Saket, Soni

Soni Saket

Soni Saket is executive director at Resilience Force. He is recognized as a national expert on post-disaster economies, immigrant rights and the future of work. Saket co-authored And Injustice For All: Workers’ Lives In the Reconstruction, the most comprehensive report on race in the reconstruction of the post-Katrina Gulf Coast, as well as Never Again: Lessons of the Gustav Evacuation, an account of the inequities in the response to Hurricane Gustav in 2009. Saket is the founder of the National Guestworker Alliance, an organization focused on defending the human rights and dignity of guestworkers in America. 

Sen, Nayantara

Nayantara Sen

Nayantara Sen is Director of Programs & Culture Strategies at Real Food Stories. Nayantara is a trilingual storyteller, a first-generation Bengali immigrant, a racial and gender justice educator and a narrative and cultural strategist. She believes that storytelling and deep listening practices can bridge across time, geography and colorlines to create conditions for social transformation. Nayantara has 15 years of experience in narrative and cultural strategies, political education and training for racial justice, and capacity-building in the arts and culture, philanthropy and social justice sectors. She previously led the Narrative and Cultural Strategies program at Race Forward, where she created Innovation Labs for racial and cultural justice. She has a background in oral history, artistic curation and production, community engagement, racial equity facilitation and training, and organizational change strategies.

Samuelu, Tavae

Tavae Samuelu

Tavae Samuelu is the daughter of a pastor from Leulumoega and a nurse from Saleimoa in Sāmoa. As the Executive Director of Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC), she’s a passionate advocate for Pacific Islanders and is committed to liberation for all. Tavae was born and raised on Tongva Territory, and credits her time on unceded Ohlone land for her political consciousness. Before joining EPIC, Tavae served as the Development Director for the RYSE Youth Center in Richmond and has since become a member of RYSE’s Board of Directors. During the pandemic she has learned that her most important title is Aunty Vae.

Salas, Angelica

Angelica Salas

Angelica Salas is Executive Director at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA). She joined CHIRLA in 1995 and became CHIRLA’s Executive Director in 1999.  In her role, she has transformed CHIRLA into a mass membership immigrant-led organization that empowers immigrants and their families to win local, state, and national policies that advance their human, civil, and labor rights.  Angelica is a recognized grassroots leader that plays a national leadership role in all major immigration reform campaigns. Angelica's work led to the House of Representatives passage of the Dream and Promise Act of 2019, a bill to give people with DACA and TPS a path to citizenship. She graduated from Occidental College with a B.A. in History and a B.A. in Sociology in 1993.  In 2007, Occidental College awarded her an Honorary Doctorate.

Reith, Mireya

Mireya Reith

Mireya Reith is the Founding Executive Director of Arkansas United, a nonprofit based in Springdale that is dedicated to empowering immigrants and their communities through immigrant rights advocacy and closing service gaps. Reith spent the first 14 years of her career in the field of international political development, working across five continents with American nonprofit organizations, Peace Corps-El Salvador and the United Nations to engage marginalized communities in democratic processes. Most recently, Reith has been awarded: Cox Communications Local Hero Award (2018), Arkansas Business Arkansas 200 (2017), the University of Arkansas Latino Alumni Society Individual Excellence in Advancing Latinos Award (2017), the Democratic Party of Arkansas Chairman Award (2017). 

Powell, Kimahli

Kimahli Powell

Kimahli Powell completed his undergraduate studies in Political Science at the University of Ottawa. He holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Victoria. Among his career highlights is supporting Dignitas International’s innovative work in supporting community based – system health strengthening in Malawi, as well as helping launch the HIV Legal Network’s constitutional challenge to Jamaica’s anti-sodomy law while developing a monitoring and evaluation framework on legal advocacy. Since joining Rainbow Railroad as Executive Director, Kimahli has led the organization through transformational growth, helping thousands of people in the process. Kimahli and Rainbow Railroad have been recognized with several awards, including the International Lesbian & Gay Travel Association’s Pathfinder Award, the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies’ 2018 Award, and the 2018 Inspire Award for Community Organization of the Year.

