Former Lt. Governor Molly Gray will serve as the first executive director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance, the organization announced Tuesday.
Gray, who left office in January, will serve in the role on an interim basis. In an interview on Tuesday, she said that was an intentional decision.
“The co-founders and I agree that the Vermont Afghan Alliance, in the long term, should be Afghan-led,” Gray said. “And my hope is that in this interim role, I can help grow a budget, grow the funds, help hire staff, particularly Afghans in Vermont, and to build out programming with the end goal of having the alliance be fully Afghan-led in the future.”
The Burlington-based nonprofit supports Afghans who are resettling in the state. It assists with a variety of skills, such as a driver education program that is tailored to women who were not allowed to drive in their home country.
Wazir Hashimi, the nonprofit’s co-founder and board president, said in a press release Tuesday that Gray had advised the organization since its founding in April 2022.
“Her experience and skills are unparalleled and we’re fortunate to have her serve as the Alliance’s first executive director,” Hashimi said.
Gray recalled Hashimi visiting her in her Statehouse office in Montpelier when the state first started to welcome Afghan refugees. Hashimi told Gray about the challenges of meeting the basic needs of Afghans who were resettling in the state, and Gray said she helped to connect refugees with service providers. Later, when Hashimi launched the alliance, Gray volunteered and advised.
More recently, when the group decided it needed an executive director, it offered the job to Gray, whose political career hit a setback last August when she lost the Democratic primary for Vermont’s lone U.S. House seat.
It’s been nearly two years since U.S. combat troops withdrew from Afghanistan. Gray said the needs of Afghans may not be “front and center” to most Americans, but with over 300 Afghans resettled in the state, “the needs are diverse. They’re acute,” Gray said.
The resettlement is also more dispersed than other resettlement programs, according to Gray. She noted that there are growing communities of Afghan refugees throughout the state.
So far, the driving program has had the most impact, but it operates on a first-come-first-served basis and the organization hopes to bring on more staff to meet the needs of new Afghan drivers.
The director position will be Gray’s first job after leaving public office. As lieutenant governor, she said, she most enjoyed meeting the needs of constituents.
“For me, this is an extension of that,” Gray said. “This is an opportunity to help a population — that was really a partner for the U.S. government in Afghanistan — resettle in Vermont. What I know is that the population of Afghans resettling in Vermont is growing, because this is a place where individuals want to resettle.”