WHO WE ARE

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

DAMIAN HARRIS-HERNANDEZ

A Turkish translator by trade, Damian Harris-Hernandez co-founded the Refugee Translation Project in 2017 as an urgent response to the growing requests he was receiving to translate asylum applications following the post-coup attempt crackdown in Turkey. Unable to handle the volume of requests and reluctant to charge for services, he initiated a crowdfunding campaign at the suggestion of his wife, Jennifer. Since founding RTP, he has built a network of translators and donors to expand the size and scope of the organization. Prior to his career in translating, Damian worked as a youth educator at Recycle-A-Bicycle, an environmental education non-profit. He trained foreign-born teenagers in bicycle mechanics and environmental stewardship in a program that placed the students in related jobs, giving them an employment advantage while still in high school. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies from Columbia University, where he learned Turkish. Damian also teaches English to refugees living in Europe via online classes.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MOHAMED KHELIFI

Mohamed Khelifi, (Hammadi Khlifi) is a Senior Attorney at the New York State Division on Human Rights. He holds a degree from Penn State University and Carthage University in Tunisia. He worked in several human rights organizations in Tunisia and New York such as the World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy, the World Organization Against Torture and I Watch Organization/Transparency International. Mohamed has published two novels: Escape in 2016 that was awarded the Rambourg Foundation Award for Art and Culture, Dhawat National Students Bureau Award, and Prose Not For Publication in 2019. Mohamed’s work has also appeared in several journals around the world, including DAWN in D.C, Ultra Sawt in Doha, and Akhbaroukom in Beirut. Mohamed also participated in several social movements against corruption and impunity in the Tunisian government such as “I Will Not Forgive” and “Free Writers.”

JESSICA ROFÉ

Jessica Rofé is Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Constitutional Rights Clinic at Rutgers Law School. Her litigation, research, and teaching focus on the intersection of criminal and immigration law, deportation, detention, and the rights of individuals incarcerated across systems. Jessica’s recent article, titled Peripheral Detention, Transfer, and Access to the Courts (2024), was published in the Michigan Law Review. Prior to joining Rutgers Law School, Jessica was Deputy Director and Supervising Attorney at the NYU School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic, where she and students represented immigrants and community organizations in litigation at the agency, federal court, and Supreme Court level, and supported immigrant rights campaigns locally and nationally. Jessica was also an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow at Brooklyn Defender Services (2014-2016) and an associate at Cleary Gottlieb in the firm’s Latin America practice (2016-2017). Jessica received her J.D. from NYU School of Law, where she was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow. Prior to her law career, Jessica taught high school social studies in New York City public schools and received a master’s in teaching from Fordham University.

COURTNEY SCULLIN-TAYLOR

Courtney Scullin-Taylor is currently working as the Accounting Supervisor at the California Association of Food Banks, based in Oakland, California. In this position she merges her interests in a love of numbers, sustainability and fighting food insecurity. The Refugee Translation Project drew her attention due to her background in economics and immigration studies. She is thrilled to have an opportunity to support such an invaluable organization by sharing her wealth of knowledge in Not-For-Profit Accounting with the RTP team. She is enjoying the process of helping the organization grow and thrive. As often as possible, Courtney balances her accounting side by getting outside for a bike ride or some time in the garden.

LEE WELLINGTON

Lee Wellington is the Founding Executive Director of the Urban Manufacturing Alliance (UMA), a national nonprofit that builds robust, inclusive manufacturing sectors in more than 250 cities across the United States. Prior to UMA, Lee worked in the public sector at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Industrial and Manufacturing Businesses and the New York City Council. While at the New York City Council, she was Chief of Staff to Carlos Menchaca where she had the privilege of working on New York City’s municipal identification card program, the launch of the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project to provide free legal services for immigrants facing deportation, and the expansion of adult literacy programs. Lee also worked at nonprofit planning organizations including the Pratt Center for Community Development and the Waterfront Alliance, and at legal services organizations including the Urban Justice Center’s Street Vendor Project and South Brooklyn Legal Services. Lee holds a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, an M.S. in City and Regional Planning from Pratt Institute, and a B.S. in Economics from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

The Refugee Translation Project is 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

OUR VALUES

The Refugee Translation Project believes all people deserve to live in peace and safety, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, immigration status, and financial means.

We resolve to explicitly and publicly affirm our identity as an anti-racist organization. Our organization’s anti-racism commitment is reflected in the life and culture of the organization through our policies, services, and practices as we continue to learn about racism. We work to develop and implement strategies that dismantle racism within all aspects of our organization and society.

All refugees deserve speedy and equitable access to the immigration process, and language should not be a barrier to telling their stories. We deeply feel the urgency in delivering accurate and timely translations to help refugees win cases.

Refugees make our communities better and stronger, and have always been an integral part of our society.

We believe people with lived experiences shared by those directly affected are in the best position to design the structure and lead the organization. Therefore, we are committed to developing procedures to ensure that refugees have key decision making roles in the organization and representation on our advisory council. As we build the council and the leadership body, we value having a culture of listening and learning from our team and the people we serve so that as an organization and as individuals we evolve to meet unfolding needs.

