Vitya, Ephrem

Ephrem Vitya

Ephrem Vitya was an environment activist in the Congo DRC. He fled to the US in 2016 escaping government persecution for his group’s opposition to oil drilling and destruction of the natural resources in his region’s national park in the Congo DRC. He and his fellow activists mobilized the international community, the Congolese government started cracking down and arrested many of his peers, while he was attending an international conference in Hawaii, so he decided to apply for asylum. Ephrem was supported in his asylum case by Pacific Gateway Center in Hawaii. He participated in multiple conferences with lawyers about issues that asylum seekers face and to students a Hawaii University. He also took part in Refugee Congress Leadership training in 2017 in Salt Lake, UT. It took 4 years to get his asylum approved in 2020. He has been separated from his wife and four children ever since. He is working toward reuniting with them.

Roscoe, Elizabeth

Elizabeth Roscoe

Elizabeth Roscoe is Global Head of Corporate Brand & Purpose for Western Union a fortune 500 global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. Elizabeth has been a driving force behind elevating the reputation of Western Union through development of partnerships and programs that engage key stakeholders in the vision and direction of the Western Union Company.Elizabeth is also Executive Director of the Western Union Foundation, a global organization that supports education and disaster relief efforts as pathways to a better future. In 2018, Elizabeth was appointed as Board Member for the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative. Born in Wales, Elizabeth has lived in the UK, Netherlands, Austria and United States. Her education includes a BA and MSc from the University of Manchester in the UK, and an international diploma from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in the Netherlands. 

Rodriguez, Aida

Aida Rodriguez

Aida Rodriguez is a writer/performer, comedian, activist and Mother. She made history  as the first Latina to appear in two comedy specials airing in the same month on both  HBO and Showtime. Aida was handpicked by director Taylor Hackford for his film “The  Comedian” starring Robert De Niro. Known as Funny Aida, Rodriguez aims  to challenge the norms of today and the discomfort or taboo-quality around controversial topics like race, gender, sexuality, and family dynamics through her comedy. 

Ibe, Peniel

Peniel Ibe

Peniel Ibe is the policy engagement coordinator at AFSC’s Office of Public Policy and Advocacy. She leads AFSC’s advocacy efforts to coordinate grassroots engagement strategies to impact policy change. She is an immigrant from Nigeria who recently relocated to the United States and is advocating for the rights of others like her. Peniel is also Co-Chair of Interfaith Immigration Coalition.

Hong, Ju

Ju Hong

Ju Hong – Chair (Alameda, CA) is the Program Financial Analyst at the Alameda County Social Services Agency. Previously, he was the Governmental Program Analyst at the Immigration and Refugee Branch of the California Department of Social Services. Ju is a member of the Leadership Council of Immigrants Rising, a certified coach through the Leadership that Works credential through the International Coach Federation, and holds a Government Alliance on Race and Equity certification. He graduated from Laney College and transferred to University of California, Berkeley, where he became the first undocumented student government Senator in UC Berkeley history, and also completed a Master’s degree in Public Administration at San Francisco State University.

Greenlea, Stephanie

Stephanie Greenlea

Stephanie Greenlea is Executive Assistant to the Secretary Treasurer at UNITE HERE, where she also leads work in the Immigration, Diversity, and Civil Rights Department and the union’s Black Leadership Group.  She has previously worked as an organizer, researcher, and a teacher. Raised in and around Atlanta, GA, she currently lives in New Haven, CT with her daughter.

François, Krystina

Krystina François

Krystina François is a social justice advocate and policy strategist with a proven track record of engaging stakeholders across multiple sectors to advocate for the needs of  marginalized communities. As Executive Director of the Office of New Americans of Miami-Dade, she spearheads a countywide initiative to bring legal and financial resources for immigrants out of offices and into the community. 

Daley, Katia

Katia Daley

Katia Daley is the Healthcare Campaign Organizer for Connecticut Students for a Dream. Katia received her B.A. in Latino Studies and has her individualized major in Healthcare in the Latinx Community from the University of Connecticut in 2019. In her role in Connecticut Students for a Dream she leads the campaign work to expand access to healthcare for immigrant communities in CT with the goal to build base, develop leadership, and educate our community. She is responsible for coordinating the HUSKY4Immigrants Coalition and working with organizational partners, organizing C4D members around access to healthcare, and organizing and mobilizing the broader immigrant community and public in support. 

Chen, Annie

Annie Chen

Annie Chen is the program director for the Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE) Initiative at Vera’s Center on Immigration and Justice. Launched in 2017, SAFE is a unique collaboration among local governments, immigration legal service providers, and advocates working together to build a movement for universal representation—a public defender system for all immigrants facing deportation. Annie has worked nationally to advance universal representation for immigrants since joining Vera in 2013.

Chau, Jennifer

Jennifer Chau

Jennifer Chau was born in Downtown Los Angeles’ Chinatown and currently resides in Tempe, Arizona and works as Director of AZ AANHPI. It was her personal experience being born and raised by Chinese immigrant parents that informs her interests and work today. In her career, she has been involved in and worked with organizations focused on serving the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community as well as the youth for the past decade.

