Laura Tuell is the Firmwide head of Pro Bono and continues her efforts as an active pro bono practitioner representing numerous immigrants seeking asylum, particularly women seeking protection against gender persecution. Laura also has experience in housing discrimination, voting rights, landlord-tenant law, and death penalty issues. She was instrumental in working with the D.C. Bar to create the Free Legal Advice and Referral Clinic and has participated in that clinic for more than 10 years. Laura is chair of the board of the Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition and secretary of the board of Bread for the City.
Martínez, Karina
Karina Martínez is the Communications Director for Mi Familia Vota, a national civic engagement organization that aims to build Latino political power. Karina contributed to the record breaking Latino voter turnout of the 2018 elections by heading an unprecedented $300,000 bilingual digital campaign called “USA Tu Poder” that complemented MFV’s voter mobilization efforts on the ground. Karina is currently working on advocacy efforts at the local, state, and federal level on issues that impact the Latino community. She will also be supporting strategies to ensure that Latinos participate in the 2020 census and are prepared for the 2020 elections.
Duquette-Rury, Lauren
Lauren Duquette-Rury is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Wayne State University. Her current research examines how threats affect the naturalization and immigrant integration processes of Latinx and Arab origin groups in the United States. Her first book, Voice and Exit (UC Press 2019) studies how migrant remittances shape democracy and development in Mexico. Duquette-Rury’s research has been published in top sociology journals such as the American Sociological Review, International Migration Review, and Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies among others and has been funded by the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation.
Belcore, Becky
Becky Belcore joined the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC) staff as Co-Director in January 2017. NAKASEC’s mission is to organize Korean and Asian Americans to achieve social, racial and economic justice. Prior to NAKASEC, she was the Program Manager of the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, the Lead Program Officer for Woods Fund Chicago, the Executive Director of the Korean American Resource & Cultural Center, and the Midwest Regional Coordinator for the Service Employees International Union. Becky also was a registered nurse, is active in adoptee rights work, and serves on the boards of HANA Center, the Ella Baker Organizing Fund and BYP100.
Vargas Martínez , Rene A.
René A. Vargas Martínez is a Program Officer at Inclusiv. René is tasked with advancing financial inclusion for Hispanic and immigrant communities by overseeing the engagement and expansion of the Juntos Avanzamos national credit union network. Prior to Inclusiv, René worked for the credit union industry for 8 years. He also occupied high profile leadership positions at the University of Puerto Rico, fighting for access to Higher Education as Associate VP for Student Affairs, Student Ombudsperson, Board Member, Academic Senator and President of the Student Council. René is a graduate of the University Of Puerto Rico School Of Law.
Beattie, Ellen
Ellen Beattie is Senior Director, Program Quality & Innovation with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), where she oversees a portfolio of integration programs for New Americans across 25 US cities, among them economic empowerment, health & wellness and citizenship, and including programs for asylum-seeking families. Prior to joining the IRC in 2003, she worked in community development with the United Nations Development Program, World Food Program, among others. Ellen holds a B.A. from Rice University, an M.S. in Regional Development Planning from Los Andes University and studied Development Sociology at Justus-Liebig University.
Lazar, Corey
Corey Lazar is a Senior Program Associate for the Vera Institute of Justice’s SAFE (Safety and Fairness for Everyone) Network, a network of diverse jurisdictions dedicated to the goal of providing publicly funded legal representation for immigrants facing detention and deportation. Corey is the liaison to several SAFE Network jurisdictions including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Columbus and Prince George’s County, MD. Corey started her legal career at the DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), where her roles included Judicial Law Clerk for the New York Immigration Judges and Assistant Director of the Office of Legal Access Programs.
Wang, Jennifer
Jennifer Wang comes to her role as Deputy Director of Programs for the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF) with a deep commitment to the reproductive justice lens. With nearly a decade of experience in policy and government affairs, Jennifer has built and managed a coalition of 80+ organizations to fight fraud and abuse, create a youth start-up nonprofit’s policy and government affairs systems from the ground up, help an abortion fund with its first foray into policymaking, and developed an expertise in negotiated rulemaking and administrative and legislative advocacy. Jennifer is an alumna of UCLA and the University of Iowa College of Law.
Shannon, Amy
Amy Shannon currently serves as Alianza Americas’s Senior Advisor, providing strategic and programmatic analysis and guidance. She has worked extensively in philanthropy, both as a consultant and as a program officer in the Environment Programs at both the C.S. Mott Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, where she conducted research on rural financial systems, sustainable enterprise, and social marketing. Amy has lived and worked extensively in Latin America, and now resides in Chicago, IL.
Schubiner, Lindsay
Lindsay Schubiner directs Western States Center’s program to counter the dangerous ascension of white nationalism and hate violence across the country. She previously led advocacy efforts against anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim bigotry at the Center for New Community. Lindsay has served as a Congressional staffer handling housing, health, and immigration policy, and managed advocacy for sexual health and rights at American Jewish World Service.
