KATHARINE CROST
CHAIR
Katharine I. Crost is an attorney in the New York office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. Ms. Crost’s practice involves the financing of a variety of assets, including mortgages, tax liens, tobacco litigation settlement funds, and utility stranded costs. Recently, Ms. Crost has been involved in advising clients on a number of innovative transactions that address issues arising from the financial crisis and housing and financial regulatory reform. Ms. Crost has served on Orrick’s Executive Committee, as Chair of their Women’s Initiative and as a Practice Group Leader. She received a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a Bachelor of Music degree from Michigan State University.
Ms. Crost has served as a member of the Board of the Women’s Refugee Commission and currently serves on the Board of Indego Africa. She has travelled to refugee camps in Ethiopia and Myanmar. Ms. Crost is a volunteer at USCRI’s Albany field office and resides in New York City.
KATHARINE LAUD
VICE CHAIR
Katharine Laud is the President of Opportunities Credit Union, a Burlington, VT-based Community Development Financial Institution whose mission is to create wealth among low income and other under-served people including women, minorities, immigrants and people of color. She previously served as Associate VP for Finance and Administration at the University of Vermont Foundation and as CFO of a NJ non-profit developer of affordable housing.
Ms. Laud served most recently as Associate Vice President for Finance and Administration at the University of Vermont Foundation, a development-focused public charity. Prior to that, she served as Chief Financial Officer of a successful non-profit in northern NJ which developed affordable housing. Ms. Laud served on the board of Provident Financial Services, a NYSE-traded bank holding company, as a member of the Audit and Governance Committees and as chair of the Wealth Management Committee. Prior to her service on the Provident Board, she was instrumental in the founding of the Wealth Management division of the First Morris Bank & Trust while a member of that bank’s board of directors.
Ms. Laud has a background in investment management and derivative strategies at NYC and Chicago banks. She received both her MBA degree and AB degree from Dartmouth College and currently lives with her family in Vermont.
GENE DEFELICE
SECRETARY
Mr. DeFelice is an experienced corporate executive and legal leader with a wealth of knowledge in areas including business management, compliance, and corporate governance. He is currently the Managing Director of Novo Strategic Partners, a business management consulting firm. He has served as the General Counsel and executive leader for a number of organizations. Gene has also held leadership positions in sales and marketing, as well as general management roles in operations and business. Mr. DeFelice graduated from Rutgers University, received his doctorate of Law degree from Seton Hall University and a master’s of Business Administration with distinction from Webster University in Geneva, Switzerland. He previously served as a member of the Board of the International Institute of St. Louis and a member of the Board’s Executive Committee.
SCOTT WU
TREASURER
Scott was appointed the Executive Director of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank. He previously served as Partner and Head of Investments at Omidyar Network and as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow where he advised the innovation activities of USAID. Scott was a member of the founding team of a successful crowdfunding platform and co-founded several venture capital and investment firms that together manage over $1B. Scott also remains committed to issues addressing global poverty and education, including serving as former chairman of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and as former president of Aim High summer schools for the disadvantaged. He has worked on development projects in Tanzania and with a center combating child prostitution in Bangkok, visited numerous refugee camps and orphanages and co-founded an urban middle school. He received degrees from Harvard Business School and Dartmouth College.
KEVIN BEARDEN
Kevin Bearden is Senior Vice President of the Federal Civilian Group within SOS International (SOSI). In this role, Mr. Bearden oversees a business portfolio focused on a wide range of enterprise IT solutions and services, specialized human language interpreter and transcription/ translation capabilities as well as mission critical professional services that enhance the operations of U.S. government federal civilian agencies.
Prior to joining SOSI, Mr. Bearden was Vice President of Foreign Affairs & Transportation Programs within General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), Principal Consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton’s Cyber Security Center of Excellence and Director of Cyber Security Operations for SRA International. During his time at GDIT, Mr. Bearden oversaw several programs supporting both the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), HHS Office of Trafficking in Persons as well as the Department of State’s Bureau of Populations, Refugees and Migration (PRM). Mr. Bearden has visited Refugee Camps in both Ethiopia and Kenya as well as Emergency Influx and In Network Shelters providing direct care services to Unaccompanied Minors.
