FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2024

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NILC Taps Kate Kahan as Executive Vice President of Programs

WASHINGTON — The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and NILC Immigrant Justice Fund (IJF) this week welcomed Kate Kahan, a nationally recognized advocate for racial and economic justice, as executive vice president of programs.

Kahan has spent three decades building power and fighting for justice at the local, state, and federal levels, including 10 years in the immigrant rights movement. She got involved in activism as a single mom on welfare and led a welfare rights organization as well as a feminist activist organization before working on the Senate Finance Committee on low-income issues, childcare, child welfare, unemployment insurance, and tribal affairs.

Kica Matos, president of NILC and IJF, said: “Kate Kahan is a powerhouse advocate whose deep professional and lived experience will help NILC further our mission to defend and advance the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their loved ones. Her successful track record of coalition building and political organizing will help build the power of the immigrant rights movement and strengthen NILC’s capacity to promote justice, equality, and dignity for immigrants.”

Before joining NILC and IJF, Kahan served as the chief of strategy and partnerships at People’s Action. She also led Community Change’s federal advocacy work for 13 years, where she worked on building political power through grassroots organizing; promoting immigrant rights, economic justice, and racial and gender equity; and strengthening capacity in the social justice movement. Kahan also held senior positions at the National Partnership for Women & Families and the Vera Institute of Justice working on labor standards and criminal legal reform.

Kate Kahan, executive vice president of programs at NILC and IJF, said: “I am honored to join NILC, an organization that shares my commitment to fighting poverty, advancing racial equity, and building community power to achieve a world in which all of us, regardless of immigration status, have the freedom to thrive.”

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