Abdul Bundu Kamara Joins NSC Board of Trustees!

The Nationalities Service Center (NSC) proudly welcomes Abdul Bundu Kamara as the newest member of its Board of Trustees. Abdul currently serves as a Refugee Community Loan Officer at the Women’s Opportunities Resource Center (WORC) and has a relationship with NSC that began seven years ago.

Abdul's journey is one of resilience and determination. After spending seventeen years in refugee camps across West Africa, he arrived in the United States in 2017. NSC’s Resettlement and Economic Empowerment teams played a pivotal role in helping him transition to a new life. Reflecting on his early days in the U.S., Abdul recalls a piece of advice from Tiffany Thompson, now the Director of Education and Economic Empowerment: “I wanted to start making money right away, to become independent,” Abdul said. “But Tiffany told me to slow down – to think about the long term.”

Adjusting to life in America was no easy feat for Abdul. “I had no real experience in the real world,” he shared. “I had to adjust how I spoke English and eat foods I had never eaten.” But, the whole time, Abdul was learning and adapting. His experiences have shaped his commitment to service, and he believes his most valuable contribution to NSC’s board is his lived experience. Throughout his journey of building a new life, he has continually thought about how he could use his experiences to help others in similar situations.

Today, Abdul is giving back through his job at WORC, the same organization that financed part of his graduate education through an NSC referral. He is now in a position to make possible for others what was once made possible for him. “I’m living the American dream, and NSC made that possible for me,” Abdul says. “I’ve been helped much more than I’ve helped, and now it’s time to balance that out.”

Among those he would like to help are his two children, currently living in Ghana. He is hoping for them to join him in America someday.

Abdul brings a wealth of experience in finance, human resources, and cybersecurity. With an undergraduate degree in Business Information Technology and a graduate degree in Business, he brings knowledge that will contribute significantly to board discussions. But, perhaps more important, he brings lived experience. He has been picked up from the airport in a new country. He has built a new life in a new place.  

Now, he wants to make sure others get the same opportunity.