Search

2025 Fellowship on Immigrant Integration

About the Fellowship

The Fellowship on Immigrant Integration seeks to fortify the pipeline of immigrant integration researchers, practitioners, policy influencers, policy makers, and policy implementers. The Fellowship provides an opportunity to work along seasoned researchers and practitioners to advance the integration agenda while strengthening skills in research and practice. The Fellowship is open to graduate students and mid-level professionals who are interested in immigrant integration and migration issues and are committed to working in the field of integration.

 

Objectives include:

  • Deepening understanding of the contextual factors that have the most/least influence on integration outcomes;
  • Analyzing the impact of local, state, and federal policies on integration of foreign-born New Yorkers; and
  • Examining mechanisms and models of integrating immigrants in the economic, social, and civic fabric of communities.

2025 Fellows on Immigrant Integration

David Monda

David Monda

Immigrant Integration Fellow, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy

David Monda is completing a PhD inpolitical science at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center.  His doctoral training is situated at the intersection of comparative politics and international relations with an emphasis on foreign policy and international migration. He was previously a research fellow at the Vera Institute’s Ending Detention Initiative, in Brooklyn, New York, studying the perverse incentives of state and local governments in the mass detention of undocumented immigrants in the United States. His research interests center on foreign policies of the Global South and securitization of narratives around migration. This research has included fieldwork in Belize, South Africa, Brazil, Kenya, and Argentina.

Jeong Taek Lim

Jeong Taek Lim

Immigrant Integration Fellow, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy

Jeong Taek (JT) Lim (he/him) is a PhD student in sociology at the University at Albany. His research draws on international migration and urban sociology, focusing on the corporate dynamics that shape ethnic settlement in new immigrant destinations in both the US and the Global South. Lim’s passion for this field stems from his personal experiences as a South Korean who has lived in both Vietnam and the United States, allowing him to develop comparative insights into Korean diasporas across different social and geographical contexts. His forthcoming co-authored publication explores the unique migration dynamics in the Global South, specifically Vietnam, and their impact on the ethnic identities of Korean-Vietnamese multicultural adolescents.

Ken Irish Bramble

Ken Irish-Bramble

Immigrant Integration Fellow, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy

Ken Irish-Bramble is an MA student in the international migration studies program at CUNY Graduate Center. He was born on the French side of St. Martin and grew up on the island of Montserrat in the Eastern Caribbean. He has worked as an educator for over twenty-five years in both K-12 and higher education. Irish-Bramble is a graduate of the CUNY BA program and holds graduate degrees from NYU and Pace University.

Irish-Bramble has a broad interest in immigrant issues including issues surrounding immigrant assimilation and acculturation, enduring relationships with countries of origin, and the impact of Caribbean-American immigrants on the political development of the United States. He is currently conducting research on diasporic/expatriate voting rights and voting patterns of naturalized citizens in the United States. Irish-Bramble currently serves as a member of the faculty at Medgar Evers College (CUNY) and campus director of CUNY ICORP at Medgar Evers College. He has published two books, Bricks, Ballots and Bullets (2012) and Violence and Power (2018).

Shiyue Cui

Shiyue Cui

Immigrant Integration Fellow, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy

Shiyue Cui is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University at Buffalo. Her research focuses on international migration, refugee studies, and social inequality. Her dissertation combines quantitative data analysis with qualitative interviews to examine refugees’ resettlement experiences in New York State. The research demonstrates that family and gender practices play a crucial role in shaping their employment prospects and cultural capital accumulation. Additionally, Cui investigates displacement and mobility among immigrant populations more broadly.

Adriana R Mintarsih

Adriana R. Mintarsih

Immigrant Integration Fellow

Adriana R. Mintarsih is a Fulbright scholar from Indonesia and a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University at Albany. During the spring 2025 semester, she will serve as a Women and Public Policy Fellow at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, University at Albany. Her research primarily focuses on gender, family, and migration, topics on which she has authored several scholarly articles. Her dissertation examines the agency and emotional experiences of Indonesian young adults who remain behind when their parents migrate for informal work either within Indonesia or abroad.

Fellowship on Immigrant Integration

Albany, NY – The Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy (IIIRP) today announced the appointment of five graduate students to its 2025 Fellowship on Immigrant Integration. This prestigious fellowship will enable the fellows to advance understanding of and develop innovative approaches to immigrant integration, supporting the IIIRP’s mission to improve outcomes for foreign-born residents of New York State and beyond.

The four-month fellowship engages graduate students from SUNY and CUNY in research designed to enhance the economic, social, and civic integration of immigrants. This year’s fellows will focus on identifying successful models for fostering inclusive societies, with an emphasis on social integration and equitable opportunities for immigrant communities.

SUNY Chancellor John B. King, Jr

“At SUNY, we are committed to creating a vibrant community for people of all backgrounds regardless of their place of birth. Congratulations to the SUNY students selected for this year’s Fellowship on Immigration Integration. The important research these students will conduct will leverage their passions and expertise to further support immigrant communities helping to make this nation a better place for all.”

Bob Megna, president of the Rockefeller Institute

“This fellowship program does an excellent job engaging emerging scholars in critical issues surrounding immigrant integration, We are excited for these new fellows as they seek to broaden our understanding of how to improve integration outcomes for foreign-born New Yorkers in a time of great uncertainty for immigrants and immigration.”

Dina Refki, executive director of the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy

“We are thrilled to welcome five emerging scholars to this transformative fellowship, The work of the 2025 Fellowship will center on researching and identifying successful models of engineering an inclusive society with a focus on the social integration of immigrants.”

CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez

“We congratulate Ken Irish-Bramble and David Monda of the CUNY Graduate Center on winning this prestigious fellowship. It will help them gain a better understanding of how immigrants can be more equitably integrated into their communities, thereby improving the lives of individuals and fostering a more inclusive society. Today this work is more vital than ever, and it aligns with our mission at CUNY, which has been long known as a place that transforms the lives of immigrant and first-generation families,”

Havidán Rodríguez, president of the University at Albany

“I am so proud that two University at Albany students have been selected for this impactful fellowship. UAlbany is committed to conducting top-tier research and scholarship that benefits the public good and the work these fellows are doing exemplifies that goal. Jeong Taek and Adriana R. Mintarsih are shining examples of the engaged global citizens we are educating at UAlbany,”

Joshua C. Brumberg, president of the CUNY Graduate Center

“We applaud the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy for launching this timely and vital fellowship, As New York City’s only research-intensive public graduate school, we are dedicated to fostering research that makes a meaningful impact on society. We are delighted that our students Ken Irish-Bramble and David Monda are inaugural fellows and are confident that their findings will enrich the conversation around immigration and inspire innovative responses to this critical issue.”

Isaac Ehrlich, member of the Institute’s Board of Advisors and SUNY distinguished professor of economics and finance at the University at Buffalo

“The integration of immigrants is one of the most vital pathways to fostering human capital development and sustaining social and economic growth. By cultivating inclusive institutions and policies, we not only unlock the potential of individuals but also strengthen the foundations of trust, cohesion, and innovation in our communities. The 2025 Fellows on Immigrant Integration represent a bold commitment to advancing these principles and addressing one of the most pressing challenges of our time.”