Tracks
NIIC features a cohort of 8-12 intersectional issue area Tracks addressing core topics impacting immigrant and refugee communities. The issue areas are developed by the NIIC leadership, and the sessions housed in each Track are composed from the NIIC Call for Proposals, which is open to the whole field. With the support of NPNA staff and Track Advisors from NIIC stakeholder organizations and key field partners, these sessions are organized and featured at NIIC.
Typically more than 125 diverse leaders from over 100 organizations are featured as speakers/presenters in these sessions. NIIC participants may attend any of the Track sessions at NIIC; no pre-registration or pre-requisites are required.
NIIC 2024 TRACKS
Below is the preliminary line-up of the 2024 Tracks; refinements and additional details will be announced in May 2024:
Access to Justice (Defending Our Communities, etc.)
Arts, Culture & Narrative
Climate & Migration (Domestic, Regional & International)
Democracy & Elections
Full Citizenship
Nation of Refuge (Refugees, Asylum, TPS, Statelessness etc.)
Shared Prosperity (Economic Inclusion, Workforce, Education, Healthcare, Language & Digital Inclusion, Housing, etc.)
Welcome, Inclusion & Belonging (Intersectional Identities including Disability Justice, LGBTQIA+ Migrants, etc.)
NIIC 2022 Tracks
See here for the full details on all the Track Sessions that will be featured at NIIC 2022, and below for an overview of each Track and the listing of our Track Leads, who volunteered their expertise and time to build this powerful and essential part of the NIIC program.
ACCESS TO JUSTICE
As we build upon the challenges and successes of the last few years in fighting back deportation and criminalization of our communities, there is an opportunity to leverage local, state, and federal infrastructure and campaigns to increase access to justice for immigrants across the country while pushing for legalization for all. This track will look into campaigns ranging from universal representation to ending detention; the local and statewide victories that publicly fund the spectrum of legal services; and, the need to continue building capacity across the field to prepare for large-scale legalization programs.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Immigrants and refugees are on the front lines of climate change. Climate and extreme weather are rapidly becoming one the largest root causes of displacement, and in the United States immigrant communities are among those hit first and worst by climate disasters and impacts. Despite this our communities are often overlooked and left out of efforts to adapt to and mitigate climate impacts, and few tools exist to provide safe pathways for climate-displaced people to migrate. This track will explore the ways immigrants and refugees are uniquely impacted by climate change, both as a root cause of migration and as frontline communities in the United States.
EDUCATION & LANGUAGE ACCESS
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the disproportionate obstacles that our communities face when it comes to education and language access. This track will touch on language access barriers and language justice issues; language acquisition, education and economic mobility; language and workforce opportunity; digital literacy and equity issues, etc. The sessions will look into best practices in inclusiveness and access to public schooling, adult education, workforce development, and language access and communicating with immigrant communities.
FULL CITIZENSHIP & CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
From re-defining citizenship to empowering the 5 million+ newly naturalized citizens to become lifelong voters- the Full Citizenship track will unpack timely conversations with nuanced analysis. Discussions will include the ongoing fight to secure a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants; empowering new citizens to not only exercise their right to vote but to also seek political leadership positions; and the fight to expand noncitizen voting. This track will equip participants with tools, insights and knowledge to fight for the civic inclusion of all immigrants and refugees as we gear toward 2024 and beyond.
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
Since 2020, BIPOC, immigrant, and refugee communities have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States due to various forms of structural inequality, including barriers encased in federal and state policy that restrict access to quality, affordable, and culturally responsive healthcare. In 2022, these issues have coupled with unprecedented attacks on our basic rights, such as the overturn of Roe v. Wade by the United States Supreme Court. Despite all obstacles, immigrant rights coalitions all over the country continue to advance groundbreaking systemic change to ensure equitable access to healthcare for all, regardless of immigration status. The sessions in this track will discuss recent state victories and ongoing efforts for coverage expansion, the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrant and refugee communities, culturally responsive mental health care within our communities as well as how immigrant women of color are leading the fight for abortion access.
LGBTQIA+ MIGRANTS IN FOCUS
Over 250,000 Black, Indigenous, AAPI, and other POC LGBTQ+ migrants in the United States are at risk for detention and deportation. As this number grows, so has the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric across the country. It’s critical at this moment to respond to negative sentiments surrounding LGBTQ+ migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and other forcibly displaced persons. Sessions within this track will amplify key areas of intersection across the movement including: detention of trans migrants and asylum seekers, LGBTQ+ folks seeking refuge, undocumented LGBTQ+ folks, transnational organizing, and how organizations can center BIPOC LGBTQ+ voices to build a sustainable and liberated future.
NATION OF REFUGE
The Nation of Refuge track will take a comprehensive approach to our collective advocacy efforts to rebuild and re-envision refugee resettlement and protection infrastructures, engaging critically with the many disparate barriers forcibly displaced people face when seeking refuge in the United States. We will also highlight the field's approach to community organizing through an intersectional lens that recognizes root causes of migration as well as the diverse and multifaceted identities among displaced diaspora. As part of this work, we will explore the need to build solidarity across forcibly displaced populations, centering the need for equity and utilizing explicitly anti-racist/classist/ableist tools to dismantle systemic barriers that perpetuate anti-Blackness, and disparate treatment to LGBTQIA+ and disabled persons when seeking care. The track will showcase emergent state and local policies that create opportunities for a proactive approach to resettlement in moments of crisis and a vision for moving beyond traditional infrastructure.
