Van Haelewyn, Mike

Mike Van Haelewyn

Mike Van Haelewyn is Senior Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Global Strategic Advancement. He oversees the execution of the national Diversity, Inclusion and Global Innovation Network strategy and has been responsible for the oversight and management of large grants at the local, national and international level. Mike joined Y-USA in 2005, following 11 years with local Ys in Virginia, India and South Africa In his 16 years at Y-USA, Mike has secured more than $7.0 million in funding to rekindle new immigrant integration strategies.  Mike holds a master’s degree in Public Service Administration from DePaul University and a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Penn State University.  

Truong-Hill, Trang

Trang Truong-Hill

Trang Truong-Hill is a community organizer with more than 15 years’ experience in the non-profit sector. She is one of the founding members of Celebrate Argyle, a community initiative that aims to shine a spotlight on immigrant-owned businesses & community members in the West Argyle Historic District in Chicago. Trang is currently the Director for Newcomer Immigrant Community Engagement and Global Strategies at YMCA of the USA. Trang also serves as a national steering committee member for the YMCA's Asian & Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group, and the board of Project VISION. Trang graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a bachelor’s degree in human development and a minor in anthropology.

Seniuk, Sarah

Sarah Seniuk

Sarah Seniuk serves as the Advocacy and Communications Manager for Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), a nonprofit coalition advocating with and for the needs of refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons and all other forcibly displaced populations. She leads RCUSA’s anti-racism work and #RestoringWelcome campaign which aims to hold the Biden administration accountable to center the diversity of our community needs in rebuilding the US systems of humanitarian protection. She has a MA from American University in Ethics, Peace, and Human Rights with a focus on social justice. 

Mohamed, Adamou

Adamou Mohamed

Adamou Mohamed is the Refugee Community Organizing Coordinator with the Immigration and Refugee Program at Church World Service. Adamou leads a team of Refugee Community Organizers in six states engaging refugees leadership development, community organizing, and civic engagement capacity trainings. He coordinates refugee and immigrant advocacy efforts in key states lifting refugee voices, stories, and promoting the welcome of refugees and immigrants.  Adamou is also an executive member of the Opportunity for All campaign. He previously served as the Detention and Deportation Pipeline Interruption Fellow at the AFSC of the Carolinas. Adamou holds an MA in International Studies from NC State University, Raleigh, NC.

Krumroy, Jordyne

Jordyne Krumroy

Jordyne Krumroy is the Regional Manager at Welcoming America where she helps members in the South foster more equitable policies and programs. She is passionate about regional collaboration and notably led the One Region pilot in metro Atlanta. Prior to Welcoming America, she worked in transportation equity, homelessness, and youth programming. Jordyne holds a B.A. in Sociology and Spanish from Appalachian State University and a Master of Social Work from Georgia State University. She now lives in Raleigh, NC where she serves on the Hispanic & Immigrant Affairs Board for the City of Raleigh.

Chinn, Susan

Susan Chinn

Susan Chinn has devoted her career to organizing, leadership development, civil rights and fundraising.  She currently works with UNITE HERE, the union of hospitality workers, and focuses on advancing power and policies for its 300,000 members. Previously she was the Campaign Manager of the Alliance for Citizenship, a national coalition formed in 2013 to win immigration reform and citizenship, the Training Director at the New Organizing Institute, and the Director of Leadership Development at the Center for Community Change. Before joining CCC, she worked in the field of philanthropy for sixteen years, primarily as the Executive Director of the Discount Foundation, a small private foundation that focused on alleviating poverty by supporting exemplary programs to improve job opportunities for low-income people. 

Beattie, Ellen

Ellen Beattie

Ellen Beattie is Senior Director, Program Quality & Innovation with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Resettlement, Asylum and Integration department where she oversees a portfolio of innovative program and services aimed at promoting the social and economic integration of refugees, immigrants and migrants and across 26 US cities and Europe. In this role, Ellen works with a team of technical experts to develop effective, evidence-based program models that help integrate refugees and immigrants into the US workforce, foster financial inclusion and economic stability, ensure food security, health & wellness and promote civic engagement and citizenship. Ellen has extensive experience in international and community development with international organizations including United Nations Development Program, German Agency for International Development and Heifer International.