Mr. Bearden earned his undergraduate degree in Electronics Engineering Technology from North Carolina A&T State University, possesses graduate certificates in Law Enforcement Intelligence, Counterintelligence and Advanced Intelligence Analysis, as well as served as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Army Signal Corps.
DIANN DAWSON
Diann Dawson is President and CEO of DDA & Associates. She enjoyed a distinguished public service career with more than 38 years in federal and state governments. She continues her service in the private sector as a national and global advocate for children and family strengthening initiatives and serves as a director on several non-profit boards.
Prior to her retirement as a senior executive, she served as the Director of the Office of Regional Operations within the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary regarding field operations, she provided executive leadership and directions to ACF’s ten regional offices on the integration and coordination of more than 65 human services programs to promote the well-being of children, families and communities.
Ms. Dawson holds a BA from Bennett College, MSW from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and JD from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law and is admitted to the DC and MD bars. She resides in Silver Spring, MD.
EARL S. JOHNSON
Earl Johnson was appointed by the White House to serve as the Director of the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (HHS/OFA). In this position Earl oversaw an annual budget of $17.8 billion. In this role, he was the principle policy and administrative manager for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. He was the one of the leaders within the Administration and ACF on promoting responsible fatherhood and economic security issues related to men and boys of color.
Earl has a longstanding relationship with California, the Bay Area and in Philanthropy. Before accepting his current position, he was the Senior Policy Advisor and Interim Workforce Investment Board Director for the City of Oakland and Mayor Ron Dellums. Prior to that he was the Senior Program Officer for the California Endowment and the Associate Director for the Rockefeller Foundation’s Working Communities Division. He also served as the Associate Secretary for Planning and Evaluation for the California Health and Human Services Agency under the Davis Administration.
Earl has a Ph.D. from UCLA’s School of Social Work and Public Policy. He holds an MA from the University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy and a BA in Political Science from the American University in Washington, D.C. Earl also recently completed Harvard University’s Executive Management Program on Negotiation.
HELEN R. KANOVSKY
Helen R. Kanovsky is General Counsel at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), where she oversees the association’s internal legal affairs, compliance and human resources operations.
Prior to joining MBA, Helen was for more than seven years the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. From January to December 2014 she was the acting Deputy Secretary. Previously, Helen served stints as General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer at the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. She was the General Counsel at both GE Capital Asset Management and Skyline Financial Services. Additionally, Helen worked in private practice and on Capitol Hill, where she served as Chief of Staff to Senator John Kerry.
Helen is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, the American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association. She served for three years as the Chair of the National Housing Conference. Helen holds an A.B. degree in government from Cornell University and graduated Cum Laude from Harvard Law School.
JEFFREY S. KELLEY
Jeff Kelley has spent his career both in public service and in the private sector, focusing on communications, public affairs and government relations. He has worked for both the U. S. government and the private sector in the U.S. and Europe.
Most recently, Mr. Kelley served in the Obama Administration as Director of Public Affairs for the Administration for Children and Families. ACF houses programs such as refugee resettlement (ORR), Head Start, child welfare and foster care, and the nation’s family assistance program (TANF).
Mr. Kelly owned Peer Communications LLC, where he organized conferences on communications strategy for the senior public affairs executives of more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. He worked for more than 20 years for the DuPont Company, first as executive speechwriter for the Chairman, then in several senior management roles, including more than a decade in Geneva, Switzerland, leading the company’s communications and government affairs teams in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Earlier he was press secretary to U. S. Senator Thomas J. McIntyre (D-NH) and in the Carter Administration he was special assistant and speechwriter for Health and Human Services Secretary Patricia Roberts Harris.
Mr. Kelly’s volunteer experience includes six years on the Board of Visitors of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy at Dartmouth College, a nationally acclaimed institutional home for social science research, teaching and experiential learning. In that role he has sponsored and mentored undergraduate interns working for the USCRI. He currently teaches English as a second language at a center for immigrants in Washington, D.C. and volunteers as a National Parks Service guide at Ford’s Theater.
