The DePaul Migration Collaborative (DMC) presents its Practitioner in Residence program as part of the Reframing Refugees Project. This initiative invites experts on migration, immigration, and human rights to collaborate, address migration challenges, and inform policies. Participants gain access to DePaul resources and have the opportunity to influence various migration-related discussions. The residency lasts 3-6 months and promotes practical solutions for contemporary migration issues.
Meet Our PIRs
Ellen Miller is a humanitarian and a 2024-2025 DePaul Migration Collaborative (DMC) Practitioner in Residence. During her DMC residency, she will be conducting community-based research on Chicago's immigration legal services for recent arrivals and will be compiling her research into a report to shed light on lived experiences of benefiting populations and potential future programmatic decisions. Her work will also build on best practices and practical tools for participatory evaluations amongst legal service providers.
In the past, Ellen worked with Chicago and national pro bono communities to connect immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers with counsel at the National Immigrant Justice Center and she has worked in Child and International Protection with UNHCR throughout Central and South America, and Northern Africa.
She received her B.A. in International Studies from DePaul University; starting her career in immigration with an externship via DePaul at World Relief-Chicago. After years of being a DOJ Accredited Representative working with refugees and immigrants on Chicago's Northwest side, Ellen pursued community-based work in northern Africa. While pursuing a degree at the American University in Cairo, Ellen engaged in emergency management and humanitarian assistance during the onset and immediate aftermath of the Arab Spring. She earned an M.A. in International Human Rights Law and a post-graduate diploma in Psychosocial Interventions for Forced Migration from the American University in Cairo.
Working most of her career in international protection, Ellen has worked with refugees, asylum-seekers and immigrants from around the world and in all stages of their journey, from flight to integration. Her passion lies in building responsible and agile systems, supporting humanitarian workers, border zones, and a good revolution (aka change management!). Ellen also loves warm weather, outdoor activities, and chocolate chip cookies.
Student Workers
Alondra Felipe
Juliana Zanubi
Previous Projects
Rob Paral was a 2023-2024 DMC Practitioner in Residence. He is a demographic and public policy consultant with specialties in immigrant, Latino and Asian populations; community needs for health and human service programs; and Midwestern demographic change. Rob’s project focused on developing a report on Illinois capacity to resettle migrants and the state’s response to recently arrived forced migrants included achievement and potential avenues for improvement. Within his report, Rob highlights recommendations for future Illinois policy. To accomplish his goal Rob traveled throughout the city of Chicago, Springfield, IL and El Paso, TX to interview administrative and legislative budget experts relevant to the report and interviewing immigration attorneys and advocates.
View The Final Report: 
RP_Final Report (Updated 3_31).pdf
Elizabeth G. Kennedy, Ph.D. was a 2023-2024 DMC Practitioner in Residence. She is a 2023-2024 Fulbright Scholar to El Salvador and LAPOP's 2023-2024 Honduras expert. Her project focused on preparing expert witness affidavits on the country conditions of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala alongside create training materials and guidance for immigrant advocacy organizations in connection with each of the country condition reports. Her project also prioritized coordinating alongside the DMC to make these expert witness reports available to legal service providers for use in support of asylum applications.
View The Final Report: EK Final Report_Website.pdf
Annual Residency Reports:
2023-2024: PIR Report
Ways to Connect with Our PIRs
If you are a faculty member at DePaul and would like to request our PIR’s to speak in your classroom, please fill out this form and someone from the DMC will reach out to you. If you have questions, contact: migration@depaul.edu