Alumna to head immigration organisation

  • June 29, 2017
Alumna to head immigration organisation

Wendi Adelson has been named executive director of the Immigration Partnership & Coalition (IMPAC) Fund.

A Gates Cambridge Scholar has been named executive director of an organisation focused on raising funds to finance existing legal services for undocumented individuals with no criminal background in the US.

Wendi Adelson has been appointed head of the Immigration Partnership & Coalition (IMPAC) Fund.

Prior to IMPAC, Adelson served as a law clerk to the Honorable Adalberto Jordan on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from 2015 to 2016 and for seven years was a law professor specialising in immigration at Florida State University. 

“IMPAC is rounding out the civic ecosystem in Florida by bringing a rational business perspective to the immigration arena. I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to work with all of these community leaders in the effort to support and promote policies and practices that recognise the vital contribution that immigrants make to our economy and our communities,” said Adelson.

IMPAC Fund was formed in May 2017 by a group of civic and business leaders in Florida whose mission is to highlight injustices that are occurring with deportations and the immigrant population in the United States. The organisation’s efforts focus on fundraising for the defence of non-felon undocumented residents to protect them and their families from deportation.

Adelson is also the author of This is Our Story, a novel about human trafficking.  The book tells the fictional story of three women – a public interest immigration attorney in Florida and two victims of human trafficking. The attorney's life is based on Wendi's own experiences and the victims are a compilation of the hundreds of stories she heard in the course of her work highlights the victims' vulnerability and how they got involved in trafficking.Wendi [2002] studied for an MPhil in International Relations at the University of Cambridge.

*Picture credit: A Day Without Immigration c/o Wikimedia commons.

Latest News

How might extreme heat contribute to human migration?

Rising temperatures due to climate change are likely influencing human migration patterns, according to a new study co-authored by Gates Cambridge Scholar Dr Kim van Daalen [2018]. The study, led by Rita Issa of University College London, is published today in the open-access journal PLOS Climate. It looks at the role of heat in human […]

Scholar scoops prestigious science innovation fellowship

Freja Ekman has been named one of the 2023 class of Hertz Fellows as the prestigious fellowship celebrates its 60th year. The 15 fellowships in applied science, engineering and mathematics are awarded by Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, a non-profit organisation for innovators in science and technology. Winners will have their graduate studies funded for […]

Scholar hosts first UN communications technology access meeting in India

Gates Cambridge Scholar Pradipta Biswas has hosted a UN meeting on improving access to communications technology – the first ever held in India. The meeting of ITU-T Study Group 9 (SG-9) on “Broadband Cable and Television/Audiovisual content transmission and integrated broadband cable networks”  was held in May at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru […]

The role of storytelling in addressing colonial trauma

When she was growing up, Briseyda Barrientos Ariza [2023] spent her childhood summers in rural Guatemala, visiting her grandparents. In the evenings she would listen to her grandfather, a man who couldn’t read or write, tell intricate stories about his and others’ encounters with female folkloric figures. Two stood out in particular: La Llorona and […]