Ericka Deglau, President has volunteered with Solidaridad since 2019, participating in its first  volunteer training seminars and some of the organization’s first efforts to assist neighbors with  asylum applications. She joined the leadership team in 2023 and subsequently, the newly formed  board of trustees, where she assists with planning and development, volunteer and intern  recruitment, training and scheduling. Professionally, Ms. Deglau, who holds an MSW and a PhD in  Anthropology, has worked on community-based initiatives in child welfare prevention and  HIV/AIDS services in NYC and NJ. In 2006, she developed and became the director of an  intensive weekend MSW program designed for human services employees for Rutgers University’s  School of Social Work, where she also taught policy courses as a faculty member, retiring in 2022.  Locally, Ms. Deglau served as a Commissioner on Princeton’s Human Services Commission for 6  years, where she led a sub-committee that organized a community needs assessment during the  pandemic, in collaboration with partners at Princeton University. The daughter of immigrants who  were able to immigrate to the U.S. as the result of UN conventions and US policies for refugees and  displaced persons established in the aftermath of WW 2, Ericka is committed to the principle of  asylum. 

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Kathleen Cassidy, Vice President joined the Solidaridad Leadership team in 2020 and has served  as a Volunteer and Training Coordinator, becoming one of the founding members of the Board of  Trustees in 2023. She interfaces with various Princeton University Departments and projects to  recruit volunteers as well as chairing Solidaridad’s Development Committee. Ms. Cassidy has a  Masters in Social Work and is retired from a 30-year career in the New Jersey Department of  Human Services. She focused on policy and program development in the areas of mental health,  children’s services and housing. After retirement, she worked as a consultant with various Mercer  County non-profits. She has long been an advocate for immigrants and organized efforts to ensure  that Dreamers (DACA) recipients received information and assistance with applications for the  program. 

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John Heilner, Treasurer helped found Solidaridad in 2018, served on the organization’s  Leadership Team and, in 2023, became a founding member of the Board of Trustees. He initially  served as the principal outreach person to asylum seekers through his network of contacts in the  immigrant community in Princeton and Trenton. He has also recruited volunteers through the  Access & Inclusion Office at Princeton University. John serves on Solidaridad’s Development  Committee. Mr. Heilner holds bachelor’s (Princeton) and master’s (University of Michigan) degrees in engineering and a Harvard MBA. He worked in many parts of the transportation business - aircraft manufacturing, an airline, a major travel agency, and finally, as a consultant to large travel  purchasers. After retiring, Mr. Heilner became involved in immigration through coaching youth  soccer in Trenton. He has served as Treasurer of Mercer Street Friends and the Latin American  Legal Defense and Education Fund. He served on the Princeton Human Services Commission for  12 years, founding its Immigration Subcommittee, which helped rewrite the town’s Police  Immigrant Directive, fights wage theft, and provides “Know Your Rights” information and other  outreach. 

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Joyce Campbell, MSW, LCSW, Secretary, joined Solidaridad in January 2025 as a Board Member.  Joyce is the Principal of Common Good Consulting, LLC, founding the firm after retiring from a  full-time successful career as a social worker and nonprofit leader. During her career, Joyce honed  her skills in building relationships, collaborations and organizations. The goal has always been for  the work to benefit all, to nurture the belief that all have a responsibility to the whole, that where  one benefits, we all benefit. Joyce is passionate about work that reduces poverty in America and that  gives voice to those with lived experience. Joyce retired in December 2024 as Chief Executive  Officer of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) which serves the Trenton area’s food and  nutrition insecure and provides services that increase self-sufficiency and improve the quality of life.  During her tenure TASK doubled its meal distribution as well as doubling the organization’s budget  and assets, and increased programs and services to those in need. Prior to her employment at TASK,  Joyce worked for 20 years at Catholic Charities of Trenton, where she was associate executive  director for External Affairs. A professional social worker, Joyce earned her MSW degree from  Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Joyce is a founding board member of the Mercer Alliance to  End Homelessness and served on various Mercer County human service-related committees. Joyce  has been recognized for her work on several occasions by legislators and the community,  culminating with receiving the NJ Office of the Food Security Advocate’s first Lifetime  Achievement Award in October 2024.Joyce also serves as a field liaison and field placement  specialist for Rutgers University Graduate School of Social Work, and has guest lectured for several  social work courses. 

