Speakers and Sessions
PDF of the Conference Program, Speakers Bios, and Session Descriptions
Workshop, Panel, and Plenary Session Descriptions
Workshops
Workshop Group 1: Healthcare, Social Services, and Mental Health
Join us for a timely and vital workshop bringing together disability rights and immigration attorneys and advocates to explore the intersection of federal policy, healthcare, mental healthcare, and social service delivery. As national conversations around access, equity, and eligibility continue to shift in today’s complex political and policy landscape, this session will examine how federal laws, regulations, and funding priorities are shaping the experiences of disabled and immigrant communities. Participants will discuss current challenges in accessing services, including barriers rooted in systemic ableism, xenophobia, and the erosion of public benefits, while also highlighting advocacy strategies that center dignity, intersectionality, and community empowerment. Together, we’ll unpack how legal and policy tools can be leveraged to protect rights, advance inclusive service models, and support cross-movement collaboration. Whether you’re working on the front lines or in policy development, this workshop will explore critical insights and practical approaches for navigating and challenging the systems that impact our clients and communities.
Workshop Group 2: Education, DACA, Childhood, and Family Separation
This workshop brings together disability rights and immigration attorneys and advocates to examine the intersection of education, DACA, childhood, and family separation within the current federal policy and political climate. As shifting priorities and enforcement practices impact access to education and stability for immigrant and disabled youth, we will explore how policies—from school discipline and special education to immigration enforcement and DACA eligibility—shape the lived experiences of children and families. Participants will engage in dialogue around the legal, developmental, and social implications of ongoing family separation, the exclusion of undocumented and disabled students from key educational supports, and the ways in which advocacy can center healing, inclusion, and justice. Through a cross-disciplinary lens, we’ll identify opportunities for collaboration and resistance, highlighting strategies that protect rights, challenge discriminatory practices, and promote systems that affirm the dignity and potential of every child, regardless of status or ability.
Workshop Group 3: Employment, Housing, and Economic Challenges
This workshop convenes disability rights and immigration attorneys and advocates to examine the critical intersections of employment, housing, and economic justice in today’s shifting political and policy environment. As federal priorities evolve, immigrant and disabled communities continue to face systemic barriers to stable housing, fair employment, and economic security. Participants will explore how exclusionary policies, discriminatory practices, and gaps in enforcement disproportionately impact individuals at the margins—particularly those navigating multiple forms of oppression. We will discuss current legal frameworks and service delivery models, as well as innovative advocacy strategies that challenge ableism, xenophobia, and economic disenfranchisement. From wage theft and inaccessible workplaces to housing insecurity and benefits eligibility, this session will provide a cross-sector analysis of how policy decisions shape lived realities—and how advocates can work together to build more inclusive, equitable systems.
Workshop Group 4: Refugees, Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and Convention Against Torture
This workshop brings together disability rights and immigration attorneys and advocates to explore the complex legal and humanitarian landscape surrounding refugees, asylum seekers, withholding of removal, and protections under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). As federal policies and adjudication trends grow increasingly restrictive, individuals fleeing violence, persecution, and inhumane conditions face mounting obstacles to safety and protection. Participants will examine how asylum law intersects with disability, trauma, and systemic barriers, including access to legal representation, medical evaluations, and supportive services. We will discuss emerging challenges in asylum adjudications, limitations on CAT protections, and the implications of recent administrative and judicial decisions. Through an interdisciplinary lens, this session will highlight strategies to advocate for more humane, trauma-informed, and disability-inclusive approaches to relief, while centering the resilience and rights of those most impacted. Whether working on individual cases or broader policy reform, attendees will leave with practical tools and shared insights to support those seeking refuge and dignity in the face of escalating adversity.
Workshop Group 5: Community, Public Discourse, Self-Advocacy, and Coalitions
This workshop brings together disability rights and immigration attorneys and advocates to explore the power of building community, shaping public discourse, fostering self-advocacy, and strengthening coalitions. In an era marked by political polarization and attacks on marginalized communities, the need for unified, intersectional movements has never been more urgent. Participants will examine how storytelling, community organizing, and public education can challenge dominant narratives, uplift lived experience, and shift policy conversations toward equity and justice. We will explore how self-advocates, directly impacted individuals, and allies can work together to dismantle ableism, xenophobia, and systemic exclusion—while building movements rooted in care, solidarity, and mutual support. The session will highlight successful coalition-building efforts and provide tools for sustaining cross-movement collaboration that centers dignity, accessibility, and shared power.
