Mirjam Grünenfelder-Reig joined IJC in October 2023 as Development Director after most recently serving as the Associate Director for Operations for the Immigrant & Refugee Services Division at Catholic Charities Community Services (CCCS) overseeing programming including Vera Unaccompanied Children contracts, various strategic partnerships, and securing funding from government and private philanthropy.
Having started her career as an immigration paralegal, Mirjam brings a sense of urgency to her development work and is passionate about IJC’s unique ability to uplift frontline perspectives to address national justice gaps. Mirjam has witnessed firsthand how IJC Fellows increase access to justice while working at IJC host organizations, including CCCS and The Legal Aid Society. Mirjam continues to seek out intersectional perspectives in justice work and is grateful for her experience at organizations working at the forefront of criminal justice, including Exalt Youth and The Fortune Society. Mirjam remains inspired by the many programs she’s managed where the strategic involvement of philanthropy and government partners generated real solutions to tough problems. Some of her best professional memories are witnessing the launch of the Immigrant Children Advocates Relief Effort (ICARE), a public-private partnership providing representation to unaccompanied minors, as well as launching the ActionNYC in Schools program while serving as a Program Manager at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.
Mirjam is a graduate from Bard College and New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. Born in NYC, she’s a first-generation Swiss-American and has had the privilege of calling many places home, including Ecuador, Guatemala, Russia, and Indonesia.
