EL PASO, TEXAS — The Protecting Immigrant Families coalition (PIF) announced Wednesday that Juliet K. Choi has been elected inaugural chair of the coalition’s executive committee. Choi was elected unanimously by the 6-member committee, which provides guidance on strategy and governance for the coalition of more than 800 organizations in over 40 states, working together to improve immigrant families’ access to health and social services.
“We are honored Juliet Choi has agreed to lead PIF’s ’s executive committee,” said Adriana Cadena, PIF executive director. “Juliet’s professional expertise is rivaled only by her personal commitment to improving the lives of immigrant families. Her leadership will ensure that we continue to broaden our cross-sector coalition and build capacity with our partners to advance systems change that acknowledges the humanity and strength of our nation’s diverse immigrant communities.”
Choi is president and Chief Executive Officer of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF), a national health justice organization which influences policy, mobilizes communities, and strengthens programs and organizations to improve the health of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. She previously served in leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as in nonprofit and corporate leadership roles.
The organization also added two new members to its steering committee. Yesenia Cuello is executive director at and co-founder of NC FIELD, a grassroots nonprofit working to meet the basic needs of North Carolina’s farmworker community. David Gonzalez Rice is senior vice president of public policy at the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, a national nonprofit working for public policy that ensures people with the lowest incomes have quality, accessible, affordable homes in communities of their choice.
PIF’s executive committee also named Adriana Cadena as Executive Director. Cadena joined PIF as campaign director in 2022, working with the executive and steering committees to implement the coalition’s coalition building, advocacy, narrative change, and power building strategies.
PIF launched in 2017, as a joint initiative of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). In 2018, the coalition coordinated a record-breaking public engagement campaign that drove more than 260,000 public comments, overwhelmingly opposing a Trump administration proposal targeting lawfully present immigrants who used social services.
NILC and CLASP agreed in 2020 to establish PIF as an independent project. Today, PIF is led by a steering committee consisting of 18 member organizations and an executive committee consisting of 6 steering committee members.
