About

Uniting NC was founded in 2008 in response to the increasingly negative and often dehumanizing treatment of immigrants in recent years, both in words and actions. Local officials have referred to Latino immigrants as “dirty” and “breeding like rabbits” and local mosques have received bomb threats. These are just two examples of a phenomenon that threatens North Carolina communities and has already adversely affected the daily lives of thousands of North Carolinians.

Uniting NC introduces North Carolinians to people from around the world who have moved to their communities and now call North Carolina home. We facilitate these introductions both virtually, through our website and public service announcements, and in real life, through community events. We do so because of our firm belief that it’s only after we get to know one another, and think of each other as people like ourselves, that we identify with each others’ hopes and challenges, and can work together as neighbors to build stronger, safer, more productive communities.

Staff

Kristin Collins joined Uniting NC as its first director in March 2010.

Kristin is a native of Delaware and graduated in 1996 from the University of Delaware. A career in newspapers brought her to North Carolina, where she found her first job as a crime reporter in the rural eastern North Carolina town of Kinston. In 1999, she joined the News & Observer in Raleigh, where she spent 11 years writing about a broad range of topics, including local government, education, rural issues and agriculture. Most recently, she was the paper’s immigration reporter. To her new role with Uniting NC, she brings a commitment to fostering civil and informed conversation about immigration. Kristin lives in Raleigh with her husband, Todd Silberman, her daughter, Amelia, and her step-son, Zack.

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