Sarah Alice Coleman
sacoleman@cwsglobal.org
Sarah Alice provides oversight of programs that provide direct services to clients and coordinates resettlement activities. She has an MSW from Virginia Commonwealth University and enjoys raising sheep, running, and gardening in her free time. Sarah Alice speaks French.
Susannah Lepley
slepley@cwsglobal.org
Susannah provides leadership and oversight to all CWS offices operating in Virginia, working collaboratively with the Office of New Americans to advance the shared vision of welcome across the state and the provision of professional, compassionate services to displaced populations. She lives in Harrisonburg with her spouse and dogs and enjoys riding her motorcycle and trying different foods from around the world. Susannah grew up in Brazil and speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
Isaac Rodriguez
irodriguez@cwsglobal.org
Isaac is the Accounting & Operations Supervisor. He is on the ground here at our Harrisonburg location and works with our regional Finance Manager to ensure the financial needs of the office are met. He has an AS in Accounting and BS in Business Management from City College Miami. Originally a south Florida native, Isaac speaks English and Spanish. He and his wife are new to Virginia and love camping and off-roading (aka overlanding), serving at their church, and growing their homestead.
Emily Bender
ebender@cwsglobal.org
Emily oversees the CWS Virginia development and community engagement department, coordinates community support for refugees, organizes fundraising initiatives, and responds to local media requests. She has an MA in International Migration from the University of Kent Brussels School of International Studies. Prior to moving to Harrisonburg, she worked with Mennonite Central Committee in Papua, Indonesia and UNHCR in Washington DC. She enjoys weaving, biking, and spending time with her family.
Olga Baltazar
obaltazar@cwsglobal.org
Olga recruits and trains volunteers for a variety of projects to support CWS programs. She was born in Harrisonburg but grew up in Mexico, and enjoys hikes with friends and family. Olga graduated from Eastern Mennonite Univeristy with a bachelor's in Spanish Language and Hispanic Studies, and she is fluent in Spanish and Otomi.
Vicky Lim
vlim@cwsglobal.org
Vicky Lim is the Senior Communications Specialist for the Harrisonburg and Winchester offices and assists with developing communication material through creative and innovative design work. She graduated from James Madison University with a BFA in Graphic Design. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, painting, and drawing. She speaks a little bit of the Chinese dialect Teochew.
Alex Maina
amaina@cwsglobal.org
Alex is primarily responsible for coordination of resettlement activities including the United States Reception and Placement (USRP) and case management, as well as supervising case management. He holds an MA in Public Policy and an MPA in Nonprofit/Organizational Management from Liberty University. He speaks Kiswahili and Ekegusii.
Alexis Nsabimana
ansabimana@cwsglobal.org
Alexis supports the case management team as a case management associate. He studied Clinical and Social Psychology at the Great Lakes University in Burundi. Before coming to the United States, he worked with different organizations that intervene in the field of gender-based sexual violence doing counseling for victims of HIV/AIDS. He worked for Mennonite Central Commmittee in Burundi and worked as a certified nurse assistant after arriving in the United States. He enjoys spending time with his family.
Ana Cruz
acruz@cwsglobal.org
Ana oversees the HSPRS program for both the Harrisonburg and Winchester offices. She provides supervision to case managers working with unaccompanied minors. Ana is a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University and holds an MA in Clinical Mental Health.
Arsalan Syan
asyan@cwsglobal.org
Arsalan is the Matching Grant Case Manager. He graduated from the University of Technology in Baghdad with a degree in Engineering and has worked with CWS as an employment specialist and case manager since 2017. He has four sons and lives with his wife in the Harrisonburg area. He also owns a trucking company. He speaks Kurdish and Arabic.
Blanca Correa
bcorrea@cwsglobal.org
Blanca is a Case manager for HSPRS and provides case management and home study services to unaccompanied children and their sponsors upon their release from federal care. She worked at Healthy Families of the Blue Ridge as a Family Support Specialist, after graduating from Bridgewater College with a Bachelor’s in Family and Consumer Sciences. Blanca enjoys spending time outdoors and with her family. Blanca speaks Spanish.
Nancy Muñoz
namunoz@cwsglobal.org
Nancy is the HSPRS Caseworker and provides case management and home study services to unaccompanied children and their sponsors upon their release from federal care. She completed her Bachelor’s in Social Work at James Madison University in May of 2022 and completed her field practicum with Healthy Families of the Blue Ridge. Nancy acted as the Interim Executive Director for the Fairfield Center in the summer of 2022. Nancy is a certified Juvenile & Domestic Relations Spanish-English mediator. She has been on the planning committee of the International Women’s Day March and the Harrisonburg International Festival representing the Spanish-speaking community. Nancy is passionate about community advocacy and interned with NewBridges Immigrant Resource Center early in her career to help people find beneficial local resources. Nancy loves to spend time with her family on her days off. Nancy loves to watch movies with her oldest daughter and dance to Latin music with her youngest two. She speaks Spanish.
