The Dayton City Commission announces Monica Harris is the newly hired Coordinator for Welcome Dayton.
Harris brings extensive experience relevant to Dayton’s immigrant friendly city initiative, having served as coordinator of a multi-cultural community health project and as manager of a workforce development and college success program.
A New York City native, Harris was born to immigrants from Taiwan and interned with community development organizations in South Africa. She holds graduate degrees in counseling and international community development.
“I have been navigating and bridging two very different cultures (East & West) my whole life
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and love working in cross-cultural contexts,” Harris said. “Because I grew up in an immigrant family and watched the struggles my parents went through to adapt to the U.S.–as well as the help they received in order to become successful contributors to our country–the work of Welcome Dayton has particular resonance with me. I am excited about the opportunities this position gives me to support all those working to ensure that Dayton will always be a welcoming city to the immigrants and refugees who call it their home.”
“Welcome Dayton has made great progress in building a more welcoming community since its inception less than seven years ago,” said Commissioner Matt Joseph. “We are excited to welcome Monica Harris and expect the community will benefit from her experience and abilities as we take steps for further success.”
Welcome Dayton was launched in 2011 and is administered by the Dayton Human Relations Council. Welcome Dayton promotes immigrant integration into the Dayton region by encouraging business and economic development, providing access to education, government, health and social services, ensuring equity in the justice system, and promoting appreciation of arts and culture.
Dayton was named the nation’s first Certified Welcoming City in 2017 by Welcoming America, a national non-profit organization supporting welcoming activities in communities throughout the country.
For more information about Welcome Dayton, go to welcomedayton.org or follow facebook.com/welcomedayton.
