Our Team

Louisa Saratora serves as the State Refugee Coordinator and has worked with refugees in Tennessee for 25 years. She joined Catholic Charities as a caseworker through the Jesuit Volunteer Program in 1996 and since that time, has welcomed and supported refugees in direct service, program development and coordination, and grant management and oversight. Louisa holds a Master of Arts degree in Intercultural Studies from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Spanish from Fordham University in New York, as well as certification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.

Nathaniel Harrison grew up in West Michigan. In 2012, Nathaniel spent his summer reading with refugee youth at the Refugee Education Center in Kentwood, Michigan. There he continued teaching Peer Support Classrooms, conducting home visits and school enrollments as a Community Worker, and strengthening two-generational programming as a Family Engagement Coordinator. He graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology in 2012 and with a Master of Arts in Public Anthropology from American University in 2019 where his graduate studies focused on the connections between social, economic, and political influences on refugee integration. Currently, Nathaniel is working towards a Master of Public Management from Johns Hopkins University.

Tajah Bohannon, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, has been an employee of Catholic Charities of Tennessee for over 20 years and has been employed with the Tennessee Office for Refugees since 2009. She has many years of experience in social services since joining the Catholic Charities team in 2000 through her roles as Case Management Assistant, Care Coordinator, Case Aide, Refugee Cash Assistance Specialist, and currently as the Refugee Cash Assistance Coordinator. Tajah has been passionate about assisting others long before her employment with Catholic Charities, but she discovered her interest in refugees and the refugee program during her employment in an unrelated program that shared a space with the refugee resettlement program. While working in that space, she had the opportunity to meet some amazing people and hear their stories. When an opportunity to join the TOR staff in 2009 as Refugee Cash Assistance Specialist arose, she was excited to join a department that provides help to refugees and aides in bettering their lives.

Nicole DeBaun-Phillips has been serving refugee populations for over a decade. She joined the Tennessee Office for Refugees in 2019 as an Administrative Assistant. Before this, she served refugees as a volunteer teaching ELT and transportation training, setting up apartments for new arrivals, and transporting clients for appointments. Her prior work includes serving as the Volunteer Coordinator for Campus Kitchens, a food recovery program that partners with local nonprofits, hospitals, and other community businesses to provide those in need with nutritious and well-balanced meals in local shelters. She has also partnered with various local and city leadership teams to compose and deliver grants to increase sustainability efforts for recycling, urban gardening, and clean air both campus and city wide. Nicole graduated from Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis with a Bachelor of Arts in both Political Science and Sociology with focus on Middle Eastern politics and media influence on social movements. She has served and has been elected to serve on numerous boards that advocate for civic, civil, and human rights.

Jonathon Wood, who grew up in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, is a Refugee Benefits Eligibility Specialist through the Tennessee Office for Refugees. Before this role, he worked as a Refugee Case Manager Assistant with Catholic Charities of Tennessee, where he interacted with Middle Tennessee immigrant and refugee families firsthand. He has also volunteer-taught ESL to non-English speakers through Read to Succeed in Rutherford County, worked at an assisted living home in Mount Juliet, and been a substitute teacher with Rutherford County public schools. Jonathon graduated from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He then attended graduate school at Middle Tennessee State University, earning his Master of Arts in International Affairs in 2021. His graduate studies focused on the interconnected politics of the Middle East, Russia, and Europe. He has always been passionate about helping others, so he decided to apply his knowledge of the global refugee crisis to directly helping immigrants and refugees in the Nashville area.

Molly recently moved from Florida and serves as the Tennessee Refugee Program Resource Development Coordinator VISTA. This is her second year serving with AmeriCorps as she recently just completed a service term with AmeriCorps NCCC, completing projects in natural disaster services, environmental conservation, and urban development within the southern region of the U.S. She graduated from Hollins University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, which allowed her to focus on disaster, public health, refugee policy, research methods, and International Development courses. Growing up overseas, she found her interest in helping refugees during a history class in her high school in Kenya and during an internship in college where she was helping teach Zimbabwean Refugees in South Africa.

Crystal Jones is the AmeriCorps VISTA Leader and has been a dedicated public service volunteer since 2017. As a volunteer, she has assisted various organizations globally, through fund-raising, coordinating programs, in-kind donations, community outreach, grant compliance, program development, and administrative responsibilities. She is very interested in helping people to reach their goals, which is why she is eager to support refugees and refugee services. Crystal has completed a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration because she is passionate about continuing to learn and grow.

Hawo Abud serves as the Statewide Refugee Youth Mentoring Program Coordinator VISTA. Hawo has worked with refugee communities for the past 7 years and is passionate about helping refugees build their lives through direct and indirect services. Hawo obtained a bachelor’s degree from Webster University in International Relations and a master’s degree in Education from University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Amanda is a native of the greater Knoxville area. Throughout high school she volunteered with special needs students in the area and, during her senior year, she piloted a program to partner neurotypical students with neurodiverse students in order to help them learn activities of daily living. In 2009, she graduated from the Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. She then became the director of the before and after care program for a local school until she became a stay-at-home mother to her three children in 2013. She began working as an English Language teacher online in 2017, and fell in love with the work. This is her first year serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA member and she continues to teach online.