NARRATIVE & MESSENGERS
The narrative track will provide expert advice, and case study analysis that challenge long-standing assumptions about messaging, storytelling, and narrative-building. Participants will come away with tools and knowledge on how to build narrative power for the long term and how to drive powerful narratives within campaigns/programs. Track sessions will unpack lessons learned from innovative campaigns, current narrative research and work, and advance building intersectional and empowering pro-immigrant and pro-refugee narratives.
RESOURCING OUR MOVEMENTS
Money can often change the playing field fast, especially in politically and economically challenging times. Powering our movements requires durable, diversified, innovative, long-haul resources, investment and partnership. This Track will provide expert guidance and insights on several core fundraising concerns for our movements: 1) growing and engaging individual donors; 2) trends, perspectives and analysis from institutional funders; and 3) lessons from a successful state-wide case-study in public-private partnership that puts movement and community-based leadership at the center.
SHARED PROSPERITY: BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR ALL
Despite experiencing disproportionate economic hardship as a result of COVID-19, immigrant and refugee communities continue playing a vital role in rebuilding our economy through the pandemic’s third year. In fact, the pandemic highlighted that the work/contributions of immigrants and refugees in the U.S. is/are critical to rebuild the country’s economy. The sessions in this track will discuss policies, programs, and tools that support an equitable economic recovery for immigrants and refugees. Topics will include: economic mobility, workforce development, worker justice, organizing and advocacy strategies, equitable access to financial tools, plus more.
WELCOME, INCLUSION & BELONGING
As many local communities across the country continue to find best practices to be welcoming and inclusive, speakers in these sessions will address how they’ve created and continue to create communities where everyone can belong. Discussions will address ways to ensure the safety, dignity, and justice of all our neighbors. From local government actions to innovative nonprofit work, this track will explore how we can welcome through policies and programs at the local level, and breakthrough ideas that are helping communities into the more just and united spaces we want to be in.
NIIC 2022 TRACK LEADS
These leaders from NIIC Stakeholder organizations across the country donate their expertise and time to building the NIIC Tracks, which comprise more than half the programming at NIIC. Listing below is by Track in alphabetical order by participating organization.
Track titles listed below are working drafts and may adjust.
Access to Justice
Seydi Sarr, African Bureau of Immigration & Social Affairs
Nicole Catá, New York Immigration Coalition
Kayla Kelechian, New York Immigration Coalition
Theo Moore, New York Immigration Coalition
Eréndira Rendón, The Resurrection Project
Melissa Garlick, Vera Institute of Justice
Shayna Kessler, Vera Institute of Justice
Climate Change
Melanie Minuche, Alianza Americas
Vivian Huang, Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Vlad Carrasco, CHIRLA
Krystina François, Communities United for Status and Protection
Naomi Steinberg, HIAS
Neda Arabshahi, Inclusiv
Nisha Agarwal, International Refugee Assistance Project
Kayly Ober, Refugees International
Jairaj Singh, Unite Oregon
Education & Language Access
Sana Jatta, African Bureau of Immigration & Social Affairs
Ravi Reddi, Asian American Federation
Jacob Hofstetter, Migration Policy Institute
Theo Moore, New York Immigration Coalition
Andrea Ortiz, New York Immigration Coalition
Marwah Alobaidi, USA Hello
Elizabeth Basca, USA Hello
Priyanka Sharma, World Education Inc
Full Citizenship & Civic Engagement
Raymond Partolan, Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote
Ishraq Ali, MPower Change
Craig Valdez, New American Leaders
Laura Vasquez, Unidos US
Healthy Communities
Azizah Ahmad, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Sarah Dar, California Immigrant Policy Center
Elizabeth Sweet, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
Christine Nguyen, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
Yvonne Hsu, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
Seongeun Chun, New York Immigration Coalition
Theresa Thanjan, New York Immigration Coalition
LGBTQIA+ Migrants in Focus
Kenrick Ross, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
Uchechkwu Onwa, Queer Detainee Empowerment Project
Kimahli Powell, Rainbow Railroad
Sarah Seniuk, Refugee Council USA
Kim Tabari, USC Equity Institute
Narrative & Messengers
Ravi Reddi, Asian American Federation
Conchita Cruz, Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project
Jeff Chang, Butterfly Lab
Granate Kim, MPower Change
Shweta Moorthy, Race Forward
Nation of Refuge
Dauda Sesay, African Communities Together
Anahita Panahi, CHIRLA
Adamou Mohamed, Church World Service
Paula Munoz, Florida Immigrant Coalition
Naomi Steinberg, HIAS
Ellen Beattie, International Rescue CommitteeNili Yossinger, Refugee Congress
Sarah Seniuk, Refugee Council USA
Judith Clerjeune, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
Shared Prosperity: Building an Economy that Works for All
Pablo DeFilippi, Inclusiv
Rene Vargas Martinez, Inclusiv
Eli Goss, OneAmerica
Fatima Sanz, World Education Services
Welcome, Inclusion & Belonging
Adja Soukeye Ndoye, African Bureau of Immigration & Social Affairs
Galya Ben-Arieh, COMPASS
Ellen Beattie, International Rescue Committee
Mufalo Chitam, Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition
Fatima Saidi, Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition
Madeleine Saucier, Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition
Tobin Williamson, Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition
Nili Yossinger, Refugee Congress
Lisa Sherman Luna, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
Jordyne Krumroy, Welcoming America
Sokthea Phay, YMCA of Long Beach
For information about the 2021 Tracks see here. To learn more about the 2021 Track Leads see here.