Who We Are
Joel Millman
Chief Operating Officer
An award-winning journalist with The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, Joel covered US immigration for 40 years, starting with his first byline (for Philadelphia magazine) in 1984. He has reported from nearly 50 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, mainly on migration matters.
After leaving The Wall Street Journal in 2014, he worked as a press officer in Switzerland for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Migration agency. His IOM assignments brought him to war zones (Iraq), natural disasters (Ethiopia, Mozambique) and migration emergencies (Lebanon, Italy, Serbia, Tunisia) as well as to stakeholder conferences (Berlin, Dakar, Budapest, London).
Since retiring from the IOM in 2021, he has worked as a media consultant to UN missions in Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean.
Joel is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the author of the book, The Other Americans: How Immigrants Renew Our Country, Our Economy and Our Values (Viking, 1997). He lives in Philadelphia.
Advisors and Collaborators
Vofee Jabateh
SW Philadelphia’s leading African migrant organization, ACANA works closely with New Neighbors Network maintaining a data base of over 10,000 entries reflecting the home ownership and business creation of Liberian, Malian, Guinean, Nigerian, Ghanaian and other African-Philadelphians who are restoring prosperity to our great city.
“Joel Millman not only knows where Africans live in Philadelphia, he knows all their names. His work is phenomenal.”
Domenic Vitiello
“New Neighbors Network’s data collection on immigrant home ownership in SW Philadelphia is an amazing resource. It helps scholars quantify the investment migrants make in their communities right down to the sidewalk level. It helps Philadelphians of all types grasp the renewal that these newcomers bring with them.”
Chinemelu Oguekwe
“Chichi” Oguekwe is a veteran of a decade’s worth of community healing in the Philadelphia metro area. The daughter of Nigerian immigrants, she has an extensive background in migration and refugee affairs, first with the Lutheran Children and Family Service and continuing with the Mennonite Central Committee.
“Prodigy Peacebuilders is committed to community restoration and creating spaces of hope. I am excited about New Neighbors Network’s vision and enjoy collaborating with them.”
Yvonne Ndege
“Joel is a messaging and media pro who has assisted our organization across the globe. Whether it’s a communications strategy or planning for an event or simply improving your staff’s interview or writing skills, you can count on his expertise.”
Kate Poor
Kate is currently employed as a Housing Strategy Specialist at HIAS. Prior to this, Kate served as a Research & Community Engagement Assistant for the Immigrant Home Repair Project at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. Previously, Kate worked as a Refugee Program Specialist at Interfaith Action of Central Texas and held various roles at Casa Marianella Inc. of Austin.
Gwen Hood
SW Philadelphia food pantry and youth training center.
“We know Joel and New Neighbors Network as our neighbor, always ready to help with advice (and his exceptional French and Spanish translation skills) whenever we face a challenge. We welcome him to our community and his ability to work cooperatively with Motivated teams on matters including food insecurity, public health and outreach to seniors and unemployed youth, especially among our newest neighbors from Latin America and Africa.”
Faustine Sun
“Among Netter’s efforts are to galvanize and engage the broad range of Penn resources, particularly its human resources of students, faculty, staff, and alumni, to work with and for West Philadelphia. New Neighbors Network shares those same goals, as well as to educate Penn students to be creative, compassionate, ethical citizens who significantly contribute to the welfare of others.”