Staff Spotlight | Mona Dada
Mona Dada is a Focus Case Manager with CRIS’ youth mentorship program, Community Connectors.
“When my parents resettled to the United States in 1988, they had no support. They arrived with two young children—both born in a refugee camp in Pakistan—no higher education, and no formal assistance. Over the years they struggled, learned to adapt, worked hard, and built a prosperous life for my siblings and me, giving me the opportunity to grow up going to school and to attend The Ohio State University. The story of their journey to the United States influenced so much of my childhood, and the culture they left behind in Afghanistan was kept alive through our traditions and language. Speaking Pashto at home helped me achieve fluency, connect with my extended family members, and feel connected to Afghanistan without ever living there. This feeling of connection would eventually lead me to CRIS and the work I do today.
As a leader in the Muslim Students’ Association at OSU in 2021, I helped organize an event where CRIS Executive Director Angie Plummer spoke on the collapse of the Afghan government and the impact it was having on refugee resettlement in the United States. After the event, I reached out to see how I could help and was brought on to assist Afghan women and children arriving in Columbus. During this time, I helped women adjust to the cultural norms in the United States, receive vital healthcare, access clothing and other essentials, and much more. I fell in love with this work—it felt good to be helping my people, and I was proud to be the first woman they could speak Pashto with in the United States. Sharing a language meant I could be someone they truly connected to in an unfamiliar place.
Following my experience with this program, I saw a CRIS-affiliated opportunity open at the Focus North School and I went for it! In my new role, I help refugee students with anything they need, including housing, food, clothes, job and college applications, placement tests, learning accommodations, school integration, and more. When I first meet new students, I often describe myself as their case manager for school—I am there to ease their transition into our education system and help them navigate the challenges that could prevent them from succeeding in school.
I am constantly blown away by the gratitude and resilience the students demonstrate every day. Though I don’t have first-hand experience as a refugee, I hold my parents’ resettlement story close to my heart and I am proud of the work I do and the difference I make in these students’ lives. Seeing their smiles every day, even after everything they’ve been through, is inspiring and deeply rewarding for me, and I hope to continue to help refugees and immigrants—and work with CRIS—long into the future.”