Office Director
Ellen Andrews has been the Director of the CWS Durham Office since December 2014. Ellen began working with refugees at CWS in 2009; first as an Employment Specialist, and then as the Employment Services Coordinator, managing our refugee employment programs. In her current role as office Director, Ellen manages the overall and daily operations of the Reception & Placement, Matching Grant, Preferred Communities, RAP, TAGD and Immigration Services programs at the Durham office and provides leadership and supervision to direct services staff. Ellen holds a BA in Psychology with a minor in Biology from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Refugee Services Coordinator

Monique Lohmeyer joined CWS as an Employment Specialist in April 2015 and moved to the PC Case Manager position in 2016. She is currently the Refugee Services Coordinator and supervises Case Management and Employment Services programs. She holds a BA in Communication Studies from UNCG. From 2013-2014 she participated in The World Race and traveled in 11 countries in 11 months. Working alongside local non-profit organizations in each country, she assisted in projects ranging from building schools to assisting in medical clinics, from visiting IDP camps in Haiti to aiding women leaving the sex industry in Thailand.  

Case Managers

Soni Muragizi joined CWS as a Refugee Case Manager in July 2016. His journey in supporting refugee resettlement began in 2007 with the UNHCR as an outreach officer in Kenya, training refugees in preparation for their resettlement to other countries. He arrived to the US in 2012 and worked as an over the phone interpreter with TeleLanguage providing interpretation in English, French, Kiswahili, and Kinyarwanda. He began working with CWS in 2014 as an interpreter, joined our ranks as an AmeriCorps Employment Specialist in 2015, and transitioned in 2016 to his current case manager position.

Krista Camp joined CWS as the Cuban Haitian Entrant Program (CHEP) Case Manager in November 2016 and currently as a Case Manager on the Reception & Placement Program. Before working at CWS, Krista served in the Peace Corps for 2 years in Ecuador. Krista holds a BA in Psychology and Politics from Washington and Lee University. She speaks English and Spanish and served for ten weeks at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2018 to help people seeking asylum.

Safia Taj Mohammad joined CWS in April of 2018. She serves as our Preferred Communities Case Manager, focusing on intensive case management in areas of mental health, physical health, and social adjustment. She speaks Dari and Urdu.

Employment Services
Nandini Sridhar joined CWS as an Employment Specialist in August 2017 after completing a year as an AmeriCorps ACCESS member with CWS Durham staff. Prior to working at CWS she served as an AmeriCorps member at IRC Miami. She holds a dual BA in International Studies and Spanish Language and Literature from UNC-Charlotte (’14). Nandini speaks Spanish.

Julia Hause started as an Employment Specialist for CWS Durham in September 2017. She served as an AmeriCrops ACCESS member for one year providing direct services and support to the Employment team before joining the staff full time. She has interned with the IRC in Baltimore, and spent time as an English assistant in France. She holds a BA in Anthropology from Eckerd College(’15) in St. Petersburg, FL.

Allyson Barkley joined CWS as an Employment Specialist in September 2017 after serving as an Employment Team intern through the summer of 2017. She is currently finishing a dual degree in Global Studies and Hispanic Literatures and Cultures at UNC Chapel Hill. Allyson has studied abroad in Spain and completed her honors thesis about the implications of the refugee and migrant crisis on European Union policy and identity. She speaks Spanish and some Portuguese.

Immigration Legal Team

Kelly Chauvin serves CWS as the Immigration Services Coordinator, and began at our site as an Immigration Counselor in September 2013. Prior to that, Kelly served with the NC Immigrant Rights Project and El Centro Hispano working in immigration law with a focus on immigrant rights and fighting racial profiling. Before working in immigration, Kelly served in the Peace Corps for 3 years in Guatemala. Kelly holds a BA in Psychology. She speaks Spanish and has lived and studied abroad in Spain and Guatemala.

Rebecca Schaeffer serves as an Immigration Counselor at our legal office. Rebecca served as an Employment Specialist for the CWS Durham office beginning in June 2010. Before joining CWS, Rebecca worked for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration in Washington, DC. Rebecca holds a BA in International Relations with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies. She speaks French and Arabic, and has lived and studied abroad in England, France, Jordan, and India. In addition to working full-time for CWS, Rebecca is enrolled in the Weekend Executive MBA program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Katherine (Cas) Cogswell serves as an Immigration Counselor at our legal office.  Prior to CWS, Cas served at Duke’s Center for Child and Family Policy as a Research Project Manager.  Cas holds a MPA from the Hubert Humphrey School of Public Policy. Before moving to Durham, Cas served seven years as a Program Officer with the Seattle Workforce Development Council, developing and implementing workforce development programs throughout King County. In addition, Cas is a certified ESL instructor and has taught at Durham Technical Community College and with the English Under the Arches program English Literacy program sponsored by the McDonald’s corporation. Cas has traveled in Central and South America, Spain, and India and speaks Spanish.

Alyssa Clauser is an immigration legal counselor at our legal office. She has been working with CWS since October of 2016. She holds a BA in Political Science from UNCG and a MA in International Studies from NCSU. During her studies, Alyssa specialized in researching immigrant and refugee policy in the United States. After completing her BA, she served a year as an AmeriCorps ACCESS member at a nonprofit in Asheville, where she worked as an immigration legal assistant and employment specialist. Alyssa has studied abroad in Sweden. She speaks English and is a beginner Spanish speaker.

ESL and Volunteer Coordination
Melanie Duhon started out as a volunteer ESL teacher at CWS Durham in 2015 and took on an official position as ESL teacher and Volunteer Coordinator in 2018.  She holds a dual BS from Duke in biology and art history and earned her ESL Teaching Certificate from Wake Tech in 2015. Mel loves to travel, and has visited over 40 countries!  She lived in Beijing, China with her family for three years before returning to the Durham area in 2014.

Advocacy
Kokou Nayo usually goes by Nayo. He is a Refugee Organizer at CWS Durham. He did his practicum with CWS two years ago and had work on and off with CWS while continuing his studies. He served briefly on the Town of Chapel Hill’s Park, Recreation, and Greenways commission before moving to Durham. He holds a Bachelors in Social Work form UNCG and a Masters in Community Management and Policy Practice form UNC Chapel Hill. He worked as English teacher and as a coordinator for a HIV/AIDS orphan NGO in Togo, and enjoys teaching and working with our refugee and immigrant population.

Development

Sarah Jacoby Murphy serves as the Development Coordinator at CWS Durham. She began this position in 2018 after completing an internship with CWS in 2017. Before moving to Durham, Sarah worked in Buffalo, NY as an AmeriCorps service member for a housing rehabilitation program that provided affordable housing for refugees. She holds a Masters of Divinity from Duke University, a BA from Houghton College, and has studied abroad in England and Mexico.

Accounting

Clarissa Bacon joined CWS in 2017 as the NC Accounting Assistant for both the Durham and Greensboro offices.  Her background is in non-profit accounting.  She is a long time resident of Durham and has traveled extensively. She holds a BA in Accounting with a minor in History from Transylvania University in Lexington, KY.

AMERICORPS – CWS is proud to host Americorps members through the Americorps ACCESS program.