Andersen, Rev. Noel

Rev. Noel Andersen

Rev. Noel Andersen is the Director of Grassroots Organizing for Church World Service where he has developed a national network of faith communities taking action in solidarity with immigrants and refugees. He has worked for a number of non-profit organizations in Central America and on the U.S.- Mexico border focusing on community development, education and community organizing. He was instrumental in creating a Refugee Leadership Development for Social Change project at CWS helping over a thousand refugees in community organizing and building sustainable teams of refugee leaders throughout the country.

Wang, Jennifer

Jennifer Wang

Jennifer Wang is the Deputy Director of Programs at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), where she oversees the policy, legal, and communications teams and is responsible for guiding, implementing, and evaluating the organization's programmatic strategies. Jennifer has a decade of experience in government relations with particular expertise in building relationships to move federal bills, growing coalitions and managing across teams to achieve campaign wins, and improving regulations. Prior to joining NAPAWF, Jennifer has held senior roles at The Institute for College Access & Success and Young Invincible. Jennifer was born and raised in Los Angeles and is the proud daughter of immigrants from Taiwan. She holds dual degrees in psychology and gender studies from UCLA and a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law.

Vimo, Jackie

Jackie Vimo

Jackie Vimo oversees the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) Economic Justice Program, leading on issues including hunger and food insecurity, housing, and tax policy. Jackie also oversees the organization’s covid-19 relief provisions, working with members of Congress to ensure the second and third federal COVID relief packages are more inclusive of immigrant families. Jackie has worked for over 20 years on immigrant and workers’ rights, health care, LGBTQ issues, HIV/AIDS, anti-racism, and anti-poverty policy in New York, California, and Argentina, where Jackie’s family is from and still lives. Jackie was the Director of Advocacy at the New York Immigration Coalition and co-founded the state’s driver’s licenses for all and state DREAM Act campaigns.

Valdez, Craig

Craig Valdez

Craig Valdez has always had an organic interest in public policy and serving his community. He is the proud son of Filipino immigrants who instilled in him the virtues of hard work, patience, and determination. As a former student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), one of the most ethnically diverse universities in the nation, Craig saw the power and potential of underrepresented groups firsthand – prompting him to advocate for students living on-campus. Today, Craig is responsible for recruiting New Americans to run for office, assisting in regional training planning, and supporting NAL's network of alumni.

Phillippi, Karen

Karen Phillippi

Karen Phillippi is the Director of New American Integration with the Office of Global Michigan. She has been working in the field of immigration law and immigrant/refugee integration for 29 years. Karen began her career by serving as the Immigration and State Department Specialist for US Senator Don Riegle. She then worked in various law firms for 20 years developing and managing employment-based immigration practices, before joining the State of Michigan. Karen is passionate about immigration and immigrant/refugee integration. She is very active in promoting the cultural and economic benefits that immigrants and refugees have on communities and making Michigan a more immigrant-friendly state.

Partolan, Raymond

Raymond Partolan

Raymond Partolan is the National Field Director at APIA Vote. For almost a decade, he has been an advocate for immigrant and refugee communities. Raymond has spent his entire life living in the Deep South. Raymond is a coalition-builder and played a key role in the establishment of the Georgia Immigrant Alliance for Civic Empowerment. Raymond was named one of the 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia in 2018 and 2019. An avid musician, he won three Grammy Awards in 2019 for his work on the highly-acclaimed jazz album, American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom. Raymond graduated summa cum laude from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. He is trilingual in English, Spanish, and Tagalog.