Plenary Sessions Day 1
The Rights of Disabled Migrants in US Deportation Proceedings and Reintegration in Mexico César Rodriguez and Helena Marissa Montes
The purpose of this binational and bilingual plenary session is to inform the public as to the rights of disabled migrants in US deportation proceedings and how to prepare themselves for reintegration in home country, with a particular lens on Mexico. Given the current attacks by the Trump administration, it is important that all migrant communities prepare themselves in the event of facing deportation at the hands of the government or opting to self-return. The first part of this presentation will explain the US deportation process and the health rights of deportees, while the second portion will focus on the rights of disabled deportees in refugees when integrating into Mexico.
Intersections Behind-the-Scenes: A Fireside Chat on Cinema, Accessibility, and Solidarity Set Hernandez and Qudsiya Naqui
To our knowledge, the award-winning documentary, UNSEEN, is one of the first films in cinema history to be led by an intersectional team of disabled, queer/trans, and undocumented artists – communities that are often overlooked as primary creators in the cultural sector. In this intimate conversation between friends and collaborators, the film’s director and impact producer will provide an insider’s look into their values-driven process from film production to distribution, leveraging cinema as a meaningful tool for social impact and movement building. With today’s political climate as the backdrop, Set and Qudsiya will explore allyship, ways to expand our circles of solidarity, and the stake we all have in each others’ liberation.
Panels Day 1
Panel #1: When Cinema Prioritizes Disabled and Undocumented Audiences: Learnings from Groundbreaking Research Qudsiya Naqui, David Conrad Perez, Set Hernandez
This discussion features learnings around the film UNSEEN, as it interweaves disability, immigration, healing, and narrative change. Foregrounded by the film’s social impact campaign, the panel serves as the launch of an independent audience study conducted by the Center for Media and Social Impact. Centering audiences with disabilities and undocumented audiences, the study involved an unprecedented survey of more than 350 audience members who attended a screening of the film UNSEEN in communities across the country, and in-depth interviews with 12 partners who screened the film. The panel will include a presentation of the learnings from both impact initiatives, and a discussion around the unique influence and importance of films like UNSEEN for/to a range of diverse audiences and issues today.
Panel #2: Disability Rights and Immigration Detention: Fighting for Rights, Not Favors Katharine Gordon, Laura Murchie, and Cynthia Rice
The purpose of this panel is to discuss some of the particular ways that disability discrimination impacts individuals who are in immigration detention. We will focus on: 1. Voice/Video of formerly detained person. 2. Procedural protections and their extreme limitations in immigration court—including litigation under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, for individuals with disabilities that impact their ability to represent themselves in immigration court (Amica Center). 3. Disability discrimination in immigration detention, including widespread abuses in immigration detention regarding conditions and lack of access to appropriate treatment, and punitive use of solitary confinement. We will also cover applicable standards, policies, guidance that applies in immigration detention, for advocacy purposes (Disability Law United). 4. How the disability rights community can fight back! (Amica Center and DLU)
Panel #3: Broadening the discussion about disabled immigrants’ needs in the face of climate change Susan Popkin, Nina Russell, Dulce Gonzalez, Paola Echave, Moderator: Alexa Kort
Environmental disasters are increasingly severe and frequent with accelerating climate change, leading to billions of dollars in damage to communities and adverse physical and mental health impacts to community members. Disabled immigrants face unique barriers that could make dealing with disasters difficult. For instance, disaster planning, response, and recovery efforts seldom take into account disabled people or immigrants’ unique needs, such as access to disaster information in multiple languages, need for accessible temporary housing, and limited resources to recover from disasters. Because of the disproportionate and likely compounded risk of exposure to and adverse impacts from environmental disasters, it is imperative to discuss how we can better incorporate the needs of disabled immigrants in disaster planning, response, and recovery. This panel seeks to bring together experts in immigration and disability to identify and discuss the unique needs and barriers that immigrants with disabilities face before, during, and after environmental disasters.
Panel #4: Immigration Policy and Service Delivery of People with Disabilities in Mixed Status Families Judy Mark, Marianna Guerrero, Miguel Lugo, Elizabeth Espinoza
Immigrants have always been underserved by disability systems because of racism, the low number of service providers who speak languages other than English, and the lack of cultural competency and humility by those working in the systems. But with the recent federal threats to immigrants, disabled people in mixed status families may not be accessing services they are entitled to because of fear. This panel will discuss how California’s policies to provide services and healthcare to all residents, regardless of status, is a major focus of Congressional budget cuts. You will also hear how immigrants with disabilities and their families are coping in this difficult environment and how the State of California is responding. This panel features representatives from Disability Voices United, a California-based disability justice organization led by people with disabilities.
