Mathews, Sheena

Sheena Mathews

Sheena Mathews has over a decade of experience in local, state, and federal politics. Sheena served as South Carolina Political Director and National Deputy Director of African American Outreach for Tom Steyer 2020. She also served as the Regional Organizing Manager for NextGen America, setting and exceeding mobilizing over 10,000 volunteers in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky to lobby for Federal legislation. 

Sheena serves in local and state-level positions within the North Carolina Democratic Party. Before joining Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Sheena's background includes roles in the North Carolina General Assembly where she worked with senators to introduce the RBG Act, the End Menstrual Poverty Act, and the NC Momnibus bill.  

Sheena was recently appointed to the Mayor's Council for Women by Durham's First Black Woman Mayor and its City Council. 

Sheena is a proud graduate of an Historically Black College and University, Miles College, in Alabama, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Alemaìn, Dr.

Dr. Alemaìn

Dr. Alemaìn leads the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama (HICA) and serves on the Homewood City Council. An immigrant from Nicaragua, Dr. Alemaìn grew up in San Francisco. He received his BA in History and Latin American/Latino Studies from UC Santa Cruz and his Ph.D. in History from Michigan State University. A former faculty member at Michigan State, Agnes Scott College and Samford University, Dr. Alemaìn taught history and Latin American Studies. In August 2020, Carlos was elected to Homewood's City Council, becoming the first Latino elected to public office in Alabama.

Gassama, Haddy

Haddy Gassama

Haddy Gassama serves as the Director of Policy and Advocacy for the UndocuBlack Network. Haddy is from The Gambia and immigrated to the U.S. in 2000 with her family as asylum seekers. Her career has focused on the intersection of international human rights and immigration law and policy. She has previously worked at the National Immigrant Justice Center, where she advocated for policies that enhanced Congressional oversight on the immigration detention system. Prior to joining the immigration policy and advocacy movement, Haddy provided direct services to immigrant communities. As an attorney, she represented survivors of torture from sub-Saharan African countries in their asylum proceedings.

Phay, Sokthea

Sokthea Phay

Sokthea Phay is an equity and inclusion practitioner at the YMCA of Greater Long Beach with over 14 years of international experience in program management, social inclusion and equity, and youth development. Sokthea has worked for the YMCA for 14 years, including in Cambodia and Zambia, and 9 years as Community Operations Director at the Community Development YMCA of Greater Long Beach. Sokthea leads the New American Welcome Center Program and supports all programs at this YMCA to create local frameworks on welcoming, belonging, equity, and inclusion. Sokthea is the founder of the YMCA’s Week of Equity. He has worked with many receiving communities and established many local immigrant/newcomer integration efforts to serve undocumented youth and refugee communities. Sokthea immigrated to the U.S from Cambodia in 2013. In 2019, Sokthea was appointed as the U.S Representative of the World Alliance of YMCAs United Nations Advocacy Group. Sokthea is currently attending a Master’s Degree Program, majoring in Nonprofit Leadership and Management at Antioch University. Sokthea has a Bachelor of Arts in Teaching English from Norton University.

Cruz, Imani

Imani Cruz

Imani Cruz is the Migration Policy Advocacy Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) where she promotes policy recommendations driven by impacted communities and non-violent Quaker values.  She has previous experience serving immigrants through case management and community integration assistance and holds degrees in sociology and public policy. Imani is the proud daughter and granddaughter of immigrants and in her free time enjoys the great outdoors and traveling.

Castro, Luz

Luz Castro

Luz Castro serves as the Deputy Director of National Policy and Advocacy for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) in Washington D.C. In this role, Luz leads CHIRLA’s federal policy portfolio to help advance the rights of immigrants in California and nationwide.

In an effort to better understand how policies affected her everyday life, Luz grew involved in policy and politics at a very early age. She began her congressional career with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) where she worked at Congresswoman Linda Sanchez’s office in Washington D.C. Luz also worked as a Field Deputy for Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard where she oversaw the Congresswoman’s education, labor, environment, business, and 2020 Census portfolio. In this capacity, Luz built meaningful relationships with various community-based organizations and worked closely with community leaders to ensure that they play an active role in the legislative process and policy issues that impact their community and quality of life. 

Luz is especially passionate about advancing labor rights for immigrants and has walked with workers in their fight for dignity and respect in the workplace. As the daughter of Mexican immigrants, a mother who is a domestic worker, Luz has made it her personal goal to build immigrant worker power helping workers realize that they should not be afraid to speak up and that they too deserve meaningful access to workplace protections- regardless of their immigration status.

Kerwin, Donald

Donald Kerwin

Donald Kerwin directed the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) from September 2011 to November 2022.  Before that, he worked for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) between 1992 and 2008, serving as its Executive Director (ED) for 15 years and its interim ED for six months in late 2012 and early 2013. Upon his arrival at CLINIC in 1992, Mr. Kerwin coordinated CLINIC’s political asylum project for Haitians. Between 2008 and 2011, Mr. Kerwin served as Vice-President for Programs at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), where he wrote on immigration, labor standards, and refugee policy issues. At present, he is a Senior Fellow at Emory University's Center for Law and Religion. 