Owen, Meredith

Meredith Owen

Meredith Owen serves as Director of Policy and Advocacy for Church World Service, Immigration and Refugee Program, where she advocates to strengthen immigrant and refugee rights in the United States and overseas. Meredith previously served as Policy Associate for the Alliance to End Slavery & Trafficking (ATEST). She also worked for Human Rights USA, where she engaged in civil litigation on behalf of survivors of human trafficking and gross human rights abuses in order to obtain redress for victims, to hold perpetrators accountable, and as a mechanism for social change. Meredith received her law degree from Washington College of Law and her master’s in International Affairs from the School of International Service at American University. Meredith is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bars.

Morales, Apolonio "Polo"

Apolonio "Polo" Morales

Apolonio "Polo" Morales serves the immigrant community as the Director of External Affairs at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. He is a former labor organizer for the California Nurses Association/United Steelworkers’ Healthcare Workers Alliance. Polo also worked for the PICO National Network’s affiliates L.A. Voice and Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization (CCISCO). Then as Director for Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action (BOCA), and lastly as the National Immigration Lead Organizer for the PICO National Network’s (now Faith in Action) Campaign for Citizenship. Polo attended the University of California, Berkeley.

Kay, Vina

Vina Kay

Vina Kay leads the Movement Capacity Building team at Race Forward which supports, strengthens, and expands grassroots movements for racial justice and increases the capacity of grassroots organizations to engage in transformative organizing for change. Movement Capacity Building provides trainings, webinars, convenings and network building, organizing and policy tools, and other programmatic activities to the broad racial justice community. Prior to joining Race Forward, Vina served as Executive Director of Voices for Racial Justice in Minneapolis. In addition, she is a filmmaker, writer, and proud mother of two sons.

Kantner, Mo

Mo Kantner

Mo Kantner oversees the State and Local team’s work across nearly 100 communities and 30 states as Director of State & Local Initiatives at New American Economy (NAE). She has over 10 years of experience working on local economic and workforce development initiatives. Prior to joining NAE, Mo oversaw workforce services for targeted populations, like the foreign-born, military veterans, and young adults without high school diplomas, for the City of New York. Prior to New York, she worked in the City of San Diego, where she oversaw initiatives aimed at growing and fostering fledgling industries in the border region. She has an MPA in Public and Nonprofit Management from New York University, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego.

Jameel Le Brusq, Sara

Sara Jameel Le Brusq

Sara Jameel Le Brusq serves as the interim president of New American Leaders and NAL Action fund. An appreciation for the opportunities America had afforded her Syrian and Irish grandparents, who resettled in New York, was strongly reflected in her upbringing, and has inspired her work in strengthening an inclusive democracy. Previously Sara served as Vice President for Latino Victory Project, an organization that works to advance Latino civic engagement and help elect progressive Latino leaders to office. Prior to that, Sara worked in the Democratic Participation and Governance division at the Ford Foundation. Sara completed her M.S. in Global Affairs at New York University while working in the office of philanthropist and global financier George Soros, and Executive Program for Nonprofit Management at Georgetown University.

Huerta, Alvaro M.

Alvaro M. Huerta

Alvaro M. Huerta works to defend and advance the rights of low-income immigrants and their family members through litigation, advocacy, and community education. His practice includes impact litigation on due process, equal protection and civil rights, and challenging anti-immigrant federal and state legislation and administrative actions. He also helps state and local advocates ensure that immigrants and their families can obtain access to health care, housing, and economic support. He is committed to racial justice and lawyering from a movement-building perspective. He is the proud son and grandson of immigrants from México.

Gyamfi, Nana

Nana Gyamfi

Nana Gyamfi is the Executive Director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), the largest Black-led social justice organization representing the nearly 10 million Black immigrants, refugees, and families living in the U.S. Nana is co-founder of Justice Warriors 4 Black Lives and Human Rights Advocacy. She is the current President of the National Conference of Black Lawyers, and a member of the Movement for Black Lives Policy Table. Nana is a former professor at California State University Los Angeles, and has long been sought after for legal and political insight into issues affecting Black communities. She has appeared in documentaries and other media, including Tales of the Grim Sleeper and Democracy Now! With Amy Goodman.