Jane Pak

Jane Pak is Co-Executive Director at Refugee & Immigrant Transitions (RIT), and Adjunct Professor in the Master in Migration Studies program at the University of San Francisco. She holds a public seat on the State Advisory Council for the Refugee Program Bureau, California Department of Social Services. Often found in liminal spaces, Jane works to connect scholarship, praxis and advocacy at the intersection of Critical Refugee Studies and liberatory education. She identifies as a child of refugees and is informed by her family history of forced migration, resistance, and community care. She brings 25+ years of experience in education in various contexts across nonprofit, higher education, government, and business sectors. She holds a Doctorate in International & Multicultural Education from the University of San Francisco; MA in International Educational Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University; MBA from Clarkson University; and BMATH from the University of Waterloo.

• Community-centric praxis
• Community research & advocacy
• Community-based organizations
• Shared leadership

• Critical refugee studies
• Liberatory education
• Living knowledges

• University of San Francisco, EdD in International & Multicultural Education / Human Rights Education, 2019
• Stanford University, MA in International Comparative Education / International Educational Administration and Policy Analysis, 2004
• Clarkson University, MBA, 1998
• University of Waterloo, Math, 1996

• Co-Executive Director, Refugee & Immigrant Transitions (2021-Present)
• Board Member, Refugee & Immigrant Transitions (2016-Present)
• Director of Strategy & Development, Refugee & Immigrant Transitions (2012-2016)
• Senior Program Associate, WestEd (2004-2011)
• Business Development Officer (eLearning),  Canadian Consulate Trade Officer (2000-2003)

• Certificate of Honor, Board of Supervisors, City and County of San Francisco "in appreciative public recognition of distinction and merit for outstanding service to a significant portion of the people of the City and County of San Francisco."

• Pak, J. (in press). Centering living knowledges in migration studies and community-centric praxis: A letter to students, accountability partners & future builders. In S. Sirota, A. Argenal & M. Hantzopoulos (Eds.), Community engaged praxis in peace, social justice, and human rights education: Partnering for transformative change. Teachers College Press.
• Pak, J. (in press). Living knowledges. In Y. L. Espiritu (ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Refugee Studies. SAGE Publications.
• Pak, J., Ndagijimana, J. P., Bakheit, E., & Gurung, J. (in press). Coalescing collective ways of being and communities of care in migration: Meaning making and healing through reflective dialogic praxis In V. Francisco-Menchavez & L. Williams Veazey (Eds.). Communities of care in migration. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Pak, J., & Moser-Mercer, B. (2024). Critical transformative migration studies and Higher Education in Emergencies (HEiE). In F. Tibbitts & A. Keet (Eds.), Emancipatory Human Rights and the University: Promoting Social Justice in Higher Education (172-192). Routledge.
• Pak, J., Gurung, J., & Argenal, A. (2023). Refugee and Immigrant Youth Leaders: Strengths, Futurity, and Commitment to Community. Social Sciences, 12(11), 640.