PROVIDENCE – After leading Rhode Island’s largest refugee and immigrant services nonprofit, Kathleen Cloutier will shift her work to the West Coast later this summer.
Cloutier is leaving Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island to become Refugee Women’s Alliance’s new executive director, The Seattle-based organization announced recently. Milagro Sique, Dorcas' current chief operating officer, is serving as the nonprofit's interim executive director, board President April Chase-Lubitz said in an email Monday to Providence Business News.
Cloutier is moving to the Pacific Northwest after serving as Dorcas' executive director for the past 12 years.
“I’m honored to build on [Refugee Women’s Alliance’s] 40-year legacy and guide us through shifting federal policies and tighter budgets – so we can continue expanding opportunities for immigrant and refugee families,” Cloutier said in a statement.
Cloutier was previously head of the Albany, N.Y., Community Action Partnership before
arriving in Rhode Island in 2013 to lead Dorcas. Since then, Cloutier, Refugee Women’s Alliance says, helped Dorcas more than double its revenue significantly expanded key programs in immigration legal services, refugee resettlement, education, and workforce development, and built sustainable systems to meet the evolving needs of immigrant and refugee communities.
In 2020, Dorcas partnered with the state to launch weR1 Rhode Island Relief Fund, which helps individuals who are unable to access benefits based on their immigration status. Cloutier told Providence Business News in
a Five Questions profile at the time Dorcas and the state were working collaboratively to ensure all residents, especially those with limited English proficiency, have access to the vital information and resources they need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She also said at the time Rhode Island needs to see both public and private leadership taken to effectively address the deep-rooted issues of systemic racism and be instrumental in bringing an end to inequality.
“Governments should be using an equity lens to review, change and update current laws, regulations, policies and practices that support – and sometimes even promote – racial inequity,” Cloutier said. “Our civil rights laws also need to be updated and expanded to reflect changes in our society and other forms of inequity, such as addressing gender identity discrimination, etc.”
Dorcas' board is currently conducting a search for the organization's permanent director, Chase-Lubitz says.
"As a board, we are unwavering in our commitment to the mission of Dorcas International and to the communities we serve," Chase-Lubitz said. "Over the past several months, we have engaged in a thoughtful process to assess and strengthen our programs, and we are confident in the organization’s continued stability. We remain united and focused on ensuring a seamless transition and a strong future for the agency.”
(UPDATED throughout to include comment from Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island board President April Chase-Lubitz.)
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