Cedano, Mayra

Mayra Cedano

Mayra Cedano is a passionate community organizer and authentic leader that has spearheaded immigrant rights campaigns for over a decade. Mayra was born and raised in Jalisco, Mexico. When she was 11 years old, she immigrated to the US, where she established deep roots within Utah's immigrant community. Mayra started her activism in the immigrant rights movement when she was 15 years old. When she marched to the state Capitol for the first time to demand a halt on immigration raids. Mayra attended the University of Utah and graduated in 2010, where she received a B. A in Sociology and minors in Chicana/o/x Studies and Psychology. A few months after college graduation, she started working at "CU" Comunidades Unidas as the Volunteer Coordinator. Mayra's journey at CU began eleven years ago, and she feels that those years have been the most transformational and empowering years of her life.

Askaryar, Bilal

Bilal Askaryar

Bilal Askaryar is the communications coordinator for the #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign, a national campaign for asylum rights in the United States. The Women's Refugee Commission is a member of the campaign. Before joining WRC, Bilal worked with the Immigration and Refugee Program at Church World Service, where he led major media engagement strategies to rebuild support for the United States Refugee Admissions Program and dismantle the Muslim Ban. Previously, he led a landmark collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and Turquoise Mountain Foundation to bring former refugee and internally displaced artisans from Afghanistan to showcase their work at the Freer and Sackler Galleries. While pursuing his master’s degree in international development at the School of International Service at American University, Bilal was the communications liaison at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, DC.

Alemseged, Maraky

Maraky Alemseged

Maraky Alemseged is BAJI’s Los Angeles Organizer. She is a first generation Ethiopian-American who was born and bred in Los Angeles to two political and social justice activists. As a result, Maraky has spent her lifetime challenging unjust systems of oppression with the knowledge that “the personal is political and the political is personal.” Her nascent professional career is built atop years of community organizing, with heavy involvement in local, national, and international Black immigrant and migrant communities. Informed by abolitionist, Pan-African, queer, sociologist, and womanist perspectives, Maraky believes in approaching social justice issues from an intersectional lens. 

Yoo, Jo-Ann

Jo-Ann Yoo

Jo-Ann Yoo is the executive director of the Asian American Federation, a membership organization that works with over sixty nonprofits that represent and support the pan-Asian community.  Jo-Ann’s professional experiences include program management and operations, fundraising, and advocacy in the fields of community development and immigrant rights.  Currently, she is a member of the board of directors of the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York. Additionally, she serves on the New York State AARP’s Diversity Council.  For ten years, she served on the board of National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, the first national advocacy organization dedicated to addressing the community development needs of the AAPI communities. 

Yepez, Mari

Mari Yepez

Mari Yepez was born in Michoacan, Mexicoand emigrated to Arizona at the age of 5 with her family. She graduated from Arizona State University in 2013. Mari began as an organizer as part of the Adios Arpaio campaign in 2012 - a campaign to register Latinos and young people in Maricopa County to unseatthen County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Mari then became a leader in UNITE HERE Local 11 and became staff with the union. Since then Mari has dedicated her life to engaging POC to vote in AZ. Most recently In 2020, Mari served as the field director for the coordinated field campaign across Arizona which ultimately went for Biden and elected Mark Kelly to the US Senate. Following that Mari went to lead a large team in Georgia’s special Senate election where ultimately Rev. Warnock and Jon Ossoff won their races.

Varghese, Sunil

Sunil Varghese

Sunil Varghese is the Policy Director, supervising IRAP’s policy team. In this role, he facilitates the advancement of IRAP’s systemic advocacy positions to ensure and improve pathways to safety, with dignity and due process, for refugees and highly vulnerable individuals. He previously served as Counsel to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein where he focused on immigration matters for the Senate Judiciary Committee. He also spent over seven years in various management, training, policy, and adjudication positions with the Refugee, Asylum and International Operations Directorate of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, including as the Deputy Director of the Newark Asylum Office.  He was also the Asylum Program Attorney at the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas and an Associate at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. Sunil received his J.D. and Certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies from Georgetown University and undergraduate degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. Sunil is a member of the New York bar.

Van de Weerd, Hans

Hans Van de Weerd

Hans Van de Weerd is the vice president of the International Rescue Committee, leading U.S. programs in aiding those struggling and enduring through the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Van de Weerd has also has expertise in international business, crisis management, cross-cultural management and communications, and diplomacy.

Vaj, Kabzuag

Kabzuag Vaj

Kabzuag Vaj was born in Laos and came to this country as a refugee child with her mother and siblings. She is the founder and co-executive director of Freedom Inc. She has dedicated the majority of her life to ending gender-based violence. Her advocacy started when she was 16 years old, assisting and housing at-risk teens, and challenging abusive gender norms within her community.

Ufot, Nsé

Nsé Ufot

Nsé Ufot is the Chief Executive Officer of the New Georgia Project (NGP) and its affiliate, New Georgia Project Action Fund (NGP AF).  Nsé leads both organizations with a data-informed approach and a commitment to developing tools that leverage technology with the goal of making it easier for every voter to engage in every election.  Nsé and her team are also developing Georgia’s home-grown talent by training and organizing local activists across the state.  She has dedicated her life and career to working on civil, human and workers’ rights issues and leads two organizations whose complementary aim is to strengthen Georgia’s democracy.

Tabari, Kim Marie

Kim Marie Tabari

Kim Marie Tabari is the Organizational Development Director at the USC Equity Institute. Kim has a passion for social justice, higher education, and research. She holds a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from California State University, Long Beach, and has worked at a variety of institutions both public and private. Her research training using qualitative methodology is in students of color, in particular, African American males persisting through higher education, found in her published dissertation, African American Males and Persistence, 2013.