Speakers

NIIC features over 125 dynamic speakers each year – leading and visionary policy makers and advocates, service providers and practitioners, culture makers and opinion shapers, community activists and researchers from across the country. Meet the 2022 Speakers below; additional information, including more speakers along with expanded bios and photos are on the way!

  • Nneka Achapu, African Communities Together

  • Nisha Agarwal, International Refugee Assistance Project 

  • Saida Agostini-Bostic, Funders for LGBTQ Issues

  • Amer Al Fayadh, USA Hello

  • Azizah Ahmad, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum

  • Bayo Akomolafe, The Emergence Network

  • Lucie Arvallo, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health

  • Nazanin Ash, Welcome.US

  • Murad Awawdeh, New York Immigration Coalition

  • Adamah Ba, African Bureau of Immigration and Social Affairs

  • Ivan Barragan, California Immigrant Policy Center

  • Max Bell, Alper North Bay Jobs with Justice

  • Juanita Cabrera Lopez, International Mayan League

  • Kenia Calderon Cerón, Green State Credit Union, Iowa

  • Sara Campos, The Grove Foundation

  • Claudia Castillo, City of Denver, CO

  • Oscar Chacón, Alianza Americas

  • Rini Chakraborty, Four Freedoms Fund

  • Christine Chen, APIA Vote

  • Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez, Californians Together

  • Ben D’Avanzao, National Immigration Law Center

  • Sarah Dar, California Immigrant Policy Center

  • Marcela Dias, Somos Un Pueblo Unidos

  • Shirley Doan, World Education, Inc.

  • Stan Dorn,UnidosUS

  • Ana Delia Espino, Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice

  • Jessica DeVries, YMCA of the University of Illinois

  • Kevin Douglas, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR)

  • Marjorie Fine, Consultant

  • Adey Fisseha, Unbound Philanthropy

  • Krystina Francois, Communities United for Status and Protection

  • Noah Gabigogo, Rainbow Railroad

  • Anna Gallagher, Catholic Legal Immigration Network

  • Leani Garcia Torres, American Immigration Council

  • Setareh Ghandehari, Detention Watch Network

  • Rahwa Ghirmatzon, PUSH Buffalo

  • Shelby Gonzales, Center on Budget & Policy Priorities

  • Nana Gyamfi, Black Alliance for Just Immigration

  • Mayra Hidalgo Salazar, National LGBTQ Task Force

  • Kaori Hirakawa, OneLanguage

  • Vivian Li Huang, Asian Pacific Environmental Network  

  • Jonathan Jayes-Green, Consultant

  • Amasai Jeke, Utopia Washington

  • Guerline Jozef, Haitian Bridge Alliance

  • Edmundo Lijo, Welcome St Paul, Immigrant & Refugee Program Minnesota

  • Charles Kamasaki, UnidosUS

  • Andy Kang, Pennsylvania Immigration & Citizenship Coalition

  • Amaha Kassa, African Communities Together

  • Aliza Kazmi, HEART Women and Girls

  • Abdurazak Kedir, African Community Outreach

  • Erol Kekic, Church World Service

  • Don Kerwin, Center for Migration Studies 

  • Oscar Londono, WECount Florida

  • Vanessa Luna, ImmSchools

  • Dan Michaels, ActBlue

  • Nicole Melaku, National Partnership for New Americans

  • Zack Mohamed, Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project 

  • Navin Moul, Zellerbach Foundation

  • Apolonio "Polo" Morales, CHIRLA

  • Claudette Ndayininahaze, In Her Presence

  • Christine Nguyen, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum

  • Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

  • Sookyung Oh, Hamkae Center

  • Shuya Ohno, Democracy Fund

  • Oluchi Omeoga, Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project 

  • Uchechukwu Onwa, Queer Detainee Empowerment Project

  • Allen Orr, Orr Immigration Law Firm PC 

  • Mayra Peters-Quintero, Ford Foundation

  • Tessa Petit, Florida Immigrant Coalition

  • Sokthea Phay, YMCA 

  • Michelle Pistone, Villanova Interdisciplinary Immigration Studies Training for Advocates

  • Kimahli Powell, Rainbow Railroad

  • Jeovanny Quintanilla, ActBlue

  • Luvia Quiñones, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights 

  • Eréndira Rendón, The Resurrection Project

  • Kenrick Ross, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance

  • Fatima Saidi, Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition

  • Angelica Salas, CHIRLA

  • Fatima Sanz, World Education Services

  • Seydi Sarr, African Bureau of Immigration and Social Affairs

  • Linda Sarsour, MPower Change

  • Lisa Sherman Luna, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition

  • Abeer Shinnawi, Re-Imagining Migration

  • Tovia Siegel, Healthy Illinois

  • Ivy Suriyopas, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees

  • Aicha Tahirou, UNITE HERE

  • Theresa Thanjan, New York Immigration Coalition

  • Gustavo Torres, CASA

  • Johan Trujillo, Refugee Congress

  • Jose Antonio Vargas, Define American

  • Rene Vargas Martinez, Inclusiv

  • Arturo Viscarra, CHIRLA

  • Tom Wong, UC San Diego

  • Thanu Yakiputiyage, 350.org

  • Aneiry Zapata, Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project

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.