The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment hired Dee Daniels Scriven as director of its new Office of New Americans, according to a news release.

Scriven previously worked for more than 12 years at the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The new office, created by House Bill 21-1150, which Gov. Jared Polis signed into law last year, is “dedicated to advancing the integration and inclusion of immigrants and refugees across the state … (and) facilitates successful economic, social, linguistic, and cultural integration in Colorado communities.”

“I am confident that her stakeholder-centered focus, diligence, and ability to strategize, innovate and collaborate will support all immigrants and refugees living in Colorado make a seamless transition and thrive in their new communities,” Executive Director Joe Barela said in the release.

Scriven earned a Juris Doctor degree from the American University Washington College of Law and her Bachelor of Arts degree in International Political Economy from Colorado College.

“As the daughter of immigrants, born and raised in Colorado and having worked with refugees for over a decade, I know firsthand the potential that New Americans hold and the barriers that may hinder them from thriving and achieving their dreams,” Scriven said in the release.