Persaud-Zamora, Emily

Emily Persaud-Zamora

Emily Persaud-Zamora is the Executive Director of Silver States Voices (SSV), the 501 c3 civic engagement table in Nevada. SSV is dedicated to ensuring that underrepresented Nevadans are at the center of our democracy. She has served in this role since March 2017. Previously, she has served as the Nevada State Coordinator for SEIU's immigration campaign, iAmerica, and as the Nevada c4 Director for Mi Familia Vota. Emily is the daughter of Brazilian and Guyanese immigrants.  In her free time, you can catch her planning her next travel adventure with her husband and 6-year-old William Alexander. 

Pastor, Dr. Manuel

Dr. Manuel Pastor

Dr. Manuel Pastor is a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He currently directs the Equity Research Institute at USC. Pastor holds an economics Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and is the inaugural holder of the Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change at USC.

Osifo Osaze, Ola

Ola Osifo Osaze

Ola Osifo Osaze is a trans masculine queer of Edo and Yoruba descent, who was born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and now resides in Houston, Texas. Ola is the National Organizer for the Black LGBTQ+ Migrant Project and has been a community organizer for many years, including working with Transgender Law Center, the Audre Lorde Project, Uhuru Wazobia (one of the first LGBT groups for African immigrants in the US), Queers for Economic Justice and Sylvia Rivera Law Project. Ola is a 2015 Voices of Our Nation Arts workshop (VONA) fellow, and has writings published in Apogee, Qzine, Black Girl Dangerous, Black Looks, and the anthologies Queer African Reader and Queer Africa II.

Opoku Owusu, Stella

Stella Opoku Owusu

Stella Opoku Owusu is Executive Director  at Africa Foundation for Development. Stella has 18 years’ experience in the development sector at community, national and international levels, working with diaspora and migrant communities. She has solid experience and knowledge of diaspora, migration and development, in policy and practice and is responsible for overseeing AFFORD's work on Diaspora & Migrants Investment and their contributions to Enterprise and Employment including managing the AFFORD Diaspora Finance Portfolio, to a value of £1.5 million. She also oversees AFFORD’s engagement with Diaspora & Migrants, Network Building and Training.  She was nominated Co-Chair for the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD - Quito) Civil Society Day 2019, having previously led on AFFORD's official engagement with Migration and Development (MADE) Civil Society Network and coordinated  the global thematic working group on diaspora and migrants in development.  

Murrieta, Leo

Leo Murrieta

Leo Murrieta is the Director of Make The Road Nevada. Arriving in the United States when he was seven-days old, Murrieta grew up in Naked City, the community next to the Stratosphere. He has dedicated much of his professional career to efforts that make our community a better place. Having been involved with youth, Latino, LGBTQ, and education equity public policy and advocacy for over 12yrs, Murrieta brings his experience to Make The Road Nevada.

Matos, Kica

Kica Matos

Kica Matos is the vice president of initiatives. Matos joined Vera in 2019 as the director of the Center on Immigration and Justice. Prior to joining Vera, Kica was the director of Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice at the Center for Community Change, an organization whose mission is to empower the people most affected by injustice to lead movements to improve the policies that affect their lives. Kica has been a national advocate for immigration reform and coordinated the work of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, the nation’s largest network of immigrant rights organizations. She has extensive experience as an advocate, community organizer, and lawyer.

Martin, Laura

Laura Martin

Laura Martin is Executive Director at the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. Laura moved to Las Vegas in 2007 from her hometown of Colorado Springs to organize with SEIU Local 1107. After working for University of Nevada Las Vegas and Americans for Democratic Action, Laura joined PLAN as an organizer, then Communications Director, and now serves as the Associate Director. She is a proud member of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Las Vegas chapter, board member of Nevada’s chapter of the Sierra Club, and board member of the Western States Center. She represents PLAN on the board of People’s Action, a national coalition of progressive organizations representing 40 states.

