The Numbers
There are an estimated 179,800 immigrants living in Kentucky.
If we were all in one county, our population would be bigger than every county in KY other than Jefferson and Fayette.
The Gap
Only 75,700 Kentucky immigrants are registered voters.
Language barriers, trust, and accessibility of information can make it difficult for immigrants to become informed about issues and candidates, and to register to vote.
The Need
57,759 are eligible for naturalization right now.
However, there are many immigrants eligible for naturalization who do not become citizens mainly due to financial and language barriers.
Who We Are.
We are a diverse group of Kentuckians from across the state committed to making space for the voices of foreign-born Kentuckians in our electoral process. We are community leaders, elected officials, business owners, attorneys, students, volunteers, and every day Kentuckians.
Our staff is women-led. 80% of our board members are first and second generation immigrants. Together, we want to help immigrant and refugee communities by stablishing pathways to citizenship, helping eligible immigrants become citizens, and keeping naturalized citizens engaged and active in our electoral and civic processes.
What we do.
Legal Clinics & Workshops
NAI's legal clinics and workshops serve foreign-born Kentuckians who are eligible for green cards and naturalization. We recognize that by putting Kentuckians on a path to citizenship and providing civic engagement workshops, we can significantly increase the number of foreign-born voters in the state over the next five years, as well as their active participation in our democracy.
NAI hosts a number of limited representation one-day legal clinics and workshops to help individuals in Kentucky who are currently eligible for citizenship or who may become eligible within five years. Through these clinics NAI aims to address the primary barriers to naturalization including:
- Lack of knowledge about the process,
- Inability to afford the filing fee, or
- Difficulty passing the English proficiency portion of the naturalization interview.
We’re here to help bridge those gaps and support our fellow immigrants as they become active and informed citizens of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
What we do.
Civic Engagement
NAI provides information and resources on voter education in culturally competent formats and languages to immigrant and refugee communities across Kentucky. We also host voter registrations, GOTV (get out the vote) events and candidate forums.
We equip community members with resources and strategies to become more civically informed and engaged, and we work to connect across communities through strategic partnerships at the city, state, and national levels.
Through organizing, policy advocacy, and voter engagement, we hope to change the narrative and demonstrate how Kentucky immigrants and refugees can be a powerful collective force for change and progress.
We aim to engage immigrant and refugee voters year-round on issues impacting their communities, and mobilize an electorate that has been historically overlooked.
What we do.
Community Organizing
This year NAI has been instrumental in leading the formation of coalitions for immigrant support in Kentucky’s two largest cities – Lexington and Louisville – and have been a partner with coalition efforts in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. One of these local coalitions includes the incredibly active Louisville-based coalition Louisville Coalition for Immigrant Support (LCIS) which is a collaborative and robust network of over 40 nonprofits, public and private school leaders, labor unions, attorneys, business leaders, faith-based organizations, elected officials, and community volunteers. With these coalitions, NAI has led the following efforts:
- Serving on the steering committees that meet weekly ahead of coalition meetings. NAI holds a majority of the administrative tasks and burden of these coalitions because many members of the coalitions are direct-serving and triaging in the immigrant community
- Empowering communities through Know Your Rights (KYR) trainings to ensure that immigrants understand their rights
- Disseminating information to ensure that immigrant communities have access to accurate information about their rights
- Building solidarity and resource sharing between immigrant communities and their allies to create a strong network of support.
- Supporting and coordinating the nonprofit organizations who are serving the immigrant community in Louisville
Our Partners & Collaborators
NAI is fortunate to partner with organizations such as law schools at University of Louisville and University of Kentucky law; direct service organizations such as International Rescue Commission (IRC), Catholic Charities of Kentucky, Kentucky Refugee Ministries, and Neighbors Immigration Clinic; government entities such as Lexington's Civic Lex and Louisville's Office of Immigrant Affairs; and, civic rights organizations such as American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky (ACLU-KY), Kentucky Civic Engagement Table (KCET), and Kentucky League of Women Voters.
This office is dedicated to promoting inclusion of Louisville's immigrant and refugee communities into the civic, social, and economic life of the city. In collaboration with community partners, we help facilitate equitable access to opportunity by developing strategies, policies, and programs that advance inclusion for all.
The International Rescue Committee responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, including the conflict in Ukraine and the crisis in Afghanistan. The IRC helps to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster
How you can help.
Get Involved.
- Provide pro bono legal support
- Volunteer to interpret or translate
- Volunteer at a legal clinic
- Staff an NAI table at community events
- Register new voters
- Work a GOTV (Get out the vote) event
- Sponsor a naturalization or work permit clinic
- Provide child care for children during clinics
2025 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Information Sessions
In 2025, NAI will host information sessions throughout the state to help provide information about refugee and immigrant rights, eligibility for naturalization, and to help answer questions about upcoming legal clinics. Please check back for confirmed times and locations.
Legal Clinics
In 2025, NAI will hold refugee adjustment of status and naturalization limited representation workshops. Participants will be required to attend an information session and pre-register for these events. Please check back for times and locations.
Voter Engagement Events
In 2025, NAI will be engaging and registering voters throughout Kentucky at these festivals. Check back here as dates are confirmed by organizers.
