Staff
C. Lynn Robson, President
Lynn Robson was appointed ISED President July 1, 2008. Lynn brings a rich background in non-profit management, international development, economic development, and asset building. Ms. Robson recently returned from three and a half years in Afghanistan where she served as the program quality officer for Catholic Relief Services developing agriculture, water and education programs. Subsequently she managed public health programs for Save the Children developing hospital, clinic and health post delivery of basic health services as well as established a regional Midwife School. Prior to Afghanistan, Ms. Robson led three non-profit community development programs in the State of Montana, a three-county development corporation and the Montana State Department of Commerce microfinance program through twelve communities. The cost benefit analysis led by Ms Robson at the Montana Department of Commerce was awarded the President's Award for Excellence in Microenterprise in 1998. The Department of Commerce program won the U.S. Small Business Administration national award for the outstanding business technical assistance featuring a unique partnership between community SBDCs and CAP agencies. For eight years, Ms. Robson served on the International Board of Directors of Partners of America, which formed hemisphere community development partnerships addressing indigenous people's rights, women's democratic action, infrastructure development such as water and sanitation, and satellite public education. Ms. Robson served on the University of Montana's President's Council, the Montana Community Foundation, the Montana Economic Developers Association, and the Governor's Council for Montana's Future. She was a Presidential appointee to the U.S. Small Business Administration Region VIII Board of Advisors. Ms. Robson was a member of the founding Board of Directors of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO). She holds certification as an Economic Development Finance Professional from the National Development Council.
Peggy Gilbert, Senior Program Advisor
Peggy Gilbert, ISED's Senior Program Advisor, leads the Wilson-Fish Alternative Resettlement Program. Ms. Gilbert has extensive experience working with refugees, human service agencies, and providing technical assistance to agencies operating innovative programs that serve refugees and other disenfranchised populations. Her professional experience encompasses program development, planning, and implementation. Prior to joining ISED, she provided leadership in the refugee programs field nationally, directing the Refugee Resettlement Program for World Relief for 13 years. At World Relief, she managed 26 local affiliates, developed and provided oversight to refugee processing in Haiti, as well as social service provision to detainees at Guantanamo Naval Base in Joint Task Force 160. She has also provided broad national leadership through a variety of means. For instance, she facilitated national agency planning, chaired the Refugee Resettlement Subcommittee at InterAction, and served on two Department of State/Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration task forces. She also served on the Placement Academy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR); the Amerasian Planning Task Force; and the Refugee Overseas Orientation Task Force. She has been a long time advocate for refugee protection and adequate assistance to refugees accepted into the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program. She holds a Master of Science degree in counseling and administration from the University of Bridgeport. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and biblical studies.
Meredith Lee, Senior Researcher
Ms. Lee began her career in the refugee resettlement program at World Relief, learning resettlement from the ground up, moving from case processing to the program management team. Meredith managed the reporting, monitoring and evaluation functions along with proposal development for Department of State/PRM and Office of Refugee Resettlement programs for a 26-affiliate network. In her final position at World Relief, she directed administrative operations and communications for the Senior Vice President of Programs, developing a support structure that successfully managed 2,000 staff serving in 30 countries with a total program budget of $50 million. In 2002, she launched her own consulting business, providing research, writing and project management services for a broad range of clients including relief and development agencies, health care entities, educational institutions and faith-based organizations. Meredith is coauthor of EthNYcity: The nations, tongues and faiths of Metropolitan New York (2010), which features ethnographic profiles of 82 significant immigrant groups in Metro New York. She earned a BA in history from The King’s College and a MA in social science from Montclair State University.
Daniel Krotz, Rural Development and Microenterprise Specialist
Mr. Krotz has provided technical assistance to public and private non-profit agencies operating business development service programs and refugee and immigrant service programs across the U.S. and internationally. His consultation with ethnic non-profits has focused on strategic planning, developing business plans, board training, and program design and implementation. Mr. Krotz has been very active in national organizations of Southeast Asians, including serving on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Vietnamese American Service Agencies (NAVASA) and being a member of the Hmong American Organization. Mr. Krotz served Executive Director of the Centre for Asian and Pacific Islanders, a mutual assistance agency for Asian immigrants and refugees. Mr. Krotz is a partner in a venture capital firm in St. Paul, Minnesota and has managed equity positions in more than 50 businesses. He has also consulted extensively with for-profit companies, on improvements in marketing, management, and financing. Mr. Krotz holds a B.S. in planning from the University of Minnesota and an M.A. from Hamline University.