Julien, Allison

Allison Julien

Allison Julien is a third generation domestic worker who migrated from Barbados in the early 1990’s and worked as a nanny in New York City for over 25 years. She worked 10-12 hour days with no breaks, without being paid for overtime and faced scrutiny from her employers for being sick. She has been organizing domestic workers for over a decade. She was a leader in the successful campaign to pass the New York State Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2010 and was a founding member of the National Domestic Workers Alliance in 2007. As a Dorothy Bolden Fellow, Allison launched the We Dream in Black – New York initiative in NDWA. She currently serves as the Co-Director of NDWA’s New York Chapter.

Hincapié, Marielena

Marielena Hincapié

Marielena Hincapié  is executive director of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund. Hincapié has more than two decades of experience in the movement for immigrant justice and has litigated key cases in defense of immigrant workers. Recognized as a seasoned strategist and bridge-builder, Hincapié has led national policy campaigns, including the creation and successful implementation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Under Hincapié’s leadership, NILC has been at the legal forefront of the fight to stop President Trump’s attempt to end DACA, with a June 2020 Supreme Court victory. Hincapié was appointed co chair of the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force on Immigration.

Eccleston, Maureen

Maureen Eccleston

Maureen Eccleston is Executive DIrector at PennSSERVE. A proud AmeriCorps Alum, Maureen started her AmeriCorps journey with the sixth class of AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps. Since then, she has woven her way through national service; she’s served or worked with the National Civilian Community Corps, VISTA, AmeriCorps State and National, and Learn and Serve. She has had the unique opportunity to serve with two state service commissions, PennSERVE and the Maryland Governor’s Office on Service and Volunteerism. Maureen serves as the Chair of the Board of America’s Service Commissions. Maureen holds a Master of Arts in Nonprofit Management from Notre Dame of Maryland University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from York College of Pennsylvania.

Cooks, Rochelle T.

Rochelle T. Cooks

Rochelle T. Cooks is Director of Employer Engagement at The Welcoming Center. She oversaw the Engaging Immigrant Talent initiative, which prioritizes the successful integration of immigrants at all skill and education levels into the workplace. Rochelle has a Master of Education degree in Adult and Organizational Development from Temple University and has six years of experience in workforce development. She has committed her career to serving individuals in low-paying jobs, empowering them to find and retain family-sustaining careers. Rochelle works to develop best practices that dismantle systemic barriers and is committed to true equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.

Chicco, Jessica

Jessica Chicco

Jessica Chicco  is New Americans Initiative Director at Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA). Jessica joined MIRA as Staff Attorney in January 2020 after more than a decade working with immigrants and immigrant communities. She oversees MIRA's education and training programs, MIRA's citizenship program, and also works on federal policy issues. Previously, Ms. Chicco worked as the Senior Immigration Attorney at DOVE, Inc., where she represented immigrant survivors of domestic violence, and as the Supervising Attorney at Boston College’s Post-Deportation Human Rights Project. Jessica holds a bachelor's degree in international culture and politics from Georgetown University, and her JD from New York University. 

Carson, Rebecca

Rebecca Carson

Rebecca Carson is the Director for Inclusive Democracy Programs for the Four Freedoms Fund. She previously founded and managed her own consulting firm, Star Immigration Strategies, working at the intersection of immigration policy advocacy, philanthropy and democracy. Previously, Rebecca managed the Immigrant Rights Portfolio at Open Society Foundations and co-led a special initiative to strengthen national immigration legalization infrastructure. During the Obama Administration she served as Chief of Staff for the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and as Chief of the Office of Citizenship. She earned a JD and Public Interest Law Certificate from the DePaul University College of law.

Blank, Pablo

Pablo Blank

Pablo Blank Is Director of Immigrant Integration at CASA. Pablo has led CASA’s AmeriCorps programming, expanding service opportunities to Pennsylvania and Virginia, in addition to Maryland. Pablo also leads the citizenship program. During his tenure over 6,000 LPRs have become US citizens in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Pablo has been appointed by Montgomery County’s Executive to serve on the Committee Against Hate/Violence. I n 2009 Pablo received the “Argentine Social Ambassador Award” by the Help Argentina Foundation for his volunteer work at the Argentine Center for Students and Alumni in the US. Pablo holds a BA in Business Administration and an MA in Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility