Welcoming Advisory Council Reinstated

Franklin County Board of Commissioners 

 

The Franklin County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to formally appoint 15 members to the reinstated Franklin County Welcoming Advisory Council, a body designed to connect immigrant and new American communities to county services and decision-makers. The council, also known as the New American Advisory Council, had been in development for more than a year. The county's Office of Community Appointments worked with council leadership to vet and recommend candidates with attention to geographic and cultural representation across Franklin County. Members will serve two-year terms expiring March 31, 2028. 

 

The timing is deliberate. Council representative Guadalupe Velasquez, Managing Director of Welcoming City, noted during the meeting that 700 Central Ohio residents were arrested and detained through federal immigration enforcement last year, with 4,000 across Ohio in the same period. Counties and cities, she said, are now on the front lines of addressing the needs of vulnerable communities. 

 

Council representative Nadia Kasvin, Co-Founder and Director, US Together, told the commissioners that despite a gap in the council's formal structure, the work never stopped. Over the past decade, council members and community partners held eight community forums, gathering stories from the residents the council serves. She described those stories as ones of courage, perseverance, and aspiration. 

 

The Welcoming Advisory Council intersects with all four goals of the county's Rise Together Blueprint. Its reinstatement signals that Franklin County intends to maintain a direct, structured relationship with immigrant communities at a moment when the national policy environment makes that relationship more consequential than ever. 

For new Americans in Franklin County, the council is a formal channel. For the county, it is a commitment to showing up for every resident it serves.