My New American Dream

About the Book

This book divulges personal stories and perspectives that I believe will enlighten people about me, why I came to America, and what I consider to be the best way for new American citizens to recognize their New American Dreams. In several conversations with friends and colleagues, they thought it would be good for me to write a book to tell the world about my life. They include: Angela Harris of the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute, Donna Kumar of InfoWorks, Kathy Edson of Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research and NICE’s board chair, Anam Gnaho and Tseday Girma of Ethiopia Community Development Council, Inc., Sarah Russ of Nashville International Center for Empowerment, Cayce Pack of United Children Funds, my family and many others. Their encouragement made it possible for me to share my story and personal views of the world. Thank you all for your encouragement and support of this project. Also, I don’t want this book to be limited to academia, and that’s why I name the authors of the works I've quoted and used for research but do not include publication dates for those works in the text. My research included reviews of literature in several disciplines, especially leadership, management, and psychology, as I thought these would support the book’s educational purposes. The first part of this book tells the history of my journey in life. The second part contains essays about a new mission for those coming to America and how to carry out this new mission. The final part offers my recommendations for realizing the New American Dream for all people, whether they live in America or not.

About the Author

Gatluak “Gat” Ter Thach is the founder and current president and CEO of Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE, http://www.empowernashville.org). NICE is a nonprofit community-based organization that provides direct social services and educational programs for refugees and immigrants in Middle Tennessee. In 2010, NICE became an affiliate of ECDC in contracting with the State Department’s Refugee Resettlement Program, and it resettles refugees here in the United States. In additional to his role at NICE, Gat also serves on several leadership boards of directors, including the board of directors for the Sudanese Human Rights Organization, Tennessee Immigrants and Refugee Rights Coalition, on the advisory council of Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, the advisory council for Nashville’s mayor on refugees and immigrants, Tennessee for All of Us, the chair for Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity’s HOA Council, the Sudanese Presbyterian Church, and others. Gat’s work focuses on providing leadership and supervision to his organizational team and their subordinates. He is an expert in community and organizational development, program and budget planning and management, strategic planning, collaboration and partnership building, resource development, executive coaching, and training for executive leaders. Gat came to America and to Nashville as a refugee from South Sudan in the late 1990s. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in computer science with minor in mathematics from Tennessee State University in Nashville Tennessee. He went on to pursue a master’s degree in public service from Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, and graduated as a member of Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society in social science. Gat is currently pursuing a doctorate of high education in organizational leadership from Argosy University in Nashville, TN. He is married to his beloved wife, Nyakuma Ter Thach, and they are blessed with three beautiful children: Duang, Ter Thach, Jr., and Selena Thach