April with her husband, daughter and her son at Central Park, New York City

My IRC Life features incredible stories of people who make up the heart and soul of the International Rescue Committee. Come with us on a journey as we explore everyday lived experiences of the people who work at the IRC—their journeys of how they got here, career lessons, challenges and more.

April Somboun is an education, research and innovation officer on our Airbel Impact Lab team, where they design, test and scale life-changing solutions for people affected by conflict and disaster. April has been with the IRC for close to two years, beginning her career as an Afghan Priority Two (P2) Program caseworker helping current and former eligible IRC staff apply for the P2 visa referrals to the U.S. government. Coming from a Laotian immigrant family, she shares with us her personal connection and passion and commitment to the IRC’s mission. We also discuss the exciting ways she and her team at the IRC are creating innovative solutions that are making a positive difference in people’s lives, surprising opportunities working within a humanitarian aid organization and pathways to career progression at the IRC.

From caseworker to innovation officer: April’s career shift at the IRC

With the encouragement of a former colleague, April joined the IRC as a caseworker. Within that role she not only found a profound connection and purpose to the mission but also a supportive manager who encouraged her to try new things. April gives us a glimpse into the exciting ways she is helping transform the lives of others.

A colleague I used to work with in a different nonprofit mentioned to me that IRC were looking for caseworkers. He knew this was an organization that I’ve always wanted to work for. I was like, ‘yes, of course I want to help.’ My family and I are refugees too and the stories I heard from our clients we were serving were very meaningful to me.

My manager at the time encouraged me to apply for other job opportunities after the P2 program ended. She knew that my background had been in education and technology, and I wanted to make a career shift from marketing and fundraising to work directly on programs within the international sector. She mentioned the Airbel team and the work they're doing. So that's how I got into my current position.

On the Airbel Education Global Research and Innovation Priority (GRIP) team, we come up with new and innovative ways that can disrupt the humanitarian sector and positively impact people's lives. We test our ideas working hand in hand with the Airbel practices to find out if our projects meet our Social Return on Investment goals. It's a really cool business unit with tons of smart people. When some people think of the IRC, they think of humanitarian aid, like water, food, cash assistance, etc. But what people may not know is that we're also doing other projects behind the scenes to create solutions for those we serve in crises affected areas. When I share with my friends and family what I do, they're like, ‘What? That's humanitarian work?’ It’s not always front and center.

April with her two colleagues, Sheila Burkhardt and Brenda Nyakoa, on the Airbel Education GRIP team.

April's impact at the intersection of technology and humanitarian work: Power of Education and Artificial Intelligence

April shares with us the exciting new project she is working on using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop an educational chatbot that has the potential to provide stability to the lives of students and educators impacted by a crisis. April reflects on her own experience as a refugee as she explains why this technology is so critical.

AI can be used as a very powerful tool to reach clients especially within the education sector. There are 224 million school-age children affected by crises globally. Based on these facts, we wanted to see how we could respond faster, quicker and support our teachers and their students worldwide with incredible IRC educational content that has been developed by the technical units and country teams. Our team created an AI-driven chatbot, called aprendIA, where our goal is to deploy learning experiences within 30 days or less of an onset crisis.

April with EdTech innovators in Lagos, Nigeria

Personally, I believe in the power of education. Education provides hope. Without education, I wouldn't be here today. My mom always said, ‘As a refugee and coming from a low-income family, people can take away your homes or things can happen out of your control, but they can never take away your knowledge.’ And knowledge is power, to be able to build or to rebuild a life for yourself and others.

A teacher in Bangladesh using the AI-driven Chatbot

Organizational structure, importance of having colleagues from diverse backgrounds and internal mobility at the IRC

April discusses misconceptions people may have about working at a humanitarian organization, as compared to a corporate environment, and how it’s critical to have colleagues from different backgrounds. April also speaks on what contributed to her success at the IRC, and the opportunities for internal mobility she sees here for herself and her colleagues.

Some of my colleagues and I didn’t come from the humanitarian sector. I tell people, it’s no different from corporate America. I’ve previously worked for a very large organization, and I find that it’s the same process. It’s just the mission or the end goal is different…it’s not based on profitability. The work that we're doing has a direct impact on people's lives.

“It's a matter of what you're looking for and what you're passionate about, personally and professionally.”

I do love the idea of also hiring outside of the humanitarian sector, bringing in different talent. It provides new ideas and new ways of working or best practices of how to improve our systems, so I'm a big proponent of that.

April and her colleagues on a teams call

What contributed to my success here at the IRC has been me being open to opportunities and learning from others. And I had a really great boss on the P2 team. She was very encouraging and continues to be a mentor today.

And once you're at the IRC, I think the world is your oyster. In my experience, if you're proactive, show interest in expanding your role, looking for different ways to develop professionally, then you can grow and progress internally.

April’s background coming from a refugee family and her connection to the mission

April shares her background as an immigrant and reflects on real challenges immigrants and refugee families face integrating into a new environment, and how programs offered at the IRC can be life changing.

I think we forget that there are different people from all over the world who go to a different country for a better life. My family came to the U.S. seeking freedom after the Vietnam War and when the communist party took over in Laos...without my mom's courage to escape Laos, staying in a refugee camp and then come here to the US, I could still be in Laos with less opportunities to thrive. I'm so grateful.

I think what people don’t realize is how hard it is for immigrant families to integrate themselves into a very complex system in the U.S. I can't imagine what my mom and grandmother went through when they couldn’t speak the language, figuring things out like how to get a social security card or apply for basic assistance like food stamps. It's powerful to see how and when you get the support of organizations like the IRC or individuals who sponsor you, it really does change people's lives.

April with her coworker Sheila Burkhardt in Dubai

Please note that the quotes in this article have been edited for brevity and coherence, while maintaining the integrity of the interviewees' messages.

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Published: 3/22/2024