Phillip Black, Economic Development Specialist
Mr. Black brings special expertise in loan fund administration and has 16 years experience in small business development, marketing, finance, fundraising, public relations, training, and results-based project management. Mr. Black has designed, facilitated, and tracked success for business/financial planning workshops and has acted as a business consultant for retail, service and construction firms to secure conventional and public sector financing sources, totaling $6.8 million.
Marijana Ababovic, ISED Senior Project Manager
Marijana Ababovic, ISED Senior Project Manager, has worked in the refugee microentreprise and IDA field from 1996. Ms. Ababovic first worked as a Business Consultant and then Program Director in a refugee micro enterprise program in upstate New York. From 2005, she has been engaged by ISED first as a consultant in ORR refugee micro enterprise program, and then a project manager for both IDAs and Micro enterprise agencies. Ms. Ababovic brings strong training skills to ORR grantees, stemming from 20 years of teaching and training, and coupled with her education in business management and finance, it allows her to transfer best business practices to non for profit organizations. Her expertise is improving efficiencies in non for profits, through improved knowledge of their target market - refugee populations and their needs. In her consulting work, she is interested in facilitating learning and change. She holds an MBA in finance, consulting and marketing from William E. Simon School of Business, University of Rochester.
George J. Wright, ISED Consultant to Ethnic Communities
Mr. Wright specializes in organizational capacity development, program design, and earned income strategies, with expertise in refugee and immigrant integration programming. Mr. Wright presents a nine-year portfolio of relevant experience. As the former Executive Director of the Association of Africans Living in Vermont, Inc., Mr. Wright grew the organization's budget ten-fold, implemented three workforce development projects, and successfully incorporated disparate African national and ethnic groups into comprehensive community-building strategies. Mr. Wright's other experience includes technical assistance to ethnic community-based organizations, policy research, and management of numerous federal, state, local, and foundation grants and contracts. Mr. Wright holds a Master's Degree in Human Rights from the University of Essex, Human Rights Center (UK) and a Bachelor's Degree from Middlebury College. Mr. Wright is a native of Bangor, Maine.
Sara Jadambaa, Accounting Specialist
Sara Jadambaa, Accounting Specialist, has joined ISED Solutions in May 2009. Ms. Jadambaa brings eight years of office management, personnel and procurement experience in both private and nonprofit organizations. She has worked for six years with United Nations Development Program in Mongolia at the operations department as well as Energy Efficient Housing project as Admin and Finance Assistant. Sara brings to ISED a results oriented work ethic, strong interpersonal and communication skills gained from working with individuals from diverse backgrounds. She holds an MBA in Accounting from Strayer University, Washington DC (2008) and MS in Engineering from Mongolian University of Science and Technology (1997).
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Carrie McCabe, Intern
Carrie McCabe is a graduate student at the Fletcher School for Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University. Carrie is an intern on ISED Solutions’ Somali Bantu Community Development Project. Prior to her studies at Fletcher, Carrie worked as a paralegal for the Boston-based immigration law firm Ross, Silverman & Levy, LLP, preparing asylum cases for adjudication. Carrie was also an active volunteer at the International Rescue Committee Boston. Carrie joined the project in May of 2009.
Katie Spencer, Intern
Katie Spencer is a graduate student at the Fletcher School for Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University. Katie is an intern on ISED Solutions’ Somali Bantu Community Development Project. Katie came to Fletcher from Chemonics International Inc. – the large international development firm – and worked as an Associate II for the Africa Region department. Katie has also worked as a volunteer with Somali Bantu refugees in Utica, New York, which is one of this year’s served communities. Katie joined the project in November of 2009.
Russell St. Onge, Intern
Russell St. Onge is an intern at ISED's headquarters in Washington, DC. He joined ISED Solutions in May of 2010 and has been working as an administrative and research assistant. Russell is an undergraduate student at the University of Richmond, where he is studying economics and sociology. He has excellent research skills and an extensive knowledge of economic theory. He plans to graduate in the spring of 2011.
Sally Dijkerman, Intern
Sally Dijkerman graduated from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota this spring with a major in Anthropology and a concentration in Community and Global Health. She studied abroad with the School for International Training in India and Nepal among Tibetan communities-in-exile. Sally has worked with several ethnic community-based organizations in Minnesota, including the Karen Organization of Minnesota and Hope International Health and Social Services, Inc. She has also interned at organizations such as ECHO, an Emergency and Community Health Outreach non profit, and the Center for Asian and Pacific Immigrants (CAPI) as a researcher. Sally is currently working as a shared intern with the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Victims of Torture program.
