On behalf of the Board of Directors, I write with both gratitude and appreciation to share that our Executive Director, Mary Meg McCarthy, announced her plans to retire later this year after many years of extraordinary service to the National Immigrant Justice Center.
Mary Meg has dedicated her career to defending immigrant rights. Under Mary Meg’s tenure of nearly 30 years, NIJC has evolved into one of the nation’s most influential immigrant rights organizations. Under her visionary leadership, NIJC has broadened its reach, deepened its impact, and strengthened its role as a defender of justice for immigrants across the country. As she retires, she leaves an enduring legacy that will continue to benefit the communities that NIJC serves for years to come.
Mary Meg has built a strong executive team that has firmly established NIJC as a trusted voice, shaping immigration policy and defending the rights of vulnerable communities. NIJC has expanded to nearly 160 staff and 2,600 pro bono attorneys and volunteers and built strong partnerships, dramatically increasing its capacity to serve immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. NIJC has advanced due process protections, launched innovative initiatives such as an immigration court help desk and a universal representation project for detained immigrants, and helped lead major coalitions focused on unaccompanied children and immigration enforcement oversight.
We are profoundly grateful to Mary Meg for her leadership, wisdom, expertise, and compassion. While we will miss her daily presence, we celebrate her contributions and wish her the very best in this next chapter.
The Board is fully committed to a thoughtful and thorough search for our next Executive Director, whom we hope to identify and onboard later this year. To ensure an orderly succession, the Board has engaged Kittleman & Associates, a national executive search firm specializing in the recruitment of leaders for nonprofit organizations, to conduct this search. We are confident that we will identify a new leader who honors our mission, builds on the strong foundation that Mary Meg and NIJC have established, and guides this organization forward with vision and integrity. All inquiries related to the search should be directed to K. Sujata, Kittleman & Associates.
Please watch for additional information in the coming weeks about the launch of this important search and transition. Together, we look ahead with deep appreciation for the past and confidence in our future.
With gratitude for your partnership,
Chad R. Doobay
Chair, Board of Directors
National Immigrant Justice Center