New American Leaders is a nonprofit organization that helps train immigrants (to whom it refers as “new Americans”) to become an active political bloc, to run for office, and to advocate left-of-center positions on political issues. The organization’s leanings are left-of-center and nearly all the elected officials that it touts in its network are elected Democrats, despite the fact that it is nominally a nonpartisan organization.

The organization’s primary focus is on training immigrant campaign staff and candidates for office. In addition to holding classes, the organization provides coaching to its clients. In addition to offer its own in house training, the organization has partnered with the National Democratic Training Committee to offer its training to Democrats across the country. ¹

In 2022, the organization released a report about the numbers of immigrants elected office. In the report, it accused the Republican Party of employing what it called “white supremacist rhetoric.” ²

Background

New American Leaders is a nonprofit organization which aims help train immigrants to become staffers on political campaigns, advocate for left-of-center political positions, and encourage immigrants to run for office. Nearly all the elected officials that it has trained are Democrats or align with the Democratic Party. ³

The organization is the sister organization of New American Leaders Action Fund, an organization that helps elect left-of-center immigrants to office. ⁴

The organization was founded in 2010 as the “New American Leaders Project.” The organization not only focuses on training immigrants to run for office but also focuses on training what it calls “underrepresented” Americans such as women. It is headquartered in New York City. The organization has since changed its name to New American Leaders. ⁵

Activities

New American Leaders offers three programs: Ready To Lead, New American Fellows, and Ready To Win. ⁶

Ready To Lead teaches immigrants how to run for office. It is taught by immigrant coaches. ⁷

The New American Fellows is a fellowship for immigrants who are preparing to run for office within two years. They attend the Ready To Win training. ⁸

The Ready To Win training provides instruction on how to run a campaign. It is geared towards those who want to work on campaigns. ⁹

In addition to providing its own in-house training, it has partnered with the National Democratic Training Committee (NDTC) in order to help Democrats. ¹⁰

In August 2022, the organization released a report detailing the numbers of immigrants that have been elected to state and federal office. The report noted that most immigrants elected were of a black or Latino background and most of the elected immigrant officials were women. That was in contrast to 71 percent of white elected officials being male. ¹¹

The report went on to criticize the Republican Party for its lack of diversity. It claimed more than 90 percent of immigrant lawmakers were Democrats. It also criticized the Republican Party for engaging in supposed “white supremacist rhetoric.” ¹²

Leadership

The president of New American Leaders is Ghida Dagher, who was a graduate of a New American Leaders course. Dagher was also a trainer for the organization. Before she became president of the organization, she was the director of appointments for Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D). She came to the United States as a refugee as a young child. ¹³

The organization was founded and previously led by Sayu Bhojwani. Bhojwani was the former New York City commissioner for immigrant affairs. She stepped down to create and lead Women’s Democracy Lab. ¹⁴

Funding

As of New American Leaders’ 2019 tax return, the organization had $2,370,203 in revenue and $1,361,677 in expenses. The organization had $1,117,434 in assets. ¹⁵

1. “New American Leaders Project.” National Democratic Training Committee. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://traindemocrats.org/partners/new-american-leaders-project/.
2. Shelton, Shania. “’New Americans’ Make Gains in State Legislatures but Are Still Small Minority, Study Shows.” CNN. Cable News Network, August 24, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/24/politics/immigrant-americans-state-legislatures-2022-report/index.html.
3. “Programs.” New American Leaders. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://newamericanleaders.org/programs/.
4. “A New Chapter for Nal.” New American Leaders. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://newamericanleaders.org/blog/a-new-chapter-for-nal/.
5. “New American Leaders – Nal – Remote Work from Home & Flexible Jobs.” FlexJobs. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://www.flexjobs.com/remote-jobs/company/new_american_leaders-nal.
6. “Programs.” New American Leaders. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://newamericanleaders.org/programs/.
7. “Programs.” New American Leaders. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://newamericanleaders.org/programs/.
8. “Programs.” New American Leaders. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://newamericanleaders.org/programs/.
9. “Programs.” New American Leaders. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://newamericanleaders.org/programs/.
10. [1]“New American Leaders Project.” National Democratic Training Committee. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://traindemocrats.org/partners/new-american-leaders-project/.
11. Shelton, Shania. “’New Americans’ Make Gains in State Legislatures but Are Still Small Minority, Study Shows.” CNN. Cable News Network, August 24, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/24/politics/immigrant-americans-state-legislatures-2022-report/index.html
12. Shelton, Shania. “’New Americans’ Make Gains in State Legislatures but Are Still Small Minority, Study Shows.” CNN. Cable News Network, August 24, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/24/politics/immigrant-americans-state-legislatures-2022-report/index.html.
13. “New American Leaders Welcomes Ghida Dagher, Political Consultant and Senior Staffer for Governor Whitmer, as Incoming President.” New American Leaders. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://newamericanleaders.org/blog/ghida-dagher-incoming-president-nal/.
14. “A New Chapter for Nal.” New American Leaders. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://newamericanleaders.org/blog/a-new-chapter-for-nal/.
15. “New American Leaders Inc – Form Form 990 for Period Ending Sep 2019 .” ProPublica. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/453770977/download990pdf_12_2021_prefixes_38-47%2F453770977_201909_990_2021122019352217.