2013 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients

Tsehaye Teferra
Founder and President, Ethiopian Community Development Council, Inc.
Arlington, Virginia

A native of Ethiopia, Dr. Tsehaye Teferra is Founder and President of the Ethiopian Community Development Council, Inc. (ECDC). ECDC was established in 1983 to serve a growing Ethiopian refugee community and assist other refugees and immigrants from diverse cultural backgrounds. Under his leadership and vision, ECDC has gone from a start-up agency with a first-year budget of $85,000 to a major community-based organization with an annual budget of over $16 million. ECDC has 3 branch offices and 12 affiliates providing multicultural services to newcomers around the country. 

Dr. Tsehaye received his undergraduate degree from Haile Selassie I University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He served as a cross-cultural instructor in the Peace Corps’ in-country training program and taught at several institutions of learning in Ethiopia before coming to the United States as a UNESCO Fellow in 1972. He completed an M.S. in Applied Linguistics and a Ph.D. in Sociolinguistics at Georgetown University.

Dr. Tsehaye is active in civic, professional, and local community matters; he is a board member of several nonprofits, including InterAction. He has received many awards, including recognition for his outstanding contributions to the United States by the U.S. Department of State in 1991. In January 2012, Dr. Tsehaye was honored for his community service by the White House during an event themed, “Champions of Change: American Diaspora Community” in Washington, D.C.

Ferozan Alamshahi Akbari
Immigration Analyst, Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
San Francisco, CA

Ferozan Alamshahi Akbari arrived at the San Francisco International Airport in 1984 as a refugee. She stepped off the airplane, escaping persecution in Afghanistan with her husband, four small children ranging from five months to six years old, and four bags containing clothes for the children. She was overwhelmed with happiness to make it to the United States after seven long months in a Pakistani refugee camp, and describes the day she stepped foot on U.S. soil as the happiest day of her life.

Mrs. Akbari and her husband both worked hard to provide a better life for their children. She began working at a doctor’s office and a local bank while her husband studied and completed his engineering license. Mrs. Akbari became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1995 and joined the legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service in 2001. She began her career in data entry and now serves as an Immigration Analyst for the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In 2012, she was recognized as FDNS Analyst of the Year.

Pearl B. Chang
Deputy Chief, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Washington, DC

Pearl Chang is the Deputy Chief of the Office of Policy and Strategy at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). She was born in China and was naturalized in 1972 in Memphis, TN.
 
Her 35 years of federal service began with the United States Information Agency, where she not only managed the J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program but also served as a radio journalist, broadcaster, and producer for the Voice of America. She later joined the legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in 1987. In March 2003, legacy INS ceased to exist and most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new organizations, including USCIS, within the newly created Department of Homeland Security. As Deputy Chief, Ms. Chang helped establish the USCIS Office of Policy and Strategy as the agency’s central office for policy development, regulations, and research.

Ramon Melocarela
Immigration Services Officer, New York Field Office, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
New York, NY

Ramon Melocarela is an Immigration Services Officer (ISO) at the New York Field Office for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). A native of the Dominican Republic, Mr. Melocarela immigrated to the United States after his marriage and birth of his two children. In 2004, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve because he saw an opportunity to be a part of the United States, and its culture and society.

Mr. Melocarela has served his country on two overseas tours of duty. In 2006, he was deployed to Iraq for one year. It was during this time that Mr. Melocarela was naturalized at a special ceremony held in Iraq. Upon returning to the United States, he began his federal career with the Transportation Security Administration within the Department of Homeland Security at the Los Angeles International Airport. He joined USCIS in September 2008 before being deployed for a second tour of duty to Iraq for almost 16 months. Now located in the USCIS New York Field Office, Mr. Melocarela continues to serve in the U.S. Army Reserve.