Konaté, Diana
Diana Konaté is Policy Director at African Communities Together, where she advocates on behalf of African immigrants in front of federal lawmakers. Prior to joining ACT, Diana worked in the House of Representatives as a legislative assistant and scheduler. While a congressional staffer, Diana also served as President of the Congressional African Staff Association (CASA), an organization with a mission of educating the Capitol Hill community on Africa policy issues. Diana holds a J.D. from Michigan State University College of Law and a B.A. in Political Science from Old Dominion University.
Jumale, Mustafa
Mustafa Jumale is the policy manager for the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI). He is one of the co-founders of the Black Immigrant Collective and is the co-founder of Khyre Solutions LLC. He has worked on various policy issues such as remittances issues in Somalia, Human rights, education, female genital cutting, and immigration. He’s a recipient of the 2011 Josie Johnson Human Rights & Social Justice Award at the University of Minnesota. He holds a degree in Sociology and African American & African Studies from the University of Minnesota. He was a Policy Fellow at the Humphrey School of Public Policy.
Cabrales, Juliana
Juliana Cabrales is Mid-Atlantic Director with the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund. In this capacity, Juliana promotes the organization’s civic engagement campaigns in the Mid-Atlantic region and North Carolina while providing programmatic support to national civic engagement efforts. She was born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Wesleyan College in Macon, GA and an Associate in Applied Science from Parsons The New School of Design in New York, NY. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the NC Counts Coalition and NC Asian Americans Together.
Bell, Denise
Denise C. Bell is a researcher on refugee and migrant rights at Amnesty International USA, where she serves as an expert on issues of migration and displacement in U.S. and human rights law and policy. She has led multiple field missions to the U.S. southern border and Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. Previously, she was the senior campaigner for Amnesty USA’s campaign on the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers, following her tenure as an Attorney Advisor on the New York Immigration Court. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan, University of Cambridge, and Georgetown University Law Center.
Arias, Yanira
Yanira Arias, a native of El Salvador and TPS holder, is the National Campaigns Manager for Alianza Americas. She leads the TPS advocacy, house to house outreach, SOMOS/We Are anti-racism programming and other key campaigns. She also brings more than a decade of experience in the field of public health, with special expertise in community mobilization and participation, community organizing and capacity building to address health disparities and social justice issues.Yanira graduated from the University of El Salvador in 1996 with a focus on journalism. Yanira is based in the Bay Area of northern California.
Kenney, Liz
Liz Kenney is the Associate Program Director for the Vera Institute of Justice’s Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE) Network — a national network of local jurisdictions committed to protecting due process by providing legal representation to their immigrant communities at risk of deportation. In this role, she supports local leaders and immigration legal service providers that strive to provide universal representation to ensure that no detained immigrant faces deportation alone. She joined Vera in 2016 to work on the Unaccompanied Children Program, a national initiative that increases access to legal services and information for unaccompanied children.
Jung, Soya
Soya Jung has spent the last 30 years as a journalist, communications professional, and organizer. In the 90s she organized immigrant and refugee communities against regressive federal welfare and immigration laws. At ChangeLab she has authored Left or Right of the Color Line: Asian Americans and the Racial Justice Movement, The Importance of Asian Americans? It’s Not What You Think, and A Different Asian American Timeline. She has convened various events uniting scholars and social movement activists to explore race, gender, and war. Her writing has been published in Othering & Belonging: Expanding the Circle of Human Concern, Kalfou, and RaceFiles.
Cheer, Shiu-Ming
Shiu-Ming Cheer is a Senior Staff Attorney & Field Coordinator with the National Immigration Law Center. She focuses on challenging immigration enforcement, advancing universal representation, and integrating a field strategy into NILC’s issue areas. Previously, she held the positions such as Soros Justice Fellow and Managing Attorney at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network’s Los Angeles Detention Project, Children’s Attorney at the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, and Civil Rights Coordinator at South Asian Network. She has been involved in many social justice organizing projects, campaigns, and coalitions and currently serves on the Board of the Filipino Migrant Center.
Westrick, Paul
Paul Westrick is the Manager of Democracy Policy at the New York Immigration Coalition, where he works to identify and reduce barriers immigrant New Yorkers face in being fully enfranchised and engaged, and partners with elected officials and advocates to implement policy solutions. He began his career as a campaign field operative, and most recently served five years as legislative director to a New York City council member, where he successfully worked to pass online voter registration, an affordable housing database, and a ballot initiative to reduce the influence of big-money contributions in New York City’s elections.
Roy, Raima
Raima Roy is the Program Associate for Census and Civic Engagement at Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), where she is responsible for working on policy research and analysis on census issues, developing communications strategies, and implementing advocacy campaigns. Previously, she worked as a Program Associate at the International Republic Institute, where she helped implement democracy advocacy programs in Africa. She has also interned at the International Rescue Committee, where she empowered refugees from South and Southeast Asia by guiding them through the employment process and providing Urdu translation services. Raima recently received her B.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University.