Who We Are

Board of Directors

Patmana has 15 years of experience working mostly with women-led businesses. She started her career in Women for Women International and in her seven years there helped hundreds of women establish their own enterprises. She later joined USAID and provided technical advisory services to the micro lending, banking and telecom industries to increase digitization and especially increase financial literacy and inclusion of women. After that she moved to the USA, took a career break to raise her young children, and then started her tailoring and alterations business. She is now working for the New American Association of MA (NAAM) as an interpreter and Case Manager with newly immigrated Afghan families in Newburyport MA. She is native Pashto and Dari (Persian) speaker and also speaks in English and Urdu languages.

Board of Directors

Natasha Soolkin came to the U.S. from Moscow, Russia, in 1990. She has 27 years of experience in development with nonprofit service organizations and 32 years of experience working with immigrant and refugee populations, offering social support programs for newcomers, organizing ESL classes, employment services, and conducting educational seminars. She has also been involved in designing and implementing various activities for children and families. Since 2018, Natasha has been the Executive Director of the New American Association of MA, Inc. Under her leadership, the organization continues to fulfill its mission while expanding programs and services for immigrants and refugees, as well as strengthening existing and developing new professional relationships with funders and community partners. Natasha has served on the Lynn Community Health Center Board of Directors since 2013 and is currently serving on the Department of Transitional Assistance Advisory Board, Lynn Food Council and The Resettlement Partnership.

Board of Directors

Sarina Khan Reddy is a resident of Amesbury, Massachusetts and represents the First Religious Society (FRS) Unitarian Universalist Church on The Resettlement Partnership board, she is also a board member of FRS. She is a first-generation American woman of Islamic Indian descent and is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the intersection of technology and the economic system reflected in all social formations. She graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University with an MFA in 2003, prior to that she received a BS and MS in engineering. Currently she is a Media Specialist at the Davis Museum, Wellesley College. Previously she worked for more than a decade for Eastman Kodak in R&D as well as taught Multimedia and video at Tufts University and Berklee School of Music. She has had the privilege to work very closely with the resettlement of one of the Afghan families here in Newburyport, assisting with jobs, driver’s licenses, taxes, visas, DTA, English, school and extracurriculars. Currently she is serving on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College.

Board of Dictors

Sheila received her MSW from Simmons School of Social Work and has a private clinical practice in Newburyport, MA. With a special expertise in trauma and loss, she is attentive to how these issues manifest in refugee groups and resettled communities. Active in volunteer positions over many years, Sheila focuses on community building. With the arrival of resettled Afghan families in our city her efforts have focused on helping create a sense of belonging and connection among the adult Afghan women. An enthusiastic traveler, Sheila enjoys a variety of other interests including dance, golf and playing cards with her six grandchildren.

Board of Directors

Before moving to eastern Massachusetts, Margie DeWeese-Boyd lived in St. Louis, the Philippines, South Korea, London, and East Tennessee. She has an MSW in Social & Economic Development, a Ph.D. in Political Science, and spent her first career in higher education, specializing in sustainable community-based development. She now works for North Shore Community Action Programs in Peabody, a community action agency that provides wrap-around anti-poverty services to residents of southern Essex County. Margie is a parishioner at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newburyport and has been involved with the Afghan Women’s Workshop from its inception. She is a sewist, potter, and wannabe Newfoundlander.

Secretary and Board of Directors

Although she is a resident of Newburyport, Elizabeth (Beth) Wilcoxson represents the West Newbury Congregational Church on The Resettlement Partnership board. She earned a Ph.D. in history from Boston College and spent her career as a faculty member and academic administrator at Northern Essex Community College and St. Louis Community College at Forest Park. In the 1980s she participated in the resettlement of an extended Cambodian family and has been privileged to again, through the Ascentria Care Alliance, to assist in the resettlement of one of the Afghan families here in Newburyport. She has served on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for the City of Newburyport and is an active member of West Newbury Congregational Church where she facilitates several community groups.

Teasurer and Board of Directors

Stuart Johnson was born and raised in Massachusetts, is a graduate of Harvard College, and has lived in Newburyport for 46 years. He has member of Central Congregational Church in Newburyport and is currently serving on the Outreach, Endowment, and Pastor-Parish Relations Committees. He is also on the boards of Essex County Habitat for Humanity and the Moseley Fund for Social Services.

President and Board of Directors

Jarred is Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newburyport, MA. Prior to 2020 he was a chaplain and faculty member in theology and religion at the Univesiy of Oxford, UK, where he also received his doctorate. As the founding president of The Resettlement Partnership, Jarred is devoted to discovering creative solutions for sustainable housing for refugees. Previously Jarred was on a steering committee that founded a night shelter for unhoused people and ran a meal program serving those with food insecurity. He has lived in five countries.

Jarred is also the author of several books of theology and has a passion for teaching.