Our work
Claremont Canopy is a grassroots community sponsorship organization that works with locally resettled refugees so they can thrive within their new community. After initial resettlement, many refugees are left without the resources to navigate their new area, achieve gainful employment, further their education, and become active and engaged community members.
As a 501c3, Claremont Canopy addresses those needs by forming connections between refugees and useful services. We focus on education, employment, emotional support, and community integration. We cherish the personal relationships we build, and we know that by being personally invested in our neighbors, we create a stronger community together.
Our Mission
Through community-centered support, Claremont Canopy serves as an ally and advocate to newly-arrived refugees, empowering them to thrive in their new community.
Community Centered Support
A vital contributing factor toward feeling accepted into the new society is the support of the community. This is a foundational and inherent aspect of Claremont Canopy, and it makes an impact every day. By involving the community as a whole to welcome our newly resettled families, it offers them the confidence they need to reach out to more services used to secure housing, health care, education, and additional everyday necessities.
How we Started
Claremont Canopy was founded by seven moms with more than twenty children between them. In between running to and from sports practices, elementary and middle schools, and full-time jobs, they created a system to support people displaced by forced migration who have resettled in Claremont and surrounding areas. They worked to provide a community that is welcoming, affordable, and sustainable as they build new lives here.
To achieve this, Canopy connects people and organizations to create opportunities in education, employment, and community integration.
The Canopy team strongly believes that community integration is enriching not only for their new neighbors but also for the community who have called Claremont home for a while. Through kindness, compassion, and friendly networking, Claremont Canopy looks forward to welcoming more new families into our community!
At Claremont Canopy, we dream big, and then we go out and make it happen! Why don't you join us?
Our Team
Christy Anderson
Christy is the founder and executive director of Claremont Canopy. Christy is the founder and executive director of Claremont Canopy. Christy graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1998. She is a Minnesota native and began her career in the non-profit sector. Christy began working with the local refugee population in 2016 and after a few months, she saw the need for a broader organization to act as a Canopy for the smaller organizations that work with refugees. She used her network and social media to spread the mission of Canopy, which is to network on behalf of the Canopy families to connect them with organizations and resources that will create opportunities to go from surviving to thriving in their new country. Her efforts started with one family and an amazon wish list on her personal Facebook page to today, Canopy serves over 35 families and is 501c3 non profit organization. Christy feels strongly it is our duty to welcome our new arrival neighbors and help them thrive in their new home. Christy has received recognization from both local and district government offices, as well as local groups for her work with Claremont Canopy. She also serves as the Director of the New Arrival Supper Club with Miry’s List in Los Angeles. This program brings the community and refugee families together through a social impact culinary experience. Christy has been a resident of Claremont, CA since 2014. She and her husband are active in the community raising their four children.
Jennifer Stark
Jennifer was one of the original Canopy team members and serves as the head of Canopy’s fundraising efforts. Jennifer’s commitment to serving the community of Claremont is rooted in her appreciation for those who have served before her. Jennifer was born and raised in Claremont and went to Pitzer College, and she and her husband have raised their three children here. Jennifer was one of the original Canopy team members and serves as the head of Canopy’s fundraising efforts.
In 2018 Jennifer was elected as a Claremont City Council member. Councilmember Stark has served as a Traffic and Transportation Commissioner and as a member of the boards of Claremont Heritage and Friends of the Claremont Library. She volunteers for Sustainable Claremont as a Certified Tree Steward and is a proud member of the League of Women Voters, the Democratic Club of Claremont, Kiwanis Club, and the University Club. Councilmember Stark serves as the City Council representative to the Six Basins Water Master Board and the Three Valleys Water Board. She also serves as an alternate on the Chamber of Commerce Government Relations and Economic Development Committee, Clean Power Alliance Authority Board, and the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments JPA Governing Board. Her involvement in the community and local government brings the needs of Claremont Canopy families to the attention of our local officials.
Anne Bennett
Anne serves as the head of Claremont Canopy’s employment team. Dr. Anne Bennett is an anthropologist with research experience in Syria. She speaks Arabic and after the crisis and war in Syria she felt called to help the local Arabic speaking refugee populations. Anne serves as the head of Claremont Canopy’s employment team, which networks on behalf of our families to connect them withe employers. She feels passionate about learning about each family member to see what trades and skills they bring to our community and connecting them with potential employers. Anne is a professor at California State University San Bernardino in their Anthropology department. She resides in Claremont with her geographer husband and 13-year-old son.
Brenda Hill
Brenda serves as Claremont Canopy’s family advocate. Brenda has been a Claremont resident for over 40 years. She is retired from a lengthy career at The Claremont Colleges, last serving as CEO of Claremont University Consortium. She also assists husband John with their non-profit Amigos de Chocola that provides educational support for Maya children in an impoverished Guatemalan village. Brenda has been a refugee volunteer and advocate for several related Syrian refugee families for the past three years, assisting with navigating the health care system and public schools and applying for Green Cards. She is an active volunteer with Claremont Canopy. Mostly, Brenda seeks to be a friend and supporter of refugee families
Anita Frances Shenoi
Anita joined Claremont Canopy as an intern in the summer of 2018, a position sponsored by the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights. After serving as an English as a Second Language tutor and Community Liason for the 5C Refugee Advocacy Network, her time with Canopy proved a wonderful experience where she was able to learn about hands-on resettlement efforts under the guidance of a collaborative team. In 2020, she graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a degree in International Relations and a focus on Human Rights Studies and Refugee Resettlement. Anita has remained connected with Canopy through her work with Christy on various projects. Currently, Anita is pursuing a Master's degree in Human Rights Studies at Columbia University, and is looking forward to continuing to be involved, virtually, with Claremont Canopy.
Athulya Nath
Athulya serves as the intern for Claremont Canopy. Athulya is a rising junior at Claremont McKenna College majoring in Government and Philosophy with a minor in Legal Studies. Athulya’s interest in helping refugees comes from her prior experience in immigration law. Though Athulya is interested in exploring the legal field in terms of immigration, refugee, asylum, and human rights, she wanted to get hands on and personal experience helping Canopy families find a sense of home. Athulya is excited to advocate for Canopy families and is excited to get to know them better throughout her time with Canopy.
Our Board of Directors
MASSOD R. KHAN
Masood R. Khan is a Claremont Canopy board member. Masood is licensed to practice law in all courts of the State of California and in all immigration courts throughout the United States. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law in 2001 and his B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1997. In addition to the practice of law, Masood Khan is a faculty lecturer at California State University, Los Angeles in the Department of Finance and Law, where he teaches courses dealing with Business Law. He is a member of the Academy for Studies in Business Law and sits on the boards of various non-profit organizations.
Masood Khan has previously worked for Schoenleber and Waltermire, the Adila Law Group and the California Appellate Project in Northern California.
Masood Khan represents scores of businesses of varying sizes and types. His clients include manufacturers, retail businesses, consulting firms, as well as professionals in various fields.
Kirsti Zitar
Kirsti Zitar serves as the CFO for Claremont Canopy. Kirsti graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 1997 with a dual degree in Human Biology and Anthropology. Following graduation, Kirsti worked in the biotech industry in Seattle before returning to Claremont in 2000 to join the inaugural class at Keck Graduate Institute. She finished her MBS degree in 2002 and joined a local start-up biotech company where she worked in business development, marketing, product development, and human relations. In 2009, Kirsti returned to her alma mater to work with the Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children and transitioned to the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights in 2011.
Christy Anderson
Christy is the founder and executive director of Claremont Canopy and the Canopy board chair. Christy graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1998. She is a Minnesota native and began her career in the non-profit sector. Christy began working with the local refugee population in 2016 and after a few months, she saw the need for a broader organization to act as a Canopy for the smaller organizations that work with refugees. She used her network and social media to spread the mission of Canopy. Christy has received recognition from both local and district government offices, as well as local groups for her work with Claremont Canopy. She also serves as the Director of the New Arrival Supper Club with Miry’s List in Los Angeles. This program brings the community and refugee families together through a social impact culinary experience. Christy has been a resident of Claremont, CA since 2014. She and her husband are active in the community raising their four children.
Dr. Maryam Othman
Dr. Othman is a Claremont Canopy Board Member. Maryam Othman, MD, MPH is the Director of the Global & Community Health Center / Associate Professor, Western University of Health Science, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Pomona, and the Director of Medical Education, WiRED International, a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization that provides vital medical information and education to underserved communities in regions challenged by war, poverty and dislocation.Othman provides leadership and oversight for the Global and Community Health Center within the Department of Social Medicine and Healthcare leadership. She is the Director of the Community Service Learning (CSL) and the Global and Community Health Track in Pomona campus. Dr. Othman received her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Baghdad, Iraq in 2000, and her Masters of Public Health from The George Washington University, Washington, DC, in 2009, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. She was the National Medical Officer of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Baghdad, Iraq (2003 – 2006). She also served as the Project Manager of the Palestine Children Relief Fund (PCRF) in Baghdad (2004-2006).
Natalie Taylor
Natalie Taylor is a Claremont Board Member. Natalie Taylor has been in the field of education in Los Angeles County for over 15 years. She has served as an elementary teacher, elementary principal, and district level director focused on equity, instruction, and intervention. In addition to serving students in her home district of Claremont Unified, Natalie has traveled to China to work alongside overseas departments of education. Natalie was awarded the 2020 and 2021 'Valuing Diversity Award' from the Association of California School Administrators, Region 15. Natalie completed her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from USC. Her research focused on the journey White educational leaders take when building racial identity and heightening racial consciousness.
Natalie’s work with Claremont Canopy began when she was an elementary principal in Claremont Unified. As refugee students enrolled in school, Natalie learned first-hand the importance of building relationships to best serve the students upon arrival. Natalie moved to the district office in the role as Director of Intervention and English Learner Programs. It was in this role that she was able to provide support to Claremont Canopy families in all levels of Claremont Unified, from preschool to adult school. Upon meeting Christy, a friendship and partnership was created. Natalie has served on the Board of Claremont Canopy since 2020.
Helen Musharbash
Helen Musharbash is a Claremont Board Member. Helen was born and raised in Southern California to immigrant parents from Amman, Jordan. As the first in her family to go to college, she made an effort to pay it forward throughout her educational and professional careers through tutoring and mentoring youth. She graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Psychology in 2010. She initially wanted to go into medicine, however, realizing how much she loved educating others and working at the community level, she took a path towards public health and community health education.
In 2010, Helen began her graduate education at Western University of Health Sciences in the Master of Science in Health Sciences program with a concentration in Community Health Education. Upon earning her graduate degree, she chose to stay at WesternU as an employee whose role has been to oversee medical students in community-based outreach projects and ensuring WesternU continues to play a positive role in our community’s overall health whether it be through educational or medical services.
