email : Webview : DWN Announces Co-Directors and New Shared Leadership Model

Para Espa ñ ol

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Steering Committee and staff at Detention Watch Network (DWN), I am thrilled to announce the appointment of Ana K. Carrion and Silky Shah as Co- Directors of the Detention Watch Network. As longtime DWN staff, Ana and Silky have played a critical role in building the power of the Network to challenge and expose the injustices of the U.S. immigration detention system. Together they have increased visibility on detention issues, expanded DWN’s base locally and nationally, and worked with members to envision a world without immigrant detention. More recently, they worked seamlessly to move forward DWN’s key projects including: the End the Quota campaign, the Expose and Close reports and the 10th National DWN Member Conference.

DWN has always had a collective structure in decision-making and distribution of work, so moving towards a collective leadership model really made sense. The DWN Steering Committee is excited to bring our leadership structure more firmly in line with our core values.

Ana and Silky bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their leadership roles. Ana has over fifteen years experience working in administration, project management and fundraising for local, national and international organizations. Silky has been working in the field of immigrant rights for over ten years and brings her experience and skills in education and grassroots organizing, communications, and program management.

DWN is also expanding its presence nationally. In addition to our main office in Washington, DC, DWN will also have staff on the West Coast in California and in Washington State.

Along with the rest of our amazing DWN staff, I know that you will join me in congratulating Ana and Silky as they move into their new positions and with our Network of dedicated and committed organizations and individuals, continue and expand upon our work together for dignity and justice for all.

Sincerely,

Amanda Lugg

DWN Steering Committee Chair

Director of Advocacy, African Services Committee

Learn More about Ana and Silky

Ana K. Carrión has over fifteen years experience working in the nonprofit sector in project administration and grant management. Ana joined DWN in 2010 and has served in various roles in administration, finance and fundraising and membership program development. In these roles, she managed the budget, strengthened administrative and financial tools and played a key role in funder and donor outreach. She led the customization of the organizational database, oversaw improvements to DWN’s online tools and implemented new strategies to engage membership and grow the Network.

Prior to joining DWN, Ana managed an AmeriCorps grant program for the Catholic Volunteer Network, a national membership organization of over 80 faith-based volunteer programs. Before that, Ana served as Coordinator for Project Gettysburg/Leon, a sister city between Leon, Nicaragua and Gettysburg, PA. As Coordinator, she worked closely with civil society organizations and partners in local government to support community-led projects in Leon that included a maternal health clinic, a community art school, and a mid-wives’ training program, among others. With Project Gettysburg/León, she co-led partners through a strategic planning process that shifted the direction of project funding towards a more holistic approach to community development. She also worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s International Migration Policy Program (now the Migration Policy Institute) providing program support and collaborating on research related to international migration policies. Ana earned her B.A. from the University of Miami, and has a Master in Public Affairs and a Master of Arts degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

Silky Shah has been with DWN since March 2009 and has served as the Field Director, Communications Director and Interim Executive Director before moving into the role of Co-Director. During her time at DWN she organized and launched the Dignity Not Detention campaign and managed the writing, editing, design and media outreach for the Expose and Close reports and follow-up. Silky also served as the primary coordinator of the 2009 and 2011 national member conferences and organized four Deportation 101 trainings across the country in collaboration with member partners.

Silky has worked as an organizer on issues related to mass incarceration, racial justice and immigrants rights for over a decade. From 2003 to 2006 she was an organizer for Grassroots Leadership in Texas, where she worked with students nationally to expand their knowledge of the prison industrial complex through corporate accountability campaigns against Lehman Brothers and Farallon Capital Management, both of which were invested in the private prison industry. In addition, she led campaigns against the expansion of immigrant detention centers on the U.S.-Mexico border and co-founded the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition. After leaving Grassroots Leadership, she spent six months volunteering with Sahiyar, a local women’s organization in Gujarat, India, translating materials into English and training staff in video production. Upon returning to the U.S., Silky went on to work for the independent news program, Democracy Now!, supporting syndication and promotion of the show. In her free time she enjoys radio production and spent five years as a co-producer and host of Asia Pacific Forum, a pan-Asian radio hour on Pacifica's WBAI 99.5 FM in New York. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.

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