World Refugee Day Chicago
2026 Volunteer Planning Committee
Wilson Chow, Kathryn Ennis, Elena Hease, Olga Kurbatova, Najlah Iqbal, Ali Abdullah Kohistani, Shawn Lent, Jenna Messing, Moshood Olanrewaju, Emily Parker, Esai Ponce, Meera Viruru, Teresa Roll, David Reithoffer, Rebecca Socha, Yukako Sortino, Bonnie Tawse, Lauren West
World Refugee Day Chicago
2025 Volunteer Planning Committee
Wilson Chow, Moyosoreoluwa Falana, Najlah Iqbal, Atheer Kokaly, Ali Abdullah Kohistani, Shawn Lent, Phusit Masa, Zahra Muhsin, Moshood Olanrewaju, Emily Parker, Meera Viruru, Teresa Roll, David Reithoffer, Bonnie Tawse, Yukako Sortino, Fred Stupin, Lauren West
World Refugee Day Chicago
2025 Event Volunteers
Sofiya Affey, Manal Ali, Nazma Ali, Mel Angeles, Yasin Arfat, Tom Benson, Essence Bonner, Sammi Chen, Ivana Chmielewski, Wilson Chow, Matthew Cole, Sha'Ron Dace, Jewel Davies, Noah Davis, Nicholas Dewlaney, Jack Doppelt, Cate Shannon Ericson, Ettinger, Reynel Espiritu, Hermie Espiritu, Moyosoreoluwa Falana, Giovanni Fernandez, Sienna Grace, Peter Ha, Noor Hashmi, Sharon Hyson, Najlah Iqbal, Florentino Inumerable, Shreeya Joshee, Katia Jonas, Gonzalo C. Jose, Leah Kelemen, Ali Khan, Ali Abdullah Kohistani, Atheer Kokaly, Sergei Kochetkov, Caitlin Kletzien, Dinah Lampros, Susan Langworthy, Natalie Leclerc, Shawn Lent, Ellen Lindsey, Ashley Lugo, Nenita Maghanoy, Alice McCutcheon, Annie McDermott, Laura McDermott, Jim Mayhercy, Phusit Masa, Max Ragot, Mark Pellegrino, Cecilia Perez, Beza Pernecke, Emily Parker, Bill Parker, Sue Parker, Zahra Muhsin, Emily Munn-Wood, Zae Munn, Saloni Nahar, Joan Nasara, Mohamed Radwan, Sophia Rafiqi, David Reithoffer, Teresa Roll, Ruby Romero, Bonnie Tawse, Leslie Serna, Veronique Sigre, Nora Shuman-Moore, Betsy Shuman-Moore, Fran Smith, Yukako Sortino, Jean de St. Aubin, Lara Sweid, Dimitra Tasiouras, Nathaniel Van Wienen, Aaina Vannan, Nikhil Vatti, Meera Viruru, Lauren West, Murphy Wildeman, Emma Yaaka, Anna Yuan
World Refugee Day Chicago
2025 Co-Chairs
Bonnie Tawse
(Co-Chair)
Bonnie Tawse is a writer and educator committed to exploring the connections between community, culture, food and the environment. She has worked in nature-based and arts programming in Chicago for more than twenty-five years, activating public spaces such as the Lurie Garden in Chicago’s Millennium Park, The 606 and many neighborhood parks and forest preserves. She is the author of The Belt Cookie Table Cookbook, by Belt Publishing and a former Field Agent for Atlas Obscura. She lives in Chicago with her husband and two sons.
(Co-Chair)
Bonnie Tawse is a writer and educator committed to exploring the connections between community, culture, food and the environment. She has worked in nature-based and arts programming in Chicago for more than twenty-five years, activating public spaces such as the Lurie Garden in Chicago’s Millennium Park, The 606 and many neighborhood parks and forest preserves. She is the author of The Belt Cookie Table Cookbook, by Belt Publishing and a former Field Agent for Atlas Obscura. She lives in Chicago with her husband and two sons.
David Reithoffer
(Co-Chair)
(Co-Chair)
David Reithoffer is a retired real estate broker who enjoys volunteering for many causes. He learned about World Refugee Day while volunteering as an ESL instructor at the Pan-African Association in 2017. He has served on the World Refugee Day Committee ever since. Other volunteering has been as an ESL tutor at Truman College, a French-English translator at Marjorie Kovler Center, and playing “big brother” to new arrivals at many organizations such as Heartland Alliance, Catholic Charities, Exodus World Service, and Refugee One. Three of his four grandparents were immigrants. They struggled and worked hard. They were given a chance, and they benefited from this. He firmly believes in blending people to make the world a better place for everyone to live.
2021 Executive Committee: Artwork by Skye Bennett