Plenary Sessions Day 2
Individualized fear of persecution: segregation and abuse faced by people with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities deported to Mexico and other countries Eric Rosenthal
Throughout the world, people with disabilities are segregated from society and subjected to torture and life-threatening conditions in psychiatric institutions, social care facilities, and other detention centers. Children are particularly at risk of being placed in orphanages and adult facilities when they are unaccompanied or separated from parents. Based on DRI’s global findings, DRI regularly provides country conditions expertise to immigration and asylum attorneys protecting people with disabilities facing deportation from the United States. With the expansion of US deportations, DRI is documenting the impact of the deportation of people with disabilities to Mexico, Central, and South America. Rosenthal’s keynote will describe opportunities for increased collaboration between international human rights activists, immigration attorneys, and disability groups working to influence US immigration policy.
“Hablando de Corazon a Corazon” (“Speaking Heart to Heart”) Blanca Angulo, Jose Luis Jimenez, Jose Luis Hernandez, Gina Carmona
Founders of "Inmigrantes con Discapacidades" ("Immigrants with Disabilities"), a grassroots coalition of disabled immigrants that formed in 2018 to share their stories, develop community, and advocate for resources and policies affecting immigrants with disabilities in Los Angeles. Their plenary session will feature a discussion on the formation of their coalition and individual stories of four of their founders.
Panels Day 2
Panel #1: Creating Work Equity in Illinois: Alliances Between People with Disabilities and Immigrant/Refugee Communities Rooshey Hasnain, EdD, MA, Francisco Alvarado, MD, MS, Mr. Tedros Markos Tekle, MA, Nana Ahmed, MA, John S. Herring, BS
The US working-age population has become increasingly diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, language, socioeconomic background, immigration status and disability. Among them, job seeking immigrants and refugees with disabilities represent a large and often underserved segment. This panel presentation will highlight innovative systems-level changes and capacity-building initiatives in Illinois that have expanded access to employment services and improved job outcomes for immigrants and refugees with disabilities. The panelists represent organizations in a 16-year strategic partnership, uniting universities, community groups, state agencies, and self-advocates—to develop practical, research-informed strategies that advance disability employment. The work of this alliance focuses on: (1) identifying and addressing systemic barriers to employment services and resources; (2) creating culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach methods; and (3) strengthening referral pathways and multisector collaborations to advance workforce equity. The goal is to inform and equip other states to adopt models of inclusive service delivery and workforce development. This session will offer insights from panelists representing five sectors involved in this long-standing partnership: higher education, vocational rehabilitation, state workforce systems, independent living centers, and grassroots community-based organizations. The panel will share practical lessons and replicable models for bridging service and opportunity gaps for underserved/unserved job seekers, particularly immigrants and refugees with disabilities. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for building inclusive and equitable workforce systems that reflect the intersectionality of disability and immigration.
Panel #2: Advocating for the Educational Access of Immigrant Youth: how to request Special Education and 504 Plan services Vivian Wong, Stacy Nuñez, Cindy Galvan
Young people who migrate to the U.S. may have a difficult time in school due to several factors. One factor that is commonly discussed, and school districts may try to address, is the language barrier. If a student has never learned English, or has minimal English Language proficiency, it may be difficult to meaningfully engage with the curriculum and their peers. But what if a student still struggles, despite being provided with some level of language access? Immigrant youth may have experienced a high level of trauma before arriving in the U.S., and though it may not always be apparent on the surface, this trauma can still impact a student's access to their education. We will go through examples of what service providers can look out for and how to advocate for a student to receive accommodations in the school setting if you suspect they may have a disability-related need.
Panel #3: Immigration Detention in California: The California Department of Justice’s Comprehensive Review with a Focus on Mental Health Kelly Burns and Deylin Thrift-Viveros
Kelly Burns and Deylin Thrift-Viveros present the findings from the April 2025 report of the California Department of Justice (Cal DOJ) on conditions in immigration detention facilities. Cal DOJ conducts periodic reviews of all six privately-operated detention facilities located in California, pursuant to AB 103, which authorizes review of conditions of confinement, the standard of care, and due process afforded to detained people. The 2025 report presented a comprehensive review and included a deeper focus on mental health care in the facilities, the impact of detention on mental health, and the ways that having a mental health diagnosis impacts the experience of detention.
