NORTHAMPTON — Two local nonprofits named new executive directors Monday. Nora Ranney will lead the National Priorities Project and Laurie Millman will head the Center for New Americans.
Ranney, who previously worked as program officer for the Open Society Foundations, joins the National priorities Project, which focuses on the federal budget, with more than 20 years of experience working in advocacy related to education, wage policy and other progressive issues.
“I am excited to work with NPP’s talented and dedicated staff to produce more of the research and analyses NPP is so respected for,” Ranney said in a statement. “I am eager to get this important work into the hands, hearts, and minds of those who care about a federal budget that reflects the priorities of the people it is meant to represent.”
Millman joined the Center for New Americans — a resource center for immigrants in western Massachusetts — in 2009 as the marketing and development coordinator. In that role, she worked with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan to launch a July 4 naturalization ceremony at Hampshire County Superior Court.
She has been working as interim director for the past six months, following Russell Bradbury-Carlin’s departure. Millman cites her work as a substitute teacher as keeping her grounded.
“It reminds me how committed our students are to learning English, how hard they work to adapt their schedules to attend class, and how much they have to share,” she said in a statement.
Stephanie McFeeters can be reached at smcfeeters@gazettenet.com.