Team | Community Sponsorship Hub

Meet Our Team

Sarah Krause

Executive Director & Co-Founder

Sarah Krause

Executive Director & Co-Founder

Sarah Krause, MS is the Executive Director & Co-Founder of the Community Sponsorship Hub. With over 20 years of refugee service experience, she began her career as a sponsorship developer for a local resettlement agency, encouraging area groups to join with the agency in welcoming arriving refugee families. Since then she has served in executive leadership roles with nongovernmental organizations focused on relief, development, and protection. Sarah has a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from Eastern University.

Mesbah Aini

Program Officer, Oversight, Monitoring, and Evaluation

Mesbah Aini

Program Officer, Oversight, Monitoring, and Evaluation

Mesbah Aini worked in humanitarian assistance programs with Afghanistan’s Ministry of foreign affairs for nearly a decade. He has coordinated, monitored, and evaluated USAID, IOM, and UNHCR humanitarian, emergency assistance, IDPs, and returnee refugees' resettlement programs and projects. He has a bachelor’s degree in Law and International Affairs, a Post-bachelor’s degree in communication, and is completing his LLM in International Legal Studies focusing on Immigration and Humanitarian Law at American University, Washington College of Law. Mesbah speaks English, Dari/Farsi, Pashtu, and Arabic.

Stephanie Clegg

Director, Communications

Stephanie Clegg

Director, Communications

Stephanie Clegg is the Communications Director at Community Sponsorship Hub, drawing on nearly two decades of experience in the nonprofit sector across workforce development, philanthropy, tax policy and independent news organizations. Her work has centered on translating complex research into digestible formats for a variety of audiences, including legislators, funders, partners and advocates. Creative communications is both a professional and personal passion. In 2012, Stephanie coordinated the first U.S. exhibition of Poster for Tomorrow, an international art exhibit centered on human rights issues including the freedom of movement. She is a published artist and serves on the board of Jobsite Theater, a nonprofit professional theater company in Tampa, FL.

Dawit Demissie

Associate Director, Sponsor Circle Program

Dawit Demissie

Associate Director, Sponsor Circle Program

Dawit Demissie is the Associate Director of the Sponsor Circle Program at Community Sponsorship Hub. Dawit started working in refugee resettlement as an employment advocate and then as a resettlement manager with Lutheran Social Services in Falls Church, Virginia. Beginning in 2009, he started working for the International Rescue Committee as a senior program manager, managing multiple programs and initiatives. He has worked in refugee resettlement for the past two decades in various capacities, including management, fundraising, and advocacy. Dawit graduated from Ethiopia's Alemaya Agricultural University with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering.

Beth Frank

Director, Sponsor Circle Program

Beth Frank

Director, Sponsor Circle Program

Elizabeth Frank is the Program Director, Sponsor Circle Program for Afghans. She brings nearly 20 years of experience in global and domestic migration, including refugee resettlement, processing, community development and emergency response. In 2002 while in the Peace Corps in Armenia, she saw first-hand the important role and impacts of migration on communities and families. Since then, she has led program and evaluation efforts for refugees living in Cairo, Egypt, migrant populations in the U.S. affected by natural disaster or public health crises, and Darfuri refugees in Chad. Elizabeth earned her Master of Science in Migration, Mobility and Development from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

Aubrey Grant

Program Officer, Catalyst Fund and Research

Aubrey Grant

Program Officer, Catalyst Fund and Research

Aubrey Grant, PhD(c), MPP, is a Program Officer at the Community Sponsorship Hub. She began working in refugee resettlement in 2009, serving as a case manager for Church World Service in Greensboro, North Carolina. Over the past decade she has worked in various roles in refugee resettlement research, advocacy, and policy. Aubrey received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Affairs from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, a Master of Public Policy from American University, and is completing a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy from George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government.

