MainStages

UPDATED AS OF NOV 26, 2024

Each year, NIIC includes 5-7 MainStage Sessions which address big picture and up-to-the-minute issues impacting immigrant and refugee communities. More than 375 diverse leaders from across the sector have been featured on the NIIC MainStage, as well as dozens of artists, performers and cultural workers.

WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE NIIC 2024 MAINSTAGES

SUNDAY DECEMBER 8

Welcome to Houston! The City with a Big Heart / 1pm-2:30pm
Once deemed the “Center of the Americas” Houston remains one of the fastest growing cities in the United States with a vibrant and diverse population from all over the world. The 2020 census revealed that almost 30% of the population are foreign-born and are served by a vibrant ecosystem of partners, non-profits, and advocates that have welcomed people for decades. Houston was aptly named the “City of with the Big Heart” when it acted swiftly to provide refuge to victims of Hurricane Katrina almost 25 years ago, and remains a convergence of welcome, innovation and collaboration in the national immigrant advocacy landscape.

Welcome: Nicole Melaku, Executive Director, National Partnership for New Americans

Guest Emcee & Moderator: Antonio Arellano, Vice President of Communications, NextGen America 

Speakers:

  • Jessica Azua, Organizing Director, Texas Organizing Project 

  • Steven Ives, CEO, YMCA of Greater Houston

  • Zenobia Lai, Executive Director, Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative

  • Oluchi Omeoga, Co-Executive Director, Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project 

  • Edgar Saldivar, Senior Staff Attorney, TX ACLU

MONDAY DECEMBER 9 

We’re Not Giving Up: Our Democracy and Immigration, Building a Vision for our Shared for our Future / 8:45am-10:30am  

The outcome of the 2024 elections has many implications for democracy, for immigration and human rights.  How do we move forward, taking stock of the lessons, grounding ourselves in shared values and a vision for a mutl-ethnic multiracial nation? From the border to our backyards, from the urban centers to rural America, from diverse perspectives panelists will unpack the shifts we must make to meet the challenges our democracy will soon face under an authoritarian leaning, anti-immigrant administration and a deeply polarized political environment.

Introductory Remarks: Nicole Melaku, Executive Director, National Partnership for New Americans

Keynote Remarks: Norma Wong (Norma Ryuko Kawelokū Wong Roshi), Movement Leader, Author,  Zen Scholar

Moderator: Amaha Kassa, Executive Director, African Communities Together

Speakers: 

  • Christine Chen, Executive Director, APIAVote

  • Andrea Flores, Executive Director, FWD.US 

  • Kica Matos, Executive Director, National Immigrant Law Center 

  • Rima Meroueh, Executive Director, National Network for Arab American Communities

  • Angelica Salas, Executive Director, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights

Lessons on the Frontline: Perspectives from the South / 12pm-2pm

Immigrant serving organizations in the South have been working in politically difficult terrain for decades and yet have built some of the most sophisticated organizations, infrastructure, and systems change at the state and local level. Representing workers, organizers, and philanthropic stakeholders, our panelists will speak to the necessity of advancing long-term civic engagement infrastructure, building alignment to resource the work, preparing for rapid response, and the urgency to build powerful coalitions across political aisles to promote strong and resilient communities across the Southern United States.  

Guest Emcee & Moderator: Richard Lui, Author; Anchor, MSNBC

Speakers: 

  • Delilah Agho-Otoghi, Executive Director, Texas  Future Project  

  • Willlie Gonzalez, International Vice President and Texas Organizing Director, UNITE HERE International Union and UNITE HERE Local 23

  • Dauda Sesay, Founder, President & Executive Director, Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants

  • Lisa Sherman-Luna, Executive Director, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition

  • Steven Wu, Organizing & Policy Director, Woori Juntos 


Let's Get to Work! Putting Narrative Power into Practice / 4pm-5:30pm 

Over the past few years, "narrative change" has grown as a field, with many stakeholders testing strategies to shift hearts and minds through a variety of tactics and cultural interventions.  As the immigrant advocacy field works to counter an era of deeply polarizing narratives, there is a renewed urgency to test new interventions to reach our intended audiences.  Part performance and part discussion, this plenary  will feature special guest and stand-up comedian Cristela Alonzo; followed by a conversation moderated by Jose Antonio Vargas, journalist and founder of Define America along with Rinku Sen of Narrative Initiative and Bridgit Antoinette Evans of Pop Culture Collaborative to discuss the opportunities ahead to leverage the power of narrative in our work. 

Introductory Remarks & Moderator: Jose Antonio Vargas, Founder & President, Define American

Special Guest: Cristela Alonzo, Comedian & Actress

Speakers:

  • Bridgit Antoinette Evans, CEO, Pop Culture Collaborative

  • Rinku Sen, Executive Director, Narrative Initiative

TUESDAY DECEMBER 10

Protecting the Freedom to Move: 21st Century Migration / 8am-9:15am

A second and more emboldened Trump administration is likely to alter the course of humanitarian programs, eliminating critical avenues for safe migration. In response, organizations across the field of resettlement, asylum, and human rights will discuss ways to prepare to meet an era of increased mobility in the backdrop of heightened border militarization and the potential dismantling of resettlement infrastructure. How do we best prepare to protect safe pathways, ensure access to humanitarian programs like asylum, while building resilient reception systems domestically and abroad to address global migration of the world's most vulnerable populations? 

Moderator: Murad Awadeh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition 

Speakers:

  • Ellen Beattie, Vice President, Program Excellence, International Rescue Committee

  • Nana Gyamfi, Executive Director, Black Alliance for Just Immigration

  • Kathyrn Hampton, US Senior Advisor, Rainbow Railroad 

  • Erol Kekic, Senior Vice President, Programs. Church World Service

  • Aimée Santillán, Policy Analyst, Hope Border Institute

We Got Us! Moving Forward Together / 12:15pm-2pm

Times of struggle and uncertainty often lead to breakthroughs, innovation, and collective action.  As we prepare for a period of greater instability and uncertainty, this plenary will feature freedom fighters, democracy defenders, and leaders of faith who will be working to uphold human rights,  democracy, and belonging. Join their call to action, reminding us to remain clear-eyed to recoup our sense of agency, power, and cultivate courage for the work ahead.  

Moderator: Nicole Melaku, Executive Director, National Partnership for New Americans

Speakers:

  • Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Haitian Bridge Alliance 

  • Greisa Martínez Rosas, Executive Director, United We Dream

  • Scot Nakagawa, Executive Director, 22nd Century Initiative

  • Lily Trieu, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Asian Texans for Justice 

  • Brianna Twofoot, National Organizing Director, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Photos of NIIC across this site are the work of our talented team of photographers over the years, including: Carolina Kroon (lead), Oliver Contreras, Anja Hitzenberg, Phil Soto, Marcin Szczepanski and Stephanie Williams.