program
07.2011 - 01.2014
  • Launched and managed refugee resettlement agency’s immigration legal services program, supervised new graduate employee, and student interns
  • Piloted & funded U-visa and VAWA program
  • Counseled 1000+ clients on Family Based Adjustment of Status, Consular Processing, (Dreamers) DACA, Asylum, Refugee Travel Documents, Fee Waivers, Naturalization Disability Waivers, Derived and Acquired Citizenship, I-730s Refugee/Asylee Relative Petitions, Hague Convention Adoptions, SIV, SIJS, & Humanitarian
  • Managed all aspects of client service delivery, serving on average, 400+ immigrants per year
  • Through movement lawyering, supported DACA advocates and recipients in Capitol Hill meetings with State Senators and Representatives

Education

J.D. - Immigration Clinic

University of California At Davis School of Law
Davis, California
05.2009

Bachelor of Arts - Women's Studies, Sociology, minor in Spanish

University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
06.2004

Skills

  • Visual Storytelling Through AI
  • Chat GPT
  • Strategic leadership
  • Spanish
  • Project management
  • Swimming
  • Hiking
  • Salesforce
  • Lawlogix
  • Lived in as worker in Refugee Camp
  • Canva
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Relationship building

Awards

  • AILA Executive Office for Immigration Review Liaison Committee member (2022)
  • Recipient of the 2013 Sister Attracta Kelly Scholarship (AILA)
  • 2004 Undergraduate Sociology Award
  • 2004 Humanitarian Award
  • 2004 Leadership Award Finalist

Admissions

North Carolina State Bar, 2010, Present

Timeline

Associate Director Learning & Development- Legal Access and Representation Programs

Acacia Center for Justice
11.2023 - Current

Director of Strategic Partnerships & Community Engagement

Amica Center (former Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition, CAIR Coalition)
08.2023 - 11.2023

Vice Chair, Executive Committee

American Immigration Lawyers Association -DC Chapter
06.2023 - Current

Staff Attorney for Immigration Services

CWS- Immigration and Refugee Program
07.2011 - 01.2014

J.D. - Immigration Clinic

University of California At Davis School of Law

Bachelor of Arts - Women's Studies, Sociology, minor in Spanish

University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill

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