Galaz, Cynthia

Cynthia Galaz

Cynthia Galaz is a Senior Policy Associate with Freedom for Immigrants, an organization that seeks to abolish the immigration detention system by building monitoring, organizing and political power. She leads FFI’s local and state advocacy, working to advance legislation to abolish detention in New York and other states as part of a regional strategy to win abolition, nationally. She also plays a key role in developing federal policies that invest in community-based programs that welcome and support immigrants rather than imprisoning them. Cynthia holds an MSc in Social Policy from the University of Oxford and a BA in Global Studies and Public Affairs from UCLA.

Sweet, Elizabeth

Elizabeth Sweet

Elizabeth Sweet is MIRA’s Executive Director, taking the position in January 2022. Sweet brings to MIRA an 18-year record of advocating for immigrants and refugees. For the past six years, she served in senior leadership roles at HIAS (founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), most recently as its Chief Operating Officer. A graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, Sweet set out to defend immigrants and asylum seekers in immigration detention during their deportation hearings. She later became the first full-time Director of the American Bar Association Immigration Justice Project in San Diego and then the Associate Director of the American Bar Commission on Immigration in Washington, DC. For the past six years, she has also served as the Chair of the Board of Detention Watch Network, a national coalition building power through collective advocacy, grassroots organizing, and strategic communications to abolish immigration detention in the United States.

Ross, Kenrick

Kenrick Ross

Kenrick Ross (he/him) is the Executive Director of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA), the nation’s leading organization empowering LGBTQ+ Asians and Pacific Islanders.

Previously, he served in leadership at YWCA of Queens, The Leaguers, Inc., and Indo-Caribbean Alliance, and his career spans sectors as diverse as civic engagement and education reform to equitable entrepreneurship and community health. He’s spoken at 50+ events, produced a short film, served on a dozen boards, and founded Urban&Out, an LGBTQ+POC platform. He’s also a huge evangelist for LGBTQ community athletes, fitness, and sports, especially tennis. Born in Guyana and raised in New Jersey, he holds a BA in Politics from New York University, and an MS in Urban Policy and Leadership from CUNY-Hunter College. 

Doubossarskaia, Liza

Liza Doubossarskaia

Liza Doubossarskaia is a Staff Attorney at Immigration Equality. Liza obtained her Juris Doctor from Washington University in St. Louis in May 2019. As a law student, Liza interned with the Migrant and Immigrant Community Action (MICA) Project in Saint Louis, where she assisted with preparation of asylum cases, cancellation of removal, and VAWA self-petitions. Liza also completed a full-time internship at the Tahirih Justice Center. There, she worked with immigrant women who were survivors of gender-based violence to apply for various forms of immigration relief, such as battered spouse waivers, T visas, and SIJS. As a law student, Liza also completed a full-time externship with Immigration Equality, during which time she assisted clients in preparation or their withholding of removal and asylum cases. Prior to attending law school, Liza served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay between 2012 and 2015. As volunteer, Liza worked with community stakeholders to implement educational and health-based initiatives. Liza holds a B.A. in Government and International Relations from George Mason University and an M.A. in International Studies from the University of San Francisco. She is fluent in Russian and Spanish.

Mohamed, Zakaria (Zack)

Zakaria (Zack) Mohamed

Zakaria (Zack) Mohamed (he/him) is Deportation Defense Coordinator for  Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP). Zack is a Somali-born, Portland-bred, organizer, trainer, and movement strategist. At age five, Zack and his family fled their home country due to civil war, and arrived in the U.S. as refugees. Zack has been organizing with Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP), since September 2017. In Zack’s role as Deportation Defense Organizer he is focused on building out a base among Black LGBTQIA+ Migrants and connecting the Black diaspora to liberation. Zack has organized around racial justice, immigrant/refugee justice, LGBTQ+ justice, economic justice and gender justice. As Audre Lorde said, “there’s no such thing as a single issue struggle, because we do not live single issue lives.” Zack believes in an inclusive and intersectional movement; no one is free until we are all free. In his free time Zack enjoys playing Pokémon, reading/watching his favorite manga/anime One Piece and expanding his culinary skills by cooking new dishes. 

Manning, Stephen W

Stephen W Manning

Stephen W Manning is an attorney and founding partner of Immigrant Law Group PC and Director of Innovation Law Lab, a non-profit that is equal parts software engineers, immigrant rights lawyers, and community organizers who work together to advance immigrant and refugee justice. Considered the most innovative lawyer in North America for 2017 by The Financial Times, he is an Ashoka Changemaker Fellow, the recipient of the 2015 AILA Founders Award for the person who had the most impact on immigration policy, 2010 Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for Excellence in Immigration Litigation, the 2009 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for Excellence in Advancing the Practice of Immigration Law, the 2008 Gerald R Robinson Award for Excellence in Immigration Litigation, a Bill & Ann Shepard Law Scholar and other awards and recognition.