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Alan Paluck, Clinic Coordinator joined the Board of Trustees in 2025 and continues to serve as  Clinic Coordinator. He joined Solidaridad in 2019, assisting neighbors in a variety of ways from  providing rides to their ICE supervision meetings and court dates to taking an active role with  Solidaridad’s Pro Se Clinic as team interviewer. In 2020, he volunteered to serve as Pro Se Clinic  Coordinator (one of two Coordinators at that time) and became a member of Solidaridad’s  Leadership Team. Currently Mr. Paluck continues to coordinate the Clinic, performing a variety of  functions to maintain a sustainable service of asylum support for our neighbors. Mr. Paluck has a  Masters in Special Education and a professional certificate in educational administration and worked  as an educator for 44 years in several Connecticut public schools, primarily in urban settings. He  became interested in volunteering to work with undocumented neighbors as a natural outgrowth of  his prior professional background in working with disadvantaged and disenfranchised children and  adolescents and their families.

 

Theodore J. Fetter became a member of the Board of Trustees in 2025. He has volunteered with  Solidaridad Central Jersey since 2022, assisting in the pro se process. Professionally, he earned a  A.B. degree from Lafayette College and a Master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin,  Madison in US history. His work involved more recent history and research into both public administration and law. Tenure-track academic positions did not develop, so he found a career in  judicial administration, a new career path in the 1970s. He began as a consultant and  researcher/writer at the National Center for State Courts from 1974-78. Then he managed the state  courts of Wyoming from 1979 to 1981. And then he moved to New Jersey and soon became the  Deputy Administrative Director of the Courts, working in New Jersey from 1982 to 2008, when he  retired. Along the way he wrote several books and articles on court planning, budgeting methods,  court histories, and court operations in rural areas. He taught at court-related institutes and  appeared often as a public speaker. With the New Jersey courts he became very familiar with court  interpreting, the impact of the courts on minority and marginalized persons, and internal audit. In  retirement he's been an active volunteer. Much of that has related to his faith, Unitarian  Universalism, in his local congregation of Princeton, in regional and statewide activity, and at a  national level. He is very involved with racial justice and immigration activities and has chaired or  co-chaired many state and national studies. Other volunteer work includes support for inmates  through People and Stories/gente y cuentos, and activities with the NJ Alliance for Immigrant  Justice, and Solidaridad Central Jersey. 

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Bill Wakefield, Trustee Emeritus, joined Solidaridad in 2022 as a notetaker and interviewer and  joined the leadership team in 2023, becoming one of SCJ’s founding board members that same year.  Bill began his immigration efforts with the Latin American Legal Defense and Education fund,  serving on the Board, teaching ESL and leading the ID Card effort in Princeton. As part of First  Friends, he was a visitor with detained immigrants at the Elizabeth Detention Center and served on  the FF Board. As a result of his visits, as a Sponsor, he was able to achieve a release for an asylum  seeker from Kashmir. Bill chaired the Immigration Conference sponsored by the Presbytery of New  Brunswick. In addition to immigration, he has been active in mass incarceration efforts working with  several local organizations. In 2016 Bill was awarded the “Bud” Vivian award by the Princeton Area  Community Foundation in recognition of his advocacy and work on social justice issues. Bill was a  Mechanical Engineering graduate of Cornell University and spent his career managing engineering  and construction projects worldwide. *Solidaridad and the wider Princeton community is deeply  saddened by Bill’s loss on May 5, 2025.