We are committed to paying our translators and staff a fair wage for the important work that they do.

Migration is a human right that we are determined to defend.

We are committed to welcoming refugees and helping to provide access to the resources necessary to ensure their safety, and enable them to benefit from, and contribute to our civil life.

WE HIRE REFUGEES AS TRANSLATORS

Refugees often have dual language skills and relevant professional experience, as well as lived experience, making them uniquely qualified, yet they lack access to professional pathways to develop their careers. RTP steps in at this juncture to provide employment, supervision of translations, and capacity building to help multilingual refugees build their careers. Their skills and lived experience mean increased familiarity and competency with the materials we are translating, which contributes to the overall effectiveness of our organization. Our fair and competitive rate provides a source of income while empowering refugees to help others in their community or situation.

We use the term refugee here as a shorthand to refer to a person who has been forced to leave their country and cannot return to their due to war, persecution or disaster, including, but not limited to, asylum seekers, TPS applicants, and people who fit the legal definition of “refugee.”

OUR IMPACT

2025 Q1:

Pro-Bono Translation Work:

Translated 652 pages of personal statements, legal and medical documents, and educational documents and reports, helping over 100 clients apply for asylum, work authorization, and available social benefits

Fee-For-Service Partner Work:

Translated 425 pages of Know Your Rights materials for IRAP, MASA, Coalition for the Homeless, CAMBA, and more
Translated an additional 268 pages of information resources and outreach materials for our partners in over 15 languages

Interpretation & Workforce Development:

Conducted 83 hours of interpretation for in-person medical clinics, remote medical appointments, client-attorney meetings, and more
Provided 4 interpreters for 2 medical clinics hosted by our partner organization, East Village Neighbors Who Care
Conducted interpretation for clients speaking Dari, Hassaniya Arabic, Kinyarwanda, Spanish, and Pashto
Provided Pulaar and French interpreters for East Village Neighbors Who Care’s medical clinic at Cafewal

In 2024, RTP:

Here’s what we’ve accomplished at a glance. You can read more in our first ever Annual Impact Report.

Pro Bono Client Services:

Over 1,156 pages translated to support client cases, including medical records, legal papers, IDs, and personal statements
173 immigration cases supported, a record-breaking number of cases, bringing asylum seekers one step closer to safety in the US
135+ hours of interpretation provided helping clients communicate with their attorneys and keeping them updated on changing immigration policies and informed of their rights
34 languages supported through translation or interpretation services
10 new languages added including Pulaar, Soninké, Hausa, Twi, and Wolof

Partner & Fee For Service Work:

155 hours of interpretation provided, keeping updated on changing immigration policies and informed of their rights
1,050+ pages translated on informational materials for our partner organizations to help people navigate the immigration process, understand their rights, and access resources
Hosted 3 Know Your Rights workshops in collaboration with Columbia Law, along with Afrikana, for African asylum seekers in Arabic, Bambara, French, Pulaar, and Wolof
Hosted 3 CUNY Career Launch interns each dedicating 19 hours of service weekly for 6 weeks
19 asylum seekers provided to, and over 2,500 attendee assisted at 4 resource fairs across the city
15 new community partnerships formed, including Africa Is Everywhere, MASA, Coalition for the Homeless, and more

Employment & Workforce Development:

6 interpreters trained to provide services in much needed West African languages including Arabic, Amazigh, French, Hassaniya Arabic, Hausa, Pulaar, Soninkè, Twi, and Wolof
750 hours of service provided by our new interpreters
- 294 clients received assisted creating resumes
- 114 clients received help applying for Fair Fares Discount Metro Cards
- 98 clients received help submitting employment applications
- 29 clients assisted applying for work authorization
- 21 clients helped apply for IDNYC

In 2023, RTP:

Translated documents for 144 immigration cases (361 individuals), covering the full cost for 61 cases.
Helped 37 individuals relocate, 7 individuals resettle, and 33 individuals gain legal benefits.
Updated 2 guides for displaced Palestinians
Added 10 new languages for translation, updated multiple refugee guides, and translated materials for Afghan, Central American, and Palestinian refugees.
Supported various organizations with translation of ESL materials, job training, safety surveys, community agreements, and legal guides, including over 300 pages for IRAP
Translated 7 scripts for NYIC’s Fair Elections videos
Hosted 2 CUNY Career Launch interns

In 2022, RTP:

Translated documents for 128 immigration cases (319 individuals), with 31 cases fully covered financially.
Two positive outcomes: asylum granted for a Cameroonian woman and family reunification for a Turkish family.
Provided translation for 8 successful Title 42 exemption cases and supported IRAP legal clinics for over 200 Afghan refugees.
Developed a Spanish version of an LGBTQ+ asylum resource catalog.
Translated 4 health pamphlets, 6 new Special Immigrant Visa guides and updated 8 existing SIV guides for the Afghan community
Translated a comprehensive resource guide for individuals fleeing Ukraine at the start of the war

In 2021, RTP:

Translated 75 documents for 9 pro bono asylum cases, facilitating 2 successful outcomes.
Translated documents for 34 resettlement cases, contributing to 3 permanent resettlements.
Translated over 150 pages of materials to help Afghan families find safety.