DAVID COLLINS ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF IRAQI CHILDREN FOUNDATION

April 25, 2023 – The Iraqi Children Foundation (ICF), the United States’ largest charity devoted exclusively to advocacy and support for Iraq’s children, has elected David Collins LMSW as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Collins is a social worker specializing in child and family policy, systems reform, and evidence-based practice. He is currently the Chief Program Officer at The Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry, NY, one of the nation’s leading child welfare organizations.

In partnership with ICF, he has represented The Children’s Village on six different training and technical assistance missions to Baghdad since 2009, with the goal of supporting local NGOs, government partners and international agencies responding to the needs of orphans, widows, and victims of war.

He previously served as the Assistant Commissioner for Program Innovation and Planning at New York City’s Administration for Children Services, where he helped lead the design, contracting and implementation phases of several large-scale child welfare and juvenile justice reform initiatives. He earned a BA magna cum laude from Simon’s Rock College and a MSW from Columbia University School of Social Work.

“When I first had the opportunity to travel to Baghdad with ICF, I met so many Iraqis striving bravely for the same things that people all over the world want: peace, safety, and the opportunity for a better life. As a social worker, I saw people doing the same work that I do in my day to day life, striving to provide care for vulnerable and traumatized children, but without most of the infrastructure or supports that we sometimes take for granted. I love that ICF channels its resources to local partners, focuses on direct aid to those who need it most, and supports peaceful self-determination for all Iraqis.”

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ICF is a non-partisan, non-sectarian tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity, rated Platinum on Guidestar and listed on the US Government’s Combined Federal Campaign (#95191). To learn more, visit www.iraqichildren.org, email Executive Director McRae at liz@iraqichildren.org, or call 703.635.7990