World Refugee Day 2021 Webinar

Abril was involved in academic research for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) due to violence and disasters in Mexico for the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights in 2015. She worked for Fondo Semillas, working closely with migrant women with reinsertion projects at the local level in Mexico.

With CADENA, as the Humanitarian Operations Director, she has been in charge of international humanitarian interventions for three years, highlighting the migrant crisis in Mexico in 2018 with the “Caravanas Migrantes”, the drought response in Kenya, the migrant crisis in Cúcuta and Arauquita, Colombia on the Venezuelan Border, and several disaster response interventions of different types for COVID19 and Hurricanes Eta & Iota. She coordinates the “Center for Migrant Women” on the Venezuela/Colombian border, and she is in charge of several long-term projects with migrants in Mexico. Today, she is leading the response for the North Border Migrant Crisis in the Mexico/US border cities of Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez.

Rebecca Milner mobilizes partnerships, resources and awareness in support of International Medical Corps programs that reach 10 million people a year globally. A preeminent First Responder, International Medical Corps provides lifesaving healthcare and training that builds self-reliance for people on the frontlines of war, disaster and disease in nearly 40 countries. Since its founding in 1984, the organization has responded to every major disaster of the last three decades – from civil war and famine in Somalia; to genocide in Rwanda and ethnic cleansing in the Balkans; earthquakes in Haiti, Japan, and Nepal; the Ebola outbreak in West Africa; and wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

She has more than 20 years of communication, fundraising and marketing experience and frequently speaks on humanitarian, global health and women’s health issues. Her expertise is frequently solicited by the major media, including CNN, NPR, Chronicle of Philanthropy and USA Today. During her career, Milner has served in a variety of communications and fundraising roles, generating support for organizations focused on economic development and human rights for women, development and freedom of the press and education. Milner has a BA and MPA from American University.

As Airlink’s Humanitarian Program Associate, Brigid assists Airlink’s regional response network by supporting disaster responders and building logistics capacity for its NGO partners.

Prior to joining Airlink, Brigid served as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer with Catholic Charities USA, where she worked with their Immigrant and Refugee Services program as well as their Children, Youth, and Families program. She coordinated logistics of responders and cargo to shelters serving asylum-seekers at the US-Mexico border. She has additional expertise in training nonprofit organizations in adopting the 2Gen framework of social service provision.

Originally from Chicago, IL, Brigid received her bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Political Science with a concentration in Global Ethics and Social Justice from Boston College. She spent a semester at the American College of Thessaloniki in Greece, where she volunteered with local organizations to support the country’s ongoing refugee response.