The BCNH Staff
Vijay Bhujel became the deputy director of Building Community in New Hampshire on May 16, 2023.
Vijay is originally from Bhutan. He spent 22 years in Jhapa Refugee Camp, Nepal, awaiting resettlement before coming to the United States in 2012. He was trained in Nepal and India as a math and physics teacher. Upon arrival in New Hampshire, he worked at Wal-Mart and as a substitute teacher in the Concord School District. He also joined the board of directors of BCNH, when it was still known as the Bhutanese Community of New Hampshire, and served two terms from 2012 through 2016. He joined the staff at Ascentria Care Alliance, a refugee resettlement agency in Concord, in 2013, and has served there as a community health worker, case manager, and team manager.
Vijay earned a Bachelor in Science in Physics from University of North Bengal in India. He speaks English, Nepali, Hindi, and Dzongkha.
He lives in Concord with his wife and two adult children.
Vijay Bhujel, Deputy Director
Nikki is a community builder who has focused her career around helping people connect across differences in age, ethnicity, and economic status. She became BCNH’s executive director on January 26, 2026.
Nikki grew up in a small town in Connecticut and attended Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, where she received a BA in gerontology and an MBA in health care management. After grad school she spent more than three years in Ethiopia with the Peace Corps, first as a health economic development advisor in Masha, then as a volunteer coordinator in Addis Ababa.
Her nonprofit management work began in Boston, where for more than 10 years she worked at Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly, an organization focused on relieving loneliness and isolation among older adults through intergenerational programming. Nikki was the organization’s executive director for most of those years. She then became the ED of Everyday Boston, a nonprofit dedicated to bridging economic and social divides through the sharing of life stories.
Nikki and her husband Dan now live in Barnstead. They are avid skiers and hikers. Nikki also serves on the board of Friends of the JFK Birthplace, Brookline, MA.
Nikki Shults, executive director
Ali Sekou, Workforce and Education program manager
Ali Sekou is a community builder, workforce development professional, and public servant whose life and career have been dedicated to creating opportunities, strengthening communities, and helping people thrive. Originally from a small rural village in Niger, West Africa, Ali immigrated to the United States in 2012.
Ali joined BCNH as the Workforce Development and Education Program Manager in 2026. In this role, he works closely with employers, educational institutions, community organizations, and government partners to connect individuals with meaningful employment opportunities while helping businesses meet their workforce needs. His work focuses on building partnerships, expanding access to education and training, and creating pathways that support economic mobility and long-term success.
In November 2023, Ali made history when he was elected to the Concord City Council, becoming the city's youngest councilor and its first Black and first Muslim council member in the city's history. He currently serves his second term as Mayor Pro Tem (Vice Mayor). Prior to joining BCNH, Ali served as Manager of Community Engagement and Outreach at New Hampshire Housing.
Ali holds an Associate Degree from NHTI, a Bachelor's Degree from Plymouth State University, and a Master's Degree in Community Development Policy and Practice from the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire.
Outside of his professional and civic work, Ali is a husband, father, mentor, and advocate for community connection. He founded the French Club at the Concord Public Library to promote cultural exchange and language learning. He is fluent in English, French, Fulani, and Zarma.
Eric joined the BCNH staff in 2020 as a case manager working with the Congolese community and other African refugees in Manchester and Nashua. His work at BCNH has included outreach for the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester. Originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eric came to New Hampshire as a refugee in 2014.
While a refugee in Rwanda, he earned an associates degree in computer science. He learned English as a student in the criminal justice program at NHTI and in 2024 earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from SNHU.
Eric is the president of the Banyamulenge community for New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The Banyamulenge are Congolese people who speak Kinyarwanda, but they are not Rwandan. Eric speaks Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, and French.
He lives in Manchester with his wife and three young children.
