Wonderful Bosses 2

They may still be trying to find the bathrooms, but we were able to find out a little about the new bosses at Ayuda and the Semiconductor Industry Association.

Ryan Dowd started volunteering in homeless shelters at age 13 and continued through college. So it’s no wonder he made a life of working for nonprofits. His newest gig is as Ayuda’s executive director, where he started this week. (He’s here with his wife, Krissie.) The DC-based organization helps immigrants with legal services and other social programs. Ryan, who also has a law degree, was most recently at the Center for Faith and Human Rights, an organization he launched a year ago. Before that he was running a homeless organization in Chicago. Ryan recently moved to the DC area with Krissie and their two kids, ages 15 and 11.

Ryan tells us one of the biggest challenges for Ayuda, which has 30 employees and two offices in the region, is helping the many unaccompanied minors coming from Latin America to the DC area. Another is fighting “Notorios,” people claiming to want to help immigrants get their green card but instead scamming them out of money. Last year the 41-year-old organization helped 4,000 people from 105 countries through its staff attorneys and a large network of volunteer lawyers. Ryan says social problems need all kinds of expertise aside from social workers and therapists. 

The Semiconductor Industry Association also announced this week it hired John Neuffer as president and CEO. He replaces Brian Toohey, who is joining New Hampshire-based DEKA Research & Development Corp. John, who starts next month, was most recently SVP of global policy for the Information Technology Industry Council. SIA was founded in 1977 by five microelectronics pioneers and now accounts for 80% of America’s semiconductor production. Worldwide semiconductor sales reached nearly $30B for the month of October, up 10% from a year ago.