Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative Hires Luiza Souza as Program Manager

The Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative is pleased to announce it has hired Luiza Souza to serve as program manager for the coalition of immigrant support organizations that came together at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic to provide emergency relief to immigrant communities across the Commonwealth. Souza has experience in legal, health and educational community outreach and project management.

“As the Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative looks to the future, we are thrilled to have Luiza join us as program manager,” said steering committee members Natalicia Tracy, Patricia Sobalvarro and Ronnie Millar. “We found Luiza to be a wonderful candidate for the position because the role combines her passion for immigration advocacy and community outreach as well as her program management and community engagement abilities. We look forward to working with her to bolster the efforts of the Collaborative to continue to support immigrant families.”

Souza is driven by a passion for social justice. As an immigrant from Brazil, Souza works towards improving the lives of immigrants and refugees in the U.S. and fighting for health equity in underserved communities. She has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, engaging diverse stakeholders from across communities to further an organization’s mission. Prior to joining the Collaborative, Souza served as a senior project coordinator at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, program coordinator at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and community outreach coordinator at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. In addition to those roles she also served on Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s team, the International Institute of New England and Cape Cod Community Health Center. Souza has a Bachelor of Arts from Bridgewater State University and is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

In the newly created role, Souza will work under the direction of the steering committee to fulfill the mission and vision of the Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative. She will identify long- and short-term goals for the Collaborative while working with the 15 partner organizations to carry forward the Collaborative’s priorities. She will also liaise with advocacy organizations, consulates, service providers, and state and federal governmental offices to support the needs of the immigrant community in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative was formed through initial funding from the Boston Resiliency Fund to provide direct, emergency relief to immigrant households regardless of legal status through financial assistance and food assistance. Since April 13, 2020, the Collaborative has supported more than 20,000 immigrants by direct cash assistance as well as meals and fresh produce.

The Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative is comprised of 15 nonprofit immigrant support organizations serving diverse communities across the Commonwealth including: Agencia ALPHA; Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC); Brazilian Workers Center; Caribbean Youth Club; Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores; Centro Presente; Boston International Newcomers Academy’s Center for Collaborative Education (BINcA); Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI); ICNA Relief; Immigrant Family Services Institute (IFSI); Metrowest Worker Center/Casa del Trabajador/Casa do Trabalhador; New North Citizens Council; Pioneer Valley Workers’ Center; Rian Immigrant Center; and Sociedad Latina.

The Rian Immigrant Center serves as the lead partner and fiscal sponsor to ensure efficient and transparent disbursement of funds directly to families in diverse immigrant communities and in coordination with Boston’s existing food distribution operators. The steering committee is comprised of Agencia ALPHA Executive Director Patricia Sobalvarro, Brazilian Worker Center Executive Director Natalicia Tracy and Rian Immigrant Center Executive Director Ronnie Millar.

 The City of Boston produced a video about the Collaborative which can be viewed here.

For more information, please visit immigrantrelief.org.