Sonia Thomas from Homeland Security and Kimberly McDonald from the Department of Justice to present on "Immigration Resources" topic

Meeting on January 30 at 12 noon
Sonia Thomas is the Community Relations Officer (CRO) for the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), assigned to the New York Field Office. She reports to the Office of Partnership and Engagement (OPE), headquartered in Washington, D.C. Her Public Service career began in 2008 with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a Community Development Representative where she managed grantee portfolios. She then joined the U.S. Forest Service in Tucson, Arizona as a Grants & Agreements Specialist working in cooperation with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the Arizona Mexico border. In 2016, Ms. Thomas returned to New Jersey where she worked briefly for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) as a Disaster Recovery Grants Specialist at One World Trade Center. She joined ICE in December 2016. As the CRO, Ms. Thomas works closely with the leadership of HSI, (Homeland Security Investigations), OPLA (Office of the Principal Legal Advisor) and ERO (Enforcement Removal Operations) to promote and establish strategic stakeholder partnerships and ensure ICE messaging is accurately conveyed. She is a Certified Management Professional, a member of the American Management Association, the National Speaker’s Association and has a professional certification in Federal Grants Management.
Kimberly McDonald has a 24-year career serving the community in public sector agencies. She worked for three New Jersey State agencies and joined the federal government in 2007 and began her career with the U.S. Veterans Health Administration to assist veterans with homeless prevention and employment services.
By the end of 2008, Ms. McDonald was recruited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to support the organization’s community relations unit. This opportunity allowed her to organize youth outreach programs, partner with faith-based organizations, and coordinate events with leaders of diverse communities in the FBI Newark Division’s area of responsibility. She has been a Conciliation Specialist with the United States Department of Justice Community Relations Service since January of 2023.