Healey: New leadership team to take over state agency | Massachusetts

(The Center Square) – A new leadership team is taking shape in the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants.

Three key leadership appointments will lead efforts to ensure refugees and immigrants coming to Massachusetts are met with comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally appropriate services and supports, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey said Tuesday.

Cristina Aguilera Sandoval will become executive director of the office at a salary of $160,000, while Ronnie Millar will serve as director of strategic initiatives, and Susan Church will serve as chief operating officer. Millar and Church will each earn salaries of $149,277.

“Massachusetts’ immigrant and refugee communities make our state stronger,” Healey said in a statement. “Cristina, Ronnie, and Susan are uniquely qualified to lead an office that celebrates the contributions of immigrants and refugees and connects them with the resources and services they need to thrive here. Their leadership is particularly important in this moment as we prepare for the implementation of the Work and Family Mobility Act and continue the challenging work of connecting families with safe and secure housing amidst our housing crisis.”

Aguilera Sandoval currently serves as executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative and will take her new position on June 16, according to a release. Millar is the former executive director of the Rian Immigrant Center and started her new position on Monday. Church is an immigration attorney with more than a quarter-century of experience and joined the office Tuesday in the new role.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh said Aguilera Sandoval will serve as the “chief advocate” for refugees and immigrants. Millar will work to bring together legal assistance, housing, employment, and health care, while Church will drive policy and program initiatives.

“At a time when so many people are displaced by conflict, persecution, failed economies, and climate change impacts, including my family, this country is seen as a beacon of hope,” Aguilera Sandoval said in a statement. “Massachusetts prides itself in being a welcoming state, and together, we can ensure that we live up to our values. My immigrant family and I have been able to thrive in this Commonwealth, and I have dedicated my career to advocating for all immigrants and refugees to be able to do the same.”

Aguilera Sandoval earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at the Universidad de Carabobo in Venezuela and possesses a master’s in public administration from the LKY School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Millar began working in human services in 2000 and is a graduate of the UMass Boston College of Public and Community Services. He has received the Order of the British Empire award in community service and received a national Changemaker Award in 2021 from the Institute for Non-Profit Practice.

Church, who started her law firm in 2005, successfully sued the Trump administration over its travel ban policy and family separation policy. She has served as the chairwoman of the American Immigration Lawyers of New England from 2017-18.

Mary Truong, who is the current executive director of the office, will shift in her position to director of citizens for new Americans program.