Our Team.

Meet the New American Consortium Board Members.

Barry Nelson

Board President

Barry is grateful to the many colleagues, clients, friends who have generously shared their life stories in helping with his education regarding diversity and equity. Whether it has been as a social worker, a volunteer, or a board member this life long learning is exciting and humbling. Barry loves the nature and structure of the Consortium board as it seriously seeks to create a group reflecting the diversity of its community.

Zoe Absey

Board Member

Zoe Absey is the Program Director at the YWCA Cass Clay. She is passionate about making sure our community members have equitable access to the resources they need to live a healthy life. She loves serving on the New American Consortium board because it is filled with passionate folks who have worked in diverse communities and want to make sure they are filling the gaps in services in our area.

Rashid Hussein

Board Member

Rashid Hussein is a Community Health Specialist serving Fargo-Moorhead area and surrounding communities.

Mr. Hussein has been with Essentia Health since April 2022. He previously served with , in various capacities,

county social services in Minnesota and North Dakota. Mr. Hussein speaks Somali (native), English (fluent) and Arabic (basic).

Veera Khalil

Board Member

Veera Khalil is a Kurdish-born, multilingual community leader, certified interpreter, and consultant. Fluent in seven languages, she helps businesses refine their messaging, SEO, branding, and storytelling to reach wider audiences and drive meaningful growth.

Barb Hanson

Board Member

Barbara Hanson is currently working as an Employment Counselor at Rural MN CEP in Moorhead, MN and has been with them for over 23 years.

Previous to that, she worked for Lutheran Social Services in Fargo, ND as an Employment Specialist with the Center For New Americans doing refugee resettlement.

She brings a knowledge of addressing barriers to employment so that all individuals, along the entire community, may thrive and grow stronger.

Carol Okigbo

Board Member

Carol Okigbo is a professor of mathematics education at Minnesota State University Moorhead where she has been teaching since 2001. Her association with the New Americans began in 1999 when she worked as a community organizer with the Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota. She became a board member of the New American Consortium for Wellness and Empowerment (NECWE) in 2017. Her interest in serving on the board was enthused by her earlier community organizer experience and her belief in the mission and vision of NECWE.

Darci Asche

Secretary/ Treasurer

Darci Asche is a life-long midwestern resident, born in ND and currently living in MN. She became the Resource Development Coordinator for Lutheran Social Services of ND refugee resettlement program in 1995 after serving the Southeast Judicial District of ND as a court reporter for twelve years.

She served in many roles over the next 20 years, including Assistant
Director for Resettlement for the State of North Dakota. In 2015, after 20 years with LSS, Darci retired and began volunteering as the Director of Development with the New American
Consortium for Wellness and Empowerment.

Darci serves or has served on a variety of Boards of Directors, including United Hearts for Haiti, United Liberians of North Dakota, the Spirit Room, Sister Parish and Abriendo Fronteros - Opening Borders.

Darci is married to Roger. They have three children, Sara, Joel and Cory, four foster children,
Enrique, James, Robina and Joyce, and 16 grandchildren. She enjoys spending time outside, traveling, reading books, watching great movies, and hanging out with her children and
grandchildren.

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