Norouzi, Roxana

Roxana Norouzi

Roxana Norouzi, she/her, is the Executive Director for OneAmerica, Washington State’s largest immigrant rights organization, where she has worked for the last decade. Through her leadership over the last decade, she moved the organization through a transformational process to get further rooted in grassroots organizing, strategic policy campaigns and political power. During her tenure, Roxana built and developed a strategy at OneAmerica to improve education for immigrant children and families through local and state policy advocacy, community organizing, and leadership development with parents and youth resulting in policy advances around multilingualism and millions additional public dollars for English learners. In addition to her role at OneAmerica she is also a clinical instructor at the University of Washington in the School of Public Health. In 2010, after earning her Masters in Social Work at the University of Washington, Roxana was awarded the Bonderman Fellowship which allowed her to travel to twenty countries exploring post-conflict regions, migration trends, and identity. Roxana is fluent in Farsi and her experience as a first generation American informs her passion and commitment to racial equity and immigrant justice.

Doan, Shirley

Shirley Doan

Shirley Doan, she/they, Senior Project Coordinator at World Education, Inc. has over eight years of experience in adult education, having served as an administrator, advisor, and instructor. Prior to joining the World Education team, she was the director of a community-based adult ESOL program in Boston, where she worked with primarily Asian immigrants. Shirley holds a B.A. in English/creative writing and environmental studies and a certificate in nonprofit management and leadership. She is also a proud second-generation immigrant.

Oh, Sookyung

Sookyung Oh

Sookyung Oh, she/her, is the Director of Hamkae Center as its first Director in January 2017. Previously she worked at the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) as a Public Policy Analyst, The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis in Richmond, VA as a State Policy Fellow, and as Project Director with NAKASEC. She started organizing in Asian American communities at the Jaisohn Center and Asian Americans United in Philadelphia. She serves on the board of the Virginia Civic Engagement Table and Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the Hampton Roads region of Virginia with her family and reading comic books.

Petit, Tessa

Tessa Petit

Tessa Petit, she/her, is the Co-Executive Director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. Born and raised in Haiti, Tessa has always had a passion for helping others. She moved to the United States in 2001 and worked in social services with the Haitian community and with families experiencing homelessness. While overseeing various shelters, Tessa observed that direct services address symptoms of inequality and that equity and justice will only be realized through structural transformation. She brought her passion for social justice to FLIC in 2016, where she helped to expand direct services in conjunction with issue-advocacy, capacity building and consciousness raising. Tessa has a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Barry University, and served our coalition as Director of Finance and Operations prior to becoming FLIC's co-Executive Director in 2021. As she co-leads FLIC, Tessa aspires to foster collaboration among Black Immigrants, and to further expand FLIC's civic engagement in a continuum.

Perez, Iliana G.

Iliana G. Perez

Iliana G. Perez, Ph.D. (she/her) serves as the Director of Research & Entrepreneurship at Immigrants Rising. Over the past decade, Dr. Perez has developed resources and training to inform undocumented people about entrepreneurship; has developed programming to help undocumented people start or grow their businesses; and has worked closely with people and organizations to build an entrepreneurship ecosystem geared toward connecting and supporting undocumented entrepreneurs. In 2021, Dr. Perez began leading the implementation of the SEED initiative, a $5.4 million grant from the state of California to provide entrepreneurship training, funding and technical support to immigrant entrepreneurs across the state. Iliana holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Fresno State, a M.A. in Economics and a Ph.D. in Education Policy from Claremont Graduate University.

Paul, Cathryn

Cathryn Paul

Cathryn Paul (she/her) serves as the Public Policy Director at CASA, the largest immigrant rights organization in the mid-Atlantic region. CASA has led in securing funding for legal representation for Marylanders in ICE detention for the last several legislative sessions. Outside of universal representation advocacy, CASA ran campaigns and successfully passed multiple bills advancing immigration reform in Maryland, including EITC expansion for ITIN holders, Medicaid expansion for undocumented pregnant mothers, the ending of private ICE detention centers in Maryland, and more. Outside of Maryland, Cathryn oversees policy initiatives across Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia - and on the federal level. 

