Our staff at Welcome Home Jersey City works closely with our Board of Directors, friends, and volunteers.
Kenna Mateos, Director of Programs
Kenna is the Director of Programs at Welcome Home Jersey City since 2022 but she found her way to Welcome Home after being moved to action by the Muslim ban in 2017. She volunteered with us for years! Currently, Kenna guides our volunteers, manages and runs our enrichment program referred to as Fun Club and supports our friends anyway that she can. After earning her BA in English, she spent the first years of her professional career at a progressive school whose focus social justice education and community engagement was nothing short of inspiring. There, she was motivated to find a way to connect with her home community.
Jennifer Moranchel, Executive Assistant
Jennifer joined Welcome Home Jersey City as an Executive Assistant in 2021. Jennifer assists the organization in anyway possible which includes supporting our committees, our volunteers, board of directors, and most importantly our friends! Jen has a BA in Political Science and Social Justice from Saint Peter’s University. Previous to joining Welcome Home Jennifer volunteered with Make The Road NJ as a Spanish teacher to teach the NJ Driver manual in Spanish to community members. Daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico she is very passionate about immigrant issues and social work.
Manija Mayel, Afghan Resettlement Volunteer Coordinator
Manija joined Welcome Home as our Afghan Resettlement Volunteer Coordinator in 2021. She was born in Texas to two Afghan immigrants, one of them an asylum seeker. Manija has a BA in International Communications and a minor in Social Sciences from The American University of Paris and speaks Dari, French, and Spanish. She is a resident of Jersey City and has extensive networks with immigrant communities in northern New Jersey. She is mom to Niro, and Vegan Chef at The Scandinavian School of Jersey City where she runs a food program with an edible garden and hosts prep time in the kitchen with the children.
Jackie Zapata, Program Specialist
Jackie joined the team at Welcome Home in May of 2022 as a Program Specialist. Jackie grew up in a mixed status family, her being the only U.S. citizen and her undocumented parents hoping immigration relief would come for them. Due to her parents’ immigration journey, from early on Jackie learned the challenges the immigrant and especially undocumented community faced. After she graduated with her Bachelor’s Degree from Nyack College in Criminal Justice and English, she became involved in grassroots community organizing in her hometown. Jackie helped push for legislation in NJ such as in-state tuition for undocumented students, municipal IDs, wage protection and driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants. Jackie has also provided support and case management services to individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness and mental health issues, and to newly arrived immigrants.
Basbibi Kakar, Afghan Resettlement Support
Basbibi Kakar began volunteering with Welcome Home in 2019. She currently provides support to Afghan families. She is an Afghan who has a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University with a concentration in economic and political development and international conflict resolution. She works at Rutgers Presbyterian Church as a Program Officer for Immigration and is on the advisory board of the Asylum Support Clinic. The focus of her work has been on empowering and advocating for refugee women, helping them access resources in their new communities, educating them about their rights and their children’s rights to promote their participation at all levels of decision making, and creating healthy communities.