WASHINGTON September 2006 - The International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jane E. Bloom as its new Liaison Officer. Her responsibilities will include advocacy on migration issues, planning and policy work in resettlement, processing, and global migration fields, promoting linkages with the US Catholic Conference of Bishops and US-based NGOs.

Ms. Bloom brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the refugee services arena, including seven years as the founder and director of Refugee Works, the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement's national technical assistance provider for refugee self-sufficiency. She also led a variety of large-scale studies of refugee children in transition and has authored several books and articles on aspects of refugee integration. She was part of the U.S. delegation to UNHCR's 2001 Integration Conference in Sweden and was a featured speaker at the 2005 MORE/UNHCR Conference in Helsinki. As a consultant, Bloom has recently served as Civil Society Advisor for the U.S. State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative and as a program developer to help victims of human trafficking in New York State.

Bloom is the former Director of Public Policy for the National Council on Aging and worked for the Catholic Charities in New Orleans as Associate Director. She is a graduate of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.