Pachnanda, Ellen

Ellen Pachnanda

Ellen Pachnanda (she/her) is Director of the Immigration Practice at Brooklyn Defenders Services (BDS). In this role, she manages teams that handle detained and non-detained removal defense as well as complex applications before USCIS.  Ms. Pachnanda also leads the BDS external training program through the Vera Institute’s SAFE (Safety and Fairness for Everyone) Network and Upstate NYIFUP programs, developing trainings and providing technical assistance to removal defense providers across the country.

Prior to her role at Brooklyn Defender Services, Ms. Pachnanda served as associate counsel in the criminal division at the Legal Aid Society of Westchester County for 9 years, handling felony criminal matters. While at Legal Aid, Ms. Pachnanda established and ran their Padilla practice. During law school, Ms. Pachnanda served as the lead law clerk for the United States Attorney for the Western District of New York. Upon graduation, Ms. Pachnanda remained in her hometown of Buffalo, as an associate with the Criminal Defense firm of Harrington & Mahoney, practicing primarily in Federal Court.

Ms. Pachnanda earned her B.A. from Cornell University and her J.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo Law School.

Carrasco. Vlad

Vlad Carrasco

Vlad Carrasco (He/Him) is the Deputy Director of External Affairs for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights

As an Afro-Latinx immigrant, Vlad has worked tirelessly to lead campaigns and shape policies that center BIPOC communities through his work in labor unions, legislative offices and non-profits. Prior to joining CHIRLA, he served as a Coalition Manager for Moving Toward Justice, a national immigration justice collective. Currently, Vlad serves as the Deputy Director of External Affairs for CHIRLA with a focus on the intersection of climate and immgiration justice. Vlad also serves as an Organizer for Sunrise Movement LA.

Campos, Sara

Sara Campos

Sara Campos (she/her) is a Senior Program Officer for the Immigration Program at the Grove Foundation. Prior to Grove, she worked as an Independent Consultant specializing in immigration and refugee issues and as a Staff Attorney for the National Immigration Law Center and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a JD from UCLA Law School and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. 

Fine, Marjorie

Marjorie Fine

Marjorie Fine (Margie), she/her, former foundation executive director, is a fundraising and philanthropic coach/consultant/trainer helping nonprofits and their funders – particularly those who use community organizing to effect social change - move from surviving to thriving. She believes how groups and movements raise money is as essential to achieving their goals as are their programs, leadership development, and policy and advocacy campaigns. She thinks fundraising is organizing and that fundraisers, whether paid or unpaid, staff, board members, or volunteers, are the unsung heroes of social justice organizations and movements. Recent clients include Robert Wood Johnson, Four Freedoms Fund, Hand in Hand, United We Dream, and The Appleseed Foundation.

She serves as chair of the North Star Fund and is a board member of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Chakraborty, Rini

Rini Chakraborty

Rini Chakraborty, (she/her) the Senior Director of NEO Philanthropy’s Four Freedoms Fund (FFF) and has been an integral part of the FFF team for nearly a decade, serving as a Senior Program Officer and most recently Senior Director of Programs. Since she joined FFF in 2012, Rini launched and spearheaded a national grantmaking initiative focused on dramatically reducing enforcement, detention, deportation and the criminalization of immigrants. She also developed and led newer funding strategies, including the Texas Fund and Ending Child Detention & Family Separation initiative. Rini’s career spans more than two decades fighting for and advancing the rights of immigrants, communities of color, and low-wage workers striving to achieve justice.Prior to joining FFF, Rini was Amnesty International USA’s Western Regional Director, where she led campaigns on death penalty abolition, migrant rights, criminal justice reforms, and international human rights.

