Following an extensive nationwide search launched in the fall for new permanent leadership, the CPA Steering Committee is pleased to announce the appointment of Irene Joras our new Executive Director!
Irene is an organizer and movement strategist with more than two decades of experience advancing worker justice, youth leadership, immigrant rights, and gender equity. She brings a deep commitment to building collective power rooted in the lived experiences and leadership of immigrant workers, women of color, and their working-class families.
The daughter of immigrant workers, Irene began organizing as a teenager at a domestic violence advocacy organization serving women and children. Witnessing her parents’ experiences as immigrant workers shaped her lifelong commitment to labor and community organizing. Since then, she has dedicated her career to developing grassroots leadership and strengthening the infrastructure of social justice movements.
Irene spent six years organizing domestic and care workers in New York with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, where she later served as New York Director and led statewide field and campaign strategy. She has also held national leadership roles at United for Respect, helping build organizing infrastructure for low-wage retail workers across the country.
In recent years, Irene has worked as a consultant supporting grassroots organizations, worker centers, and philanthropic partners on strategy development, evaluation, and movement alignment. After relocating back to the Boston area, where she grew up, she began working with CPA in this capacity and served as our Interim Organizing and Political Director and Development Consultant in 2023.
Irene holds an M.A. in Anthropology and a B.A. in Urban Studies from Stanford University. She lives in Malden with her partner and their baby.
Beginning in May, Irene will lead CPA’s work to strengthen grassroots organizing, advance economic and racial justice, and build collective power in Boston’s Chinese immigrant communities and beyond.
In the coming months, we look forward to creating opportunities for CPA members, partners, allies, and supporters to meet Irene and continue building our work together as we look ahead to celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2027.