Eric Irakiza, case manager
Hussain Amiri, case Manager
Hussain Amiri joined the staff at the end of December 2021 to assist with the rapid resettlement of Afghan evacuees in New Hampshire. Hussain is originally from Afghanistan. He lived with his mother and three brothers in a refugee camp in Pakistan before arriving in Concord in March 2016 as a refugee. He graduated from Concord High School in 2019 and has been enrolled at Plymouth State University where he has been studying computer science and business. He will continue his education while working full time at BCNH.
Hussain speaks Dari, Farsi, Hindi, Urdu, and English. He can read and write in Pashto and Arabic as well.
Maryam Azada, case Manager
Maryam Azada fled Afghanistan for Albania in 2021 and arrived in Concord as a refugee in the fall of 2023. She joined the staff at BCNH as a case manager in June 2025. She will work with Afghan refugees across New Hampshire and focus on services needed by Afghan women.
Maryam had earned a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy in Kabul in 2017. In Albania, she worked for Save the Children, serving fellow Afghan refugees as a team leader and as a service coordinator at a health center. She was also an English and cross-cultural trainer for the American Councils for International Education .
Since the fall of 2023, Maryam has worked as an educational assistant at Beaver Meadow Elementary School in Concord and as a case manager at Ascentria Care Aliance in Concord, where she worked primarily with Afghan clients. Maryam’s first language is Dari. She also speaks English, Pashto, Urdu, and Hindi.
Liliya Mayevsky, Case Manager
Liliya Mayevsky joined the BCNH case-management team on June 5, 2023, to deliver a wide range of services to her fellow Ukrainians. She came to Manchester in 1996 as a refugee from Ukraine with her parents, two siblings, and two grandmothers. Liliya married another refugee from Ukraine and they have raised three children in Derry.
She graduated from Notre Dame College in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management.
Liliya was a case manager at the International Institute of New England (Manchester) from 2005 through 2008, helping resettle refugees from many nations. She went on to serve as a legal, medical, and business translator and interpreter and has worked at Fidelity Investments as a 401k specialist. Liliya is returning to case management “because it is my passion,” she said.
Liliya speaks Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, and English.
Kateryna Nazarova, Case Manager/School Support
Kate is one of the hundreds of Ukrainians who sought safety in New Hampshire in 2022. She has lived in Exeter since August and immediately began using her strong English skills and business experience to help other Ukrainians get established here. She joined the BCNH staff on January 3, 2023.
Kate focuses on Ukrainian families with school-aged children, helping parents connect with their local schools’ administrators and teachers, and helping school personnel reach out to Ukrainians speakers. With approximately 500 Ukrainians living across New Hampshire, many smaller school districts unaccustomed to working with New Americans will find Kate’s help invaluable.
Kate is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English
Kathy Higgins has been teaching English to Speakers of Other Languges for more than 16 years in Manchester’s English for New Americans program at Southern New Hampshire Services. She joined the BCNH staff in October 2022 to restart our on-site English program with a group of adults just starting to learn the language. Kathy graudated summa cum laude from St. Michael’s College in Winooski, Vermont, with a degree in Spanish. She lives in Manchester.
Kathy Higgins, ESOL Instructor
Katayoun Hashemin is a part-time teacher of English to Afghan adults and children. Originally from Iran, she is a graduate student (M.F.A. in non-fiction writing) and First-Year Writing instructor at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. As director of the Civil Rights office at the Iran Novin Party, her advocacy for democracy in Iran has created circumstances that render her return home impossible for the time being. Yet she continues her activism, teaching and writing undeterred.
Katayoun earned a master’s degree in teaching English as Second/Foreign Language (TEFL/TESL) from Colorado State University. Her bachelor’s degree was in Civil Engineering, from the University of Mohaghegh Arbabili, in Ardabil, Iran.
Katayoun is fluent in English, Turkish, Persian and Azeri. Dari, the primary language of Afghans community, is mutually understandable with Persian, allowing Afghan to communicate with ease. Katayoun also has some familiarity with Arabic, Hindi, and French.
She will be teaching online exclusively, focusing on learners who lack transportation or who must stay home with young children.
