In Memoriam
Alain Mentha
(1966–2023) Co-Founder, Executive Director
An immigrant himself, Alain Mentha was driven to action following the darkening rhetoric around immigration during the 2016 elections. While Alain himself was born in Quebec, Canada, his father was from Switzerland where the family had sheltered Jews fleeing Nazi Germany. Here in Jersey City, Alain made the material and emotional support of newly arrived refugees and asylees a priority in his life that came to be shared by many of those around him. Thanks in large part to his efforts, the lives of hundreds of immigrants (and those who stood to welcome them) were forever changed. While Alain’s presence and contagious smile may no longer be with us, his spirit lives on in all we do.
Betsey Barnum
Secretary
Betsey initially got involved with Welcome Home because she had been the Associate Director of a school for English as a Second Language in Prague, Czech Republic and thought she could utilize those skills in her new hometown of Jersey City. Knowing several other Welcome Home volunteers through her children’s school, Betsey realized there were so many ways she could use her organizational skills. With the initial help of Founder, Laura Dunn McBride, she began her work in clothing, backpack, and holiday drives, helping out with moving storage items, and the general overall aid of Welcome Home. Volunteering at Welcome Home Jersey City has reinforced for Betsey just how important it is for all of us to be humanists when it comes to all struggles, both local and international, and to help when one is able. Betsey joined the Board in 2018.
Priti Chitnis Gress
Vice Chair
Priti Chitnis Gress serves as Board Vice Chair and chairs the Donations, Drives, Deliveries (3D) Committee. An immigrant from India, she appreciated the help of friends and neighbors when her family came to the U.S. and is grateful to support new families in the same way through Welcome Home. She is publisher of Hippocrene Books, an independent press specializing in international-themed nonfiction. She resides in Hoboken, N.J. with her husband and two children, who volunteer and fundraise for Welcome Home. Priti joined the Board in 2020.
Dawit Kibreab
Treasurer
Dawit began volunteering with Welcome Home after hearing in the local news that Welcome Home needed translation assistance for the newly arrived refugees. Having left his country as a refugee himself it has always been important for Dawit to give back and be involved in the community. Professionally, Dawit has extensive work experience as a management consultant with major consulting firms. Currently, he works as an independent consultant with education technology companies. Dawit joined the Board in 2020.
Roman Maluchnik
Board member
Roman studied public health and public administration at Rutgers University. He currently works in health system strategic operations and analytics, focused on improving healthcare access and performance. His commitment to service and global health has led him to volunteer on medical and public health initiatives in Ghana and Honduras between 2013 and 2018, and to study urban development in Seoul, South Korea, where he gained a broader perspective on how cities and systems shape community well-being. He has been an active volunteer with Welcome Home Jersey City’s 3D Committee since 2021, where he enjoys supporting the organization’s friends and helping foster a strong, inclusive community. He also volunteers with his local animal shelter, assisting with animal care and adoption support.
Dave Mammen
Board Chair
Dave Mammen has been the Administrator of Rutgers Presbyterian Church in New York City since 2011, leading the church’s efforts to co-sponsor 4 refugee families and co-sponsor the Refugee Employment Project with B’nai Jeshurun. He is a city planner and has served as the CEO of nonprofit organizations concerned with international development. Dave was a Fulbright Research Scholar in Japan and visiting professor at Kyoto University where he authored the book Creating Recovery: Values and Approaches in New York after 9/11. He joined the Welcome Home board in 2020.
Bess Morrison
Board Member
Bess started her career singing opera, but has spent most of her time performing in musical theater both in the US and Europe. She has taught voice at the Eugene O’Neill Center’s National Theater Institute, as well as privately in New York City. She continues to teach both voice and piano in her Jersey City studio. When looking for a way to teach English to refugees in 2016, she found Welcome Home, and fell in love with the work and the people. Bess Co-Chairs the Employment and Education Committee with her husband Fred Miller. Bess joined the Board in 2018.
Kara Murphy
Co-Founder
Kara co-founded Welcome Home Jersey City in 2016 with Alain Mentha and Laura McBride to help support newly resettled refugees in Jersey City. At that time, millions of Syrians were being displaced by civil war, and Kara learned that some of those families had been resettled in her hometown with limited support. After volunteering to set up an apartment for one newly arrived family, she organized a coat drive for a dozen families where she met Alain and Laura. That partnership led to building a network of English tutors, large-scale donation drives and more. Every time Kara turned to her neighbors for help, she found people eager to do so. In that spirit of community Welcome Home Jersey City was born. Kara works in investments, spends time with her husband and three children and continues to serve on the board of Welcome Home Jersey City.
Makiko Oku
Board Member
Makiko Oku is a Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University. Her academic work examines the intersections of gender, human rights, and violence, extending to the “comfort women” issue in Asia and A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. She received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University and B.A. from Ritsumeikan University. She was born in Japan and raised in the US and Japan. She is an avid marathoner. She joined the Board in 2021 and chairs the Fund Development Committee.