Nazanin Ash
Chief Executive Officer
Nazanin Ash is Chief Executive Officer of Welcome.US, a national initiative created to inspire and empower Americans from across the country to welcome and support people seeking refuge here. Founded in 2021, Welcome.US has catalyzed a reimagining of our national capacity to welcome, building a coalition of corporate and civic leaders, supporting hundreds of community organizations, and developing tools and technologies to empower over 2 million Americans in over 12,000 zip codes to privately sponsor refugee newcomers’ to come to safety in the U.S. The innovations, cross-sector coalition, and broad participation from across the American public is demonstrating new possibilities for addressing global displacement challenges while healing divides around welcoming newcomers.
Ms. Ash served previously as the Vice President of Global Policy and Advocacy at the International Rescue Committee, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the Department of State during the Obama Administration, and as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning staffs for Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton.
A White House Fellow in 2003-2004, Ms. Ash joined the start-up team of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), helping to design and launch one of the most impactful global health programs of the 21st century. One of Washingtonian Magazine’s “Most Influential People Shaping Policy,” she’s described as “a crucial liaison among corporations, service organizations, and government... to resettle those escaping crises in countries around the world.”