- World Fest (Louisville)
- International Festival (Bowling Green)
- International Festival (Frankfort)
- Festival Latino de Lexington (Lexington)
- Owensboro Multicultural Festival (Owensboro)
- Esperanza Center Health Festival (Northern KY)
Meet the Team
At the heart of the New Americans Initiative, our dedicated team works to connect individuals to essential resources and become engaged in civic life.
Our efforts extend to supporting our incredible volunteers, empowering them to become leaders and champions within their communities.
Together, we are fostering an inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and contribute to our communities. Our staff is women-led with 75% being first and second generation immigrants. 80% of our board is also made of first and second generation immigrants.
Nima Kulkarni
Executive Director
Nima Kulkarni is the founder and executive director of the New Americans Initiative. In 2018, Nima Kulkarni became the first Indian immigrant to be elected in the history of the Kentucky Legislature. She represented the 40th District in Louisville, which includes the University of Louisville and Churchill Downs.
Since 2010, she has also managed her own immigration law practice, helping others achieve the American Dream. Nima has earned a BA in English Literature, a Juris Doctor, and an MBA in Entrepreneurship. As a legislator, Nima focused her work on issues of economic, social, racial, and environmental justice, and has dedicated her time as a public servant to helping the most vulnerable Kentuckians.
Charlene Buckles
Development and Civic Engagement Director
Charlene Buckles (she/her) is a Filipina-Kentuckian, mother of two, and nonprofit development professional. She served in fundraising and organization-wide strategic planning roles for nonprofits such as Girls on the Run Atlanta, Neighbors Immigration Legal Clinic, American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky (ACLU-KY), and most recently New Americans Initiative.
In recent years, Charlene's and her co-creator's podcast "Where Y'all Really From" that highlights stories from Asian American Kentuckians was featured in NPR's top podcasts for several weeks and was the "fastest-growing, episodic program in Louisville Public Media history." She was named Louisville Business First's 40 under 40 in 2023. In her free time, she loves to dabble in photography, make hopeful-but-often-futile attempts at backyard gardening, and explore new places in Kentucky and new islands abroad with her family.
Emily Jones
Legal Director
In addition to practicing law, Emily is a part-time instructor in the Political Science Department at the University of Kentucky teaching pre-law classes to undergraduates. She has also served as an adjunct faculty at the Rosenberg College of Law and the supervisor of their Kentucky Refugee Ministries Externship. Emily is an At Large Commissioner on the Mayor’s International Affairs Advisory Commission (MIAAC) in Lexington, Kentucky. In addition to NAI, Emily works part-time as the Senior Immigration Attorney at Kentucky Refugee Ministries (KRM) in Lexington.
Prior to immigration law, Emily practiced in the area of foreclosure defense at Community Legal Aid in Worcester, Massachusetts. Emily graduated from the University of Kentucky with a B.A. in Political Science and French and holds a law degree from the University of Kentucky Rosenberg College of Law. Prior to joining NAI, Emily worked as the Senior Immigration Attorney at Kentucky Refugee Ministries (KRM) in Lexington. For over a decade, Emily has focused on the practice of humanitarian and family-based immigration law assisting thousands of clients with a variety of cases in front of US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Executive Office of Immigration Review.
Mae Suramek
Operations Director
Mae Suramek (she/her) has been involved in non-profit management at the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission, the North Carolina Human Relations Commission, Berea College, and the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center. After spending 20 years getting an up-close and personal view of the funding challenges of the non-profit world, she went on to create Noodle Nirvana, a socially-conscious restaurant in Berea, KY that raised nearly $200,000 for four non-profits during its seven years of operations.
Mae recently returned to her non-profit roots and currently serves as the Operations Director of the New Americans Initiative. Mae and her husband, Adam are also partners of the Good Dwellings Group, a real estate business that is committed to promoting equal and accessible housing in Kentucky. Mae has a B.A. in psychology from Berea College and an M.A. in counseling from Eastern Kentucky University.
Our Board of Directors
Our board is dynamic and diverse, bringing together a wide range of skills and talents from leaders across Kentucky. Notably, 80% of our members are first- or second-generation immigrants, reflecting the rich cultural fabric of our Kentucky communities.
Angelika Weaver is an advocate, grant writer, community organizer, speaker, and women's empowerment coach from Williamsburg, Kentucky. She owns Good Stewardship Consulting, a company that assists businesses and organizations in tackling issues of multi-generational communication and soft skills development for staff and emerging leaders.
Weaver began her career in 1999 as the first law enforcement victim's advocate in her area, serving the needs of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in the court system and has been leading in this capacity ever since.
She received her National Advocate Credentials in 2019 and serves as a mentor for fellow law enforcement-based advocates through Kentucky's Victim Assistance Academy, the training ground for new advocates across the Commonwealth.
Angelika's primary focus is empowering women in Southeastern Kentucky, but her influence can be seen in various ongoing local and regional projects. Driven by her love of Appalachia, Weaver is committed to positively shaping external perceptions of Kentucky and the Southeastern region. She resides in Williamsburg with her husband, Carl. Together they have 6 children and 7 grandchildren.
