Meet Our Team

Economic Empowerment Program Manager
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Carolina is the Economic Empowerment Program Manager at the IRC SLC office. She grew up in both Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, California. She works to promote financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, and integration for refugee and immigrant families through financial capability interventions and small business development initiatives. Carolina has more than seven years of experience in humanitarian efforts focusing on personal economic empowerment and business development in Benin, Guatemala, the Philippines, and Mexico. At the IRC SLC office, she supports new Americans from the beginning of their journey towards lasting economic independence, building businesses, setting goals, taking key steps, and celebrating victories!

When Carolina isn't at the office, she enjoys writing short stories, going on long walks, and discovering the best donut spots in Utah!

Carolina speaks English, Spanish, French, Mandarin, ASL, and Bariba.

Financial Capability Coordinator
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William is the Financial Capability Coordinator at the IRC SLC Office. In this role, he supports refugees, immigrants, and non-immigrants in building credit, applying for loans, managing debt, creating budgets and spending plans, and repaying IOM travel loans.

William grew up in Minnesota and attended the University of Iowa, where he earned a degree in Criminology with a focus on International Relations. He began his IRC career in the Phoenix office, working as an R&P Caseworker for nearly two years before moving to Salt Lake City, where he served as an ECM Caseworker for close to a year. Throughout his work, William has remained committed to his lifelong passion for helping those who truly need it, and these experiences have deepened his dedication to supporting newcomers as they rebuild their lives.

When he is not at the IRC, William enjoys everything Utah’s outdoors has to offer, including hiking, camping, hunting, and mountain biking.

Individual Development Account (IDA) Coordinator
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Ahmed helps refugees and new Americans to enroll in the Individual Development Account (IDA) program as well as providing financial coaching. The IDA is a matched savings program to help you pay for a vehicle, home, small business or post-secondary (after high school) education.

Ahmed immigrated to the United States on an SIV Visa in 2009 and had the IRC Salt Lake office help him out in his resettlement process. He worked for IRC Salt Lake office in 2010-2011 as an interpreter and after he received his U.S citizenship in 2014, he started his overseas employment journey. In 2015, Ahmed was deployed to the Middle East as an Arabic Linguist and Culture Advisor assisting the U.S military and Department of State in their operations in the Middle East. After returning home in 2022, he was excited to go back to the IRC and and help the community.

Ahmed has a BA in English and Literature and an MA in Linguistics from a university in Iraq. In his free time, Ahmed enjoys hiking, fishing, camping, swimming and soccer. He speaks Arabic and English.

Senior Small Business Coordinator
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Jamaica brings years of varied experience to her role as a Small Business Counselor; her years as a small business owner, her extensive experience in the grocery industry, her art degree and lessons learned as a Mother of three boys. She first entered the grocery world as a deli team member for Wild Oats, but soon worked her way into management roles and eventually HR and accounting positions. She furthered her grocery knowledge with Sprouts and eventually moved on to work as a grocery broker, representing brands and selling into local stores.

In 2018 she opened Hello!Bulk Markets, Utah’s first refill grocery store. The journey of being a small business owner quickly became something Jamaica was passionate about as she found struggles, success, and stumbling blocks around each bend. The introduction to other small businesses and local organizations that support small businesses, ended up making all the difference on her journey and for this reason she is a huge advocate for community. Jamaica has a passion for improving the often difficult journey of the entrepreneur and loves feeling like she can make a difference through her position with the IRC.

Small Business Counselor
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Josh Anderson is the IRC Salt Lake City’s newest Small Business Counselor. He joined the IRC because of his passion for working with refugees and new Americans and his commitment to helping individuals navigate the American economic system, achieve financial prosperity, and ultimately pursue their own American dream.

Prior to his role at the IRC, Josh worked in Utah state politics and legislative advocacy for 3 years, bringing with him experience in community organizing, fundraising, marketing, and project coordination. During his undergraduate, Josh also worked at Merrick Bank as an Insurance administrator, where he developed foundational knowledge of American lending systems. In this role, he also worked to develop financial learning materials for after-school programs for refugee youth.

When Josh is not working, you can find him traveling the world (21 countries and counting!), reading a good book, or practicing his language skills."