Board and Staff
Board of Directors
Debbie Berger
Kiki Fordham
Richard Graham
Bill Reeves
Hilary Weinstein
Staff
Taryn Higashi
Carmen María Pérez
Will Somerville
Ted Wang
Taryn Higashi, Executive Director
Taryn Higashi is the executive director of Unbound Philanthropy. From 1997 to 2008, Taryn worked at the Ford Foundation where she managed the migrant and refugee rights portfolio and served as deputy director of the human rights unit.
Prior to joining the Ford Foundation, Taryn was a program officer at The New York Community Trust, where she coordinated the Fund for New Citizens. She has also worked as a staff attorney and program coordinator for Safe Horizons in New York City, and as an associate at the law firm O'Melveny & Myers. From 1999 to 2008, Taryn served as a board member of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, where she was co-chair from 1999-2005.
Taryn's own family history informs her passion for justice for immigrants and migrants: "I am a third-generation Japanese American, and my mother's family was interned during World War II along with 110,000 other Japanese Americans-almost two-thirds of whom were United States citizens. Our history tells us that we cannot take our freedom to move, live, and work in this country for granted."
Taryn's work has been widely recognized in her field. Recently, Taryn was a co-recipient with Geri Mannion of the Carnegie Corporation of New York of the Robert V. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking from the Council on Foundations. She has also received a 40th Anniversary Community Change Champion Award from the Center for Community Change, a Human Rights Visionary Award from the Border Network for Human Rights and an award from the National Immigration Law Center for her work to advance immigrants' rights.
Taryn speaks frequently on trends and issues in immigration, speaking recently at Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. She was recently appointed to the advisory board of the International Migration Initiative of the Open Society Foundations. Taryn is a graduate of George Washington University Law School and received her bachelor's degree from the University of California at San Diego. She resides in New York City with her husband and son.
Carmen María Pérez
Carmen joined Unbound Philanthropy in 2010 as office manager. "I love being involved in work with immigrant and migration issues. I was born here but my family is from Puerto Rico, so I always have a great interest in what is happening with people who move from one place to another."
Prior to joining Unbound Philanthropy, Carmen was the personal and executive assistant to the head of the International Licensing Division at International Management Group (IMG), a sports marketing agency with more than 30 offices around the world. Before that, she worked as personal representative for classical musicians.
Carmen attended St. John's University and Hunter College where she majored in psychology. She makes her home in New York and volunteers with Careers through Culinary Arts Program, helping underserved young people find opportunity and a career path in the food industry.
Will Somerville
Will Somerville is a senior program officer with Unbound Philanthropy's United Kingdom program. Will shares Unbound Philanthropy's commitment to building civic engagement and developing public awareness on immigration issues. "We need thoughtful reforms around immigration to build a society that is more dynamic and open. To do so, reformers need to engage more people from different backgrounds in the issues."
Throughout his career, Will has focused on immigration policy and practice at the international and national levels, publishing widely. He is the author of Immigration under New Labour, published by Policy Press in 2007, and more than 60 articles, chapters and papers. Since 2006, Will has been a senior policy analyst for the Migration Policy Institute and during that time he has consulted with foundations including the Barrow Cadbury Trust and Open Society Foundations. His previous employment includes serving as a policy advisor on migration issues in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and as the policy lead on asylum and immigration at the Commission for Racial Equality.
Will holds a first class history degree from the University of Leeds and a master's with distinction in social policy and planning from the London School of Economics. Will is a member of English PEN, a charity that works to promote literature and human rights. He is currently based in Bath in the West of England; during his career he has lived and worked in London, Lisbon, Buenos Aires, and Washington, D.C. He is a British citizen, born in Germany.
Ted Wang
Ted Wang is a senior program officer with Unbound Philanthropy's United States program, focused on immigration and social justice issues. Ted works with Unbound Philanthropy because of its mission to improve public awareness of immigration issues and protect this population from discrimination and abuse.
Ted reflects, "As someone who came to this country shortly after the federal civil rights laws passed in the 1960s, I saw firsthand the challenges that immigrants face in becoming part of their new communities. Given my experience, I appreciate Unbound Philanthropy's commitment to help immigrants overcome barriers and create conditions that allow them to contribute to and strengthen our country."
Before joining the Unbound Philanthropy staff full time in 2011, Ted worked extensively as a public policy consultant, advising a mix of foundations, policy organizations, and elected officials. Prior to consulting, he worked for 14 years in the civil rights community, holding leadership positions at Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Ted litigated discrimination and voting rights cases and drafted local and state laws promoting immigrant rights, racial justice, and small business development. He has published widely on immigration and social justice issues.
Ted received his bachelor's degree from Reed College and his law degree from Yale Law School. He has received awards from public and private groups, including the California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus' Legislative Hero Award and the Asian American Bar Association of the Bay Area's Outstanding Leadership to the Legal Community Award. Ted is an avid runner and spends much of his free time outdoors, a primary reason why he lives in Berkeley, California. Ted is originally from Taipei, Taiwan.