Vazquez, Laura

Laura Vazquez

Laura Vazquez is the Associate Director for Immigrant Integration at UnidosUS (formerly NCLR), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. She works with UnidosUS affiliates to expand and sustain their immigration legal services programs and provide additional support for immigrants and their families. Previously at UnidosUS she conducted legislative and administrative advocacy to advance just and humane reforms to the current immigration system.

Prior to UnidosUS, she served as a constituent caseworker for Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, assisting D.C. residents with their pending immigration applications. As a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Fellow, she monitored efforts to address laws passed in 1996 that impacted immigrants. Her background includes research on Mexican migration to the United States and the role of nonprofits in advocating on immigration issues. Laura holds an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of California, San Diego and a BA in Political Science and Spanish from Kenyon College.

Falcon, Petra

Petra Falcon

Petra Falcon is the Executive Director of Promise Arizona. Veteran organizer, activist, and community leader with a long record of developing powerful grassroots strategies. Falcon grew up in the Grand Canyon State as a fourth-generation Arizonan. She first began working in Arizona in a sweatshop in Glendale as a young girl of 13.  From her earliest experience, she learned the value of access to education and opportunity and the social inequities and violence that result from the systemic denial of such opportunities. She has devoted her life to ensuring and expanding access to opportunities for the underserved, having achieved significant victories over her 25 years organizing within the faith, Latino, and immigrant communities in Arizona and the Southwest. 

Moul, Navin

Navin Moul

is a program office for the Safety and Belonging program at the Zellerbach Family Foundation. Navin has extensive experience in the fields of philanthropy, immigration, human and civil rights. Prior to joining ZFF, Navin led the immigration grantmaking strategy at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. She also worked as a program officer at American Jewish World Service, managing grant-making portfolios in Burma, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Douglas, Kevin

Kevin Douglas

Kevin Douglas (he/him/his) is the Senior Director of National Programs at Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees. He joined GCIR in 2019 and has more than 15 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. As currently he leads the Delivering on the Dream (DOTD) funder collaborative network, helped administer the California Immigrant Resilience Fund (CIRF), and supports the development of GCIR’s funder recommendations and learning sessions. Prior to GCIR he served as Co-Director of Policy and Advocacy for United Neighborhood Houses of New York, a network of New York City’s settlement houses and community centers. While there, he led advocacy campaigns that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in investments in community services by state and local government. Over the course of his career Kevin has also engaged in program coordination, community organizing, and direct services. As a consultant, he developed and led what is believed to be the first training in Saudi Arabia for the philanthropic and nonprofit community on effective advocacy techniques. He has served on several boards, including the New York Immigration Coalition and holds an MSW from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kidd, Camille

Camille Kidd

Camille Kidd is a government affairs professional who currently serves as the Policy Manager at In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda. She manages In Our Own Voice's federal advocacy efforts and the organization's economic justice and voting rights policy work as well as other Reproductive Justice issues. Prior to joining In Our Own Voice, Camille worked on the advocacy team at the Roosevelt institute. She also worked on cancer policy as the Government Relations Specialist at the American Society for Radiation Oncology. Camille holds a bachelors degree in political science from the George Washington University. A proud New Yorker, Camille currently lives in DC and enjoys figure skating and reading.

Kazmi, Aliza

Aliza Kazmi

Aliza Kazmi is the Executive Director or HEART Women and Girls. From the San Francisco Bay Area and is a second generation Shia Muslim of Pakistani and Muhajir descent. Her lifelong passions for social justice come from being a survivor of domestic violence, a daughter of immigrants, a daughter of an educator, and a former educator herself. 

Aliza has organized around race and social justice in a number of regions including Alaska, Michigan, New Mexico, and communities across California. She has created partnerships with numerous advocacy collaboratives, including convening grassroots community organizers and supporting their radical change-making and policy engagement, and mobilizing thousands of people to vote in various elections and take part in the 2020 Census. Aliza has also been featured in various outlets including Al Jazeera, The Independent, Mic, Rewire News Group, and The New Arab. Aliza is an alumna of UC Berkeley’s Peace & Conflict Studies and Gender & Women’s Studies programs and the University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy, where she received the Rackham Merit Fellowship. Aliza is also a trained survivor advocate and certified in conflict resolution and mediation. She is also a voting member of the Alameda County Commission on the Status of Women, and is a (mostly) vegan who loves biking, hiking, and dance.

Arvallo, Lucie

Lucie Arvallo

Lucie Arvallo (she/her) is a Policy Analyst at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, where she covers immigrant access to healthcare and coverage. She is the proud granddaughter of Mexican im/migrants and a first-generation college graduate. She graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 2019 where she served as a staff writer and senior associate editor for the St. Mary’s Law Journal. Lucie served as an If/When/How Reproductive Justice Legal Fellow. Lucie is also a text line volunteer for Jane’s Due Process in Austin, Texas, where she was born and raised and currently works.