Natalia Verko
nverko@cwsglobal.org
Natalia supports the case management team and works directly with Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolees. She is a Harrisonburg local and graduated from James Madison University with a BA in International Relations. In her free time, she loves to paint and draw. Natalia is fluent in Ukrainian.
Sandy Slater de Hernandez
sslaterdehernandez@cwsglobal.org
Sandy is a Case manager for HSPRS and provides case management and home study services to unaccompanied children and their sponsors upon their release from federal care. After graduating from James Madison University with degrees in Social Work and Spanish, she moved to Mexico City where she resided for 18 years before moving to Virginia with her family. Sandy has devoted her life to helping children and families flourish. She enjoys walking with her husband and grandpup, hanging out with her daughters, growing in her Christian faith, and enjoying authentic Mexican food with family and friends.
Aemal Yusufzai
ayusufzai@cwsglobal.org
Aemal helps new arrivals and long term clients find jobs and reach their career goals. His aim is to find the talents and guide them to the right path. He believes that every individual who comes to the U.S. has valuable talents and new ideas which can strengthen the community. He is fluent in English, Farsi, Russian, Urdu (Indian dialect) and basic Arabic and Spanish languages. He loves to learn about cultures and languages.
Deborah Wakilongo
dwakilongo@cwsglobal.org
Deborah was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and came to the USA with her family in 2014. She has a degree in Digital Media Art and Communication Studies from Bridgewater College. As the School Liaison, she helps school aged refugee children excel in their studies in their new home. She is a creative thinker with experience in developing social media and web design and customer service. Her hobbies are meeting new people, photography, and traveling.
Gulala Hassan
ghassan@cwsglobal.org
Gulala Hassan is the Adult Education and ESL Specialist. She graduated from University of Mosul College of Education in Iraq with a BA degree in English Language and graduated from Eastern Mennonite University with a Master's degree in ESL. Gulala worked as an English language teacher K-12 in Iraq for many years and is a member of the Iraqi Translators Association. She also is a Certified Medical Interpreter/Translator for Arabic and Kurdish languages by Blue Ridge AHEC. Previously she worked as a core coordinator/liaison officer between international NGOs and Kurdistan Reginal government in Iraq and HR and Finance Manager with the United Nations in Iraq-Erbil. She lives with her husband and four children in Harrisonburg. In her free time, she likes to cook, read, watch documentaries, and travel. She speaks English, is fluent in Kurdish and Arabic languages; good at Turkmani language and working on refreshing Farsi language.
Madison Reese
mreese@cwsglobal.org
Madison provides health education to refugee-eligible populations, helps newcomers navigate the United States healthcare system, and helps with access to health and mental health services. She is local to Harrisonburg and a recent graduate of Bridgewater College. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her nieces and nephews and her rescue pitbull, Valentine. In the upcoming years, Madison hopes to pursue her Master's Degree in Social Work so she can continue to welcome refugees to our community.
Rebecca Sprague
rsprague@cwsglobal.org
Rebecca leads the staff working on intensive case management, employment, career pathways, adult education, integration support, youth programming, and small community grants providing oversight of all operations and services. She represents the mission of the projects coordinated and serves on several local coalitions working collaboratively with other community agencies with the same goal.
Spes Manirambona
smanirambona@cwsglobal.org
Spes provides on-going and supportive services to help victim survivors of domestic violence cope with trauma while helping them access the additional resources available in the community. She provides support and accompaniment to court for individuals who wish to seek a protective order and helps the survivors to file for child support. She offers education and information about domestic violence prevention. Spes supports all individuals and families regardless of economic status, immigration status, gender identity, religious beliefs and/or ethnicity in crisis because of domestic violence. She likes raising livestock, and reading books, articles, research, and magazines about health. She speaks French, Kirundi, Kinyarwanda and Swahili.
Annie Regina
aregina@cwsglobal.org
Annie assists refugees and those seeking asylum throughout the entire immigration procedure while working as a paralegal for the immigration service. Annie graduated from Cincinnati State Technical & Community College with an Associate of Applied Business Degree (A.A.B) (Paralegal Studies) and from Purdue Global University with a BS in Legal Studies. She enjoys reading, traveling, cooking, listening to music, and being outside in nature.
Lucia Canizares
lcanizares@cwsglobal.org
Lucia is the Immigration Program Coordinator for both the Harrisonburg and Winchester offices. She assists clients with applications for legal services such as asylum, citizenship, green card applications, and family reunifications. She is accredited by the Department of Justice to practice immigration law. She speaks Spanish and French.
Rodrigue Makelele
rmakelele@cwsglobal.org
Rodrigue works with the CWS policy and advocacy team to develop and implement strategies to increase support for refugee resettlement with policymakers in the state of Virginia. He also supports building refugees’ civic engagement efforts in the State of Virginia through capacity building and trainings. He holds a Master’s degree in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA, and a B.S. in Information Technology from Institut Superieur d’Informatique et de Gestion in Goma, DRC. He speaks several languages including French, Swahili, and Lingala.