Aleman, Carlos

Carlos Aleman

Carlos Aleman (he/him) CEO of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama (HICA) immigrated to the United States with his parents when he was young due to the civil war in their home country of Nicaragua in 1982. He first lived in San Francisco and grew up there before moving to Michigan to earn his PhD from Michigan State University. A stop in Atlanta was then followed by his move to join the faculty staff at Samford University in Alabama, where he taught from 2013 to 2018. Aleman is the first Latino elected to public office in the state of Alabama where he serves as a Ward 2 council member in the city of Homewood. His commitment to the Latino population of Alabama is carried out everyday in his work with HICA, a community development and advocacy organization that champions economic equality, civic engagement, and social justice for Latino and immigrant families in Alabama.

Valderrama, Rosa

Rosa Valderrama

Rosa Valderrama (she/her) is the Communications Director at the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP). She has nearly a decade of experience working in social justice advocacy with a focus on media relations, messaging, and content creation for different audiences in English and Spanish. Prior to joining ASAP, Rosa most recently worked at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. Additionally, she has over 15 years of experience as a linguist. Born in Lima, Peru, Rosa moved with her family to the U.S. at age 8 and became part of Miami’s vibrant immigrant community. She studied English and Classics at the University of South Dakota, before moving to Atlanta, where she worked teaching English as a Second Language. Rosa returned to Miami to open a restaurant with two of her sisters, which she helped run for five years. She currently lives in Fort Lauderdale, FL. In her free time, Rosa hangs out with her 8-year-old niece, advocates for reproductive rights as a board member at the Broward Women’s Emergency Fund, and enjoys reading, writing, cooking, cycling, kickboxing, and beach days with her partner.

Eusebio, Amy

Amy Eusebio

Amy Eusebio (she/her) is Director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs, City of Philadelphia. Amy is a proud first-generation American, Afro-Latina, and daughter of Dominican immigrants. Eusebio joined the City of Philadelphia in 2018 as Municipal ID Program Director and was responsible for launching the PHL City ID. She has more than 15 years of experience working in non-profit social services. Eusebio’s previous roles included a focus on ensuring the programs she was part of were culturally responsive to the immigrant communities they were intended to serve. She completed her undergraduate and graduate education in social work, earning a bachelor’s degree from Temple University and a master’s from the University of Pennsylvania.

Cortes, Francisco

Francisco Cortes

Francisco Cortes (he/him)  is the Co-Executive Director of Familia:Trans Queer Liberation Movement, a LGBT Immigrant rights organziation, working at the local and antional leve to achieve the colletive liberation of trans, queer, and gender noncomforming Latinxs through building community. organizing, advocacy and education.   A Mexican Immigrant and gay Philadelphian, Francisco previously served as the Executive Director of GALAEI, a queer Latinx social justice organization in Philadelphia. Francisco currently serves as an appointed commissioner to Philadelphia’s Mayors Office of LGBT Affairs commission where he supports the office in identifying the needs of marginalized LGBTQ Philadelphians and advocating for effective ways to distribute city resources to those most in need. He serves as a board member at Juntos, an immigrant-rights, immigrant-led organization in Philadelphia. Francisco is passionate about queer and trans, Latinx and Black youth empowerment and leadership development and utilizes his platform to create and support initiatives that fuel his passion. Francisco received the Emerging Leadership Award from Bread and Roses Foundation in December 2019 and was labeled one of the 40 under 40 most influential Latinos by Al Dia Magazine in October 2020.

Chavero,Zulema

Zulema Chavero

Zulema Chavero (she /her) is a Community Organizer with Somos Un Pueblo Unido en Santa Fe, New Mexico. Somos Un Pueblo Unido is a statewide immigrant-based organization that works to promote racial and worker justice in New Mexico. Through its community organizing, citizenship electoral engagement, litigation, and policy advocacy efforts, Somos has helped shape New Mexico’s immigrant and worker’s rights landscape for over two decades. The organization has spearheaded several local and statewide laws and has won dozens of awards for its grassroots work. Currently, Zulema is the lead organizer of Ciudadanía ¡Ya! an innovative program created by the Workers Committee of the United Worker Center in Santa Fe NM. Through this program, she recruits and organizes qualifying lawful permanent residents to become citizens and active members of our community, participating in getting out the vote and in broader campaigns for workers’ rights. Zulema joined Somos in 2006 as an active member. In 2008 she became an organizer for a workers’ project. She organized several strong workers' committees that set a precedent for the later creation of a Workers’ Center in Santa Fe.