Lucas Horgan

Operations Manager

Lucas Horgan

Operations Manager

Lucas Horgan is the Operations Manager at Community Sponsorship Hub. For 15 years he has worked in the nonprofit realm helping programs efficiently run their finance and operations. Lucas began his career in Boston working with programs that support people living with developmental disabilities. His work has expanded to include programs that support a variety of vulnerable populations, from those living with Epilepsy to the pursuit of solutions for far-reaching public health issues. Lucas holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Endicott College.

Lucretia Keenan

Strategist, Sponsorship Expansion and Coordination

Lucretia Keenan

Strategist, Sponsorship Expansion and Coordination

Lucretia is a Strategist for the Community Sponsorship Hub. Prior to this, Lucretia served as a program lead for the International Migration Initiative at the Open Society Foundations from 2016-2021. In that role, she supported a number of global portfolios focused on expanding rights and protections for refugees and other forcibly displaced people and deepening investment in community-centered initiatives that encourage more welcoming societies. She's also held positions with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Public Agenda, and the International Action Network on Small Arms. She holds a master's degree in international relations from New York University, and bachelor's degrees in political science and international studies from Loyola University Chicago.

Mira Mendick

Program Officer, Capacity Building and Support

Mira Mendick

Program Officer, Capacity Building and Support

Mira Mendick is a Program Officer with the Community Sponsorship Hub. Her experience in refugee resettlement began in 2016, managing volunteers and a community sponsorship program at the local level, leveraging the outpouring of support during the Syrian crisis. Mira has spent the last few years doing similar work, focused on community outreach and supporting community engagement in resettlement, on the national level at USCCB and HIAS. Mira has her MPA with a focus on nonprofit management from Clark University.

Deb
Stein

Senior Liaison, Strategic Partnerships

Deb
Stein

Senior Liaison, Strategic Partnerships

Deb Stein is the Senior Liaison, Strategic Partnerships with the Community Sponsorship Hub. For almost 25 years she has served numerous roles in refugee resettlement. Starting as a volunteer ESL tutor for Russian speaking refugees resettled in Tucson, AZ she eventually went on to hold positions with local and national resettlement agencies as well as overseas processing. Deb served as the Director of Episcopal Migration Ministries from 2008-2016 and has since consulted for a variety of NGOs and nonprofits concentrating on refugee protection, resettlement, and integration issues. Deb holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Russian Area Studies from Northern Arizona University.

Corey Wilson

Development Manager

Corey Wilson

Development Manager

Corey Wilson is the Development Manager at Community Sponsorship Hub. Specializing in fundraising strategy and creative donor communications, she has dedicated her career to helping non-profits create enduring impact. Corey began her career in higher education fundraising, and has since worked for a diverse range of non-profits, including environmental, advocacy and human services organizations. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Scripps College.

Nele Feldmann

Advisor

Nele Feldmann

Advisor

Nele Feldmann is an Advisor at the Community Sponsorship Hub where she is leading the organization’s work to launch private university sponsorship of refugee youth in the United States. She previously served as the Executive Coordinator of the Global Task Force on Third Country Education Pathways and as the Head of Student Emergency Initiatives at the Institute of International Education where she supported the creation of higher education pathways for refugee students globally. Nele has more than eight years of experience in designing, managing, and supporting programs that expand access to higher education for international, refugee, and displaced student populations. Nele graduated from the University of Bonn in Germany with a master’s in Translation for Arabic and French and a bachelor’s in Political Science. She worked and studied in France, Egypt, and Syria.

Kit O'Connor

Consulting Program Associate

Kit O'Connor

Consulting Program Associate

Kit O’Connor is a Consulting Program Associate in Case Processing for the Sponsor Circle Program at Community Sponsorship Hub. They began working in refugee advocacy at Amnesty International USA first as the volunteer Legislative Coordinator for Vermont and later as a Campaign Organizer in the Refugee and Migrant Rights Campaign. In these positions, they fostered leaders in local communities to take actions designed to proclaim “Refugees Welcome.” They later served as a Victim’s Advocate for a local resettlement agency in Kentucky. Prior to work in refugee advocacy, they were an educator and involved in various social justice organizations. Kit holds a a bachelor’s degree in history from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in education from Harvard.