Mr. Kelley earned an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
REGIS G. MCDONALD
Regis G. McDonald is an accomplished social service executive with decades of experience in managing and developing cutting edge programs and services to meet the ever-changing needs of youth and families involved with the child welfare, juvenile justice, child mental health and immigration systems. Mr. McDonald at the time of his retirement was Senior Vice President for Programs at The Children’s Village (CV) in Dobbs Ferry, New York. CV was founded in 1851 in Lower Manhattan as the New York Juvenile Asylum. Today, CV is a nationally and internationally respected multi-service human service organization with a staff of over 1,500 and an annual budget exceeding $91M. Mr. McDonald’s work at CV positively impacted and enriched every aspect of the organization, including its work to address Undoing Institutional Racism and provide shelter and staff secure care to unaccompanied immigrant children. He is particularly proud of his contributions to the program serving unaccompanied immigrant children. It is one of the most respected programs in the country. At the invitation of the First Lady of Guatemala Mr. McDonald participated in two Central America Regional Child Migration Forums. One in 2013 in Antigua, Guatemala and the second in 2016 in Washington, DC. He served as a member of the United States Department of Justice Interagency Working Group on Separated & Unaccompanied Children in 2014. In 2016 Mr. McDonald was a member of the USCRI delegation to El Salvador to attend the first graduation for participants in its Livelihoods Program.
Mr. McDonald received an Associate in Arts degree from Wentworth Military Academy & College. He is the recipient of the Ted Messmore Honor Graduate Award, Wentworth’s highest award. Mr. McDonald was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from Central Missouri State College and a Master of Social Work degree from Adelphi University School of Social Work. Mr. McDonald has a Certificate in Fund Raising Management from Adelphi University. He received a Certificate – Seminar in Field Instruction from Columbia University School of Social Work. Mr. McDonald is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New York State. In 2017 he received from the Consulate of El Salvador in New York an Award for Extraordinary Dedication to the Unaccompanied Immigrant Children from El Salvador. Mr. McDonald is a Subject Matter Expert in Child Welfare & Immigration.
Mr. McDonald is Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Wentworth Military Academy & College in Lexington, Missouri. In his hometown of Geneva, New York he is a member of the Hobart & William Smith Colleges Center for Community Engagement & Service-Learning Advisory Council, Finger Lakes Community College Geneva Campus Center Advisory Board, Geneva Family YMCA Capital Campaign Steering Committee and the Geneva Public Library Building Committee. Mr. McDonald is active in the Historic North Neighborhood Association.
JEFFREY METZGER
Jeffrey Metzger is an attorney who has worked in corporate, government, and private practice. Most recently, Jeff was Staff Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Unisys Corporation, a multinational corporation. At Unisys, Jeff was responsible for the company’s litigation, counseling the company’s government businesses, and directing the company’s federal government contracts organization. Jeff also designed the company’s first ethics compliance program and then served as Corporate Ethics Officer. Before coming to Unisys, Jeff served on the professional staff of the President’s Blue-Ribbon Commission on Defense Management (chaired by David Packard and known as the Packard Commission), where he was principally responsible for making recommendations on defense industry compliance issues. Jeff also served in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice for a number of years, representing the United States in procurement fraud and government contract litigation. Before joining Justice, Jeff worked in private law practice in Washington, D.C., chiefly in the international trade area.
Jeff has long been interested in refugee issues. He recently represented, on a pro bono basis, two children who sought Special Immigration Juvenile Status in the D.C. trial courts. He received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Amherst College, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law School. Before attending law school, Jeff worked as issues coordinator in the first Senate campaign of Joe Biden of Delaware.
JOHN MONAHAN
John T. Monahan is the Senior Advisor to Georgetown University’s President John J. DeGioia, a Senior Fellow at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, and a Senior Scholar with Georgetown’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. In his current position, he advances university-wide initiatives in global health, development, and related areas; co-chairs the Lancet Commission on Global Health and Law; and teaches global health courses in Georgetown’s law and foreign service schools.
Over the course of his professional career, Monahan has played multiple leadership roles in government (serving in appointed positions in all three branches of the federal government), philanthropy, academia and politics at the global, national, and state/local levels. He has focused on managing complex health, social service, and development issues and programs affecting low-income and vulnerable populations in the United States and abroad.
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD
SAM UDANI
Since 1999, Mr. Udani has been publisher of ILW.COM, a leading law publisher with over 50,000+ pages of free information on immigration law that receives 250,000 visitors per month. Under Mr. Udani’s direction ILW has conducted 600+ CLE seminars, published over two dozen immigration law books and conducted immigration events in over a dozen countries. He resides in New York City.