Benitez-Perez, Jorge

Jorge Benitez-Perez

Jorge Benitez-Perez (he/him) is Maryland Community Organizer for CASA Maryland. He started as a volunteer and advocate with CASA in 2018. He has grown into a badass community organizer from Prince George’s County. He was part of the team who spearheaded the fight for Prince George’s County to become a sanctuary county, a resounding victory with an unanimous council vote of 11-0. As a DACA recipient himself, he was a part of the fight to maintain the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Jorge also helped turned the city of Riverdale, Maryland, into a sanctuary city. He is fighting for immigrant liberation and believes we have nothing to lose but our chains. The COVID crisis underscored the extreme housing instability of tenant communities. Since the pandemic started, Jorge has led half a dozen rent strikes and efforts to pass two local and county-wide rent stabilization laws. Through our c4 sister organization CASA in Action, Jorge led a campaign that successfully elected a tenant activist to the Riverdale Park City Council.

Ayers, Jacqueline

Jacqueline Ayers

Jacqueline Ayers (she/ her) is Senior Vice President of Policy, Campaigns, and Advocacy for PPFA’s. She is responsible for developing and executing the national strategy and management of the legislative policy, organizing, electoral, and policy-oriented litigation work. She brings decades of experience developing strategies to advance the federation’s legislative affairs, global advocacy, and federal and state policy teams, in order to expand laws and policies that increase access to health care for all. Prior to joining PPFA for the second time in her career in 2013, she served as legislative director for the National Urban League, and was a legislative aide in the U.S. House of Representatives covering health, education and judiciary issues. She began her career as the associate legislative director for the ACLU of Indiana.

Zapata, Aneiry L.

Aneiry L. Zapata

Aneiry L. Zapata (she/her) is Garifuna Committee Organizer.Black Garífuna and Honduran transgender woman who arrived in the United States in 2015 fleeing the repressions of her country. She has experience helping LGBTQIA+ migrant and connecting them Black with any resource they need to survive. Aneiry has participated in protest and in many conferences as speaker and has testified in court fighting for the rights of LGBTQIA+, Black folks and any individual who identifies as a woman. Currently leading the Garifuna community in main programs: Charlas Garifunas LGBTQ+, GarifunaTransTalk and GarifunaKids lives matter. Her goal is to help create a world where our gender and sexuality are free to be lived and expressed freely.

Yakupitiyage, Thanu

Thanu Yakupitiyage

Thanu Yakupitiyage (she/her) is the U.S. Communications Director at 350.org, a global organization working to build a safe and equitable world safe from the effects of the climate crisis through a just transition away from fossil fuels. Prior to joining 350.org, Thanu was the communications director at the New York Immigration Coalition for close to seven years where she headed the organization's communications and media relations strategy. Through her work at NYIC, she became an immigration policy expert, working to shift narratives on immigration and immigrants themselves. She was a lead organizer in efforts to push back against Trump's executive orders in his first week in office that mandated a Muslim Ban and increased enforcement and raids against immigrant communities and the program lead for a leadership development program for New York City-based DREAMERS. Thanu’s shift to doing climate work has been rooted in her deep desire to build an intersectional climate movement that prioritizes migrant and racial justice. Over the past five years in her role at 350.org, she has led work on intersectional climate narratives, including bringing a migration perspective to the critical work of climate justice. She has led narrative work around the largest climate strikes in history, fossil fuel divestment, and climate solutions. You can follow her on twitter at @ty_ushka.