Panel #4: Children with Disabilities in the Immigration Legal System Anne Kelsey, Jennifer Matthis, Jose Ortiz-Rosales, Diane de Gramont, and Madeline (“Maddie”) Riley
Immigrant children who arrive to the U.S. alone, or who have been separated from loved ones, are deemed “unaccompanied” by the U.S. government, and held in facilities throughout the country. Panelists will discuss the challenges unaccompanied children with disabilities face in government custody, the legal framework that protects them, and ways that advocates are working to improve outcomes for children in individual cases, impact litigation such as the Lucas R case settlement, and through policy change. This panel will also discuss challenges faced by unaccompanied children with disabilities after they are released from custody, including in the education system, during immigration legal proceedings, and harm from current immigration enforcement efforts.
Panel #5: Immigration, Spirituality, and Identity Bob Hurteau, Marisol Gaytán Escobar, Sr. Trish Doan, C.S.J., and Katherine Perez
Bob Hurteau and Marisol Gaytán Escobar will present: “The God We See, the Self We Become: How our image of God shapes our identity, healing, and sense of belonging”. Description: Disabled immigrants face unique challenges in a world that often overlooks or misrepresents their embodied realities. This presentation explores how distorted self-identity—especially the belief of being “less than”—often stems from a distorted image of God. How do individuals make sense of their place when their lived realities are excluded? How might God’s love serve as a source of restoration? How does spiritual accompaniment support integrating immigration, disability, and dignity? Attendees will learn about continuing education programs for non-traditional learners featuring spiritual practices grounded in attentiveness, inviting participants to reimagine their relationship with God and their worthiness. These practices open space for healing, restoring identity through divine compassion. Attendees will leave with resources to better accompany those they serve as deeply seen, known, and loved by God.
Sr. Trish Doan, C.S.J. and Katherine Perez will present: “Disability Rights Organizational Partnerships with Church Leaders and Community”. Description: Disability and immigrant rights organizations tend to prioritize secular progressive strategies in their work. This presentation explores how progressive disability and immigration rights work has common ground with faith traditions, and how developing partnerships with faith leaders and religious communities has helped expand disability and immigrant rights organizations social justice reach.
Panel #6: Invisible Wounds: Uplifting the Voices of Unaccompanied Minors and People with Disabilities in Immigration Detention Richard Diaz and Vanessa Ramos
Join us as we highlight the urgent need for trauma-informed care, oversight, and a cost-attainable pathway to immigration. This presentation honors the lives of the children we met during our monitoring visit, as well as all those lost during the migration journey. Presented by Disability Rights California, the state’s Protection and Advocacy agency, this session uncovers the hidden traumas faced by unaccompanied minors and people with disabilities in U.S. immigration detention. Drawing from federal investigations, Department of Justice lawsuits, Disability Rights California’s monitoring of sites holding unaccompanied minors, the 2019 report on the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, and our most recent monitoring, we reveal patterns of abuse, neglect, and systemic failure. Together, we can protect and uplift the most vulnerable children and adults in the immigration system.
Speakers’ Bios
Alphabetized by last name
Nana Ahmed, MA
Ms. Nana Ahmed is a visionary humanitarian and transformative leader whose work has reshaped how the world sees and supports refugees. As the Founder and CEO of Agents of Hope, she has dedicated decades to creating innovative, dignified, and sustainable solutions that empower displaced communities to rebuild their lives. With a master’s in human resources development from Northeastern Illinois University, Ms. Ahmed combines deep academic insight with on-the-ground compassion, driving systemic change in refugee resettlement worldwide. At the heart of her groundbreaking work is the Refugee Exit Plan (REP), a bold copyrighted and patent pending initiative that has helped hundreds of refugees transition out of welfare systems and into meaningful employment and self-sufficiency. As part of this initiative, Ms. Ahmed launched REPjobs.org, the first refugee-centered job board in the world, designed to eliminate the traditional barriers that prevent refugees from entering the workforce. Her philosophy is rooted in a simple yet powerful belief: refugees are not a crisis to be managed, but potential to be realized. Her work with Agents of Hope continues to challenge outdated paradigms and inspires governments, organizations, and communities to reimagine refugee resettlement as a process driven by possibility, dignity, and empowerment. A compassionate changemaker and relentless innovator, Ms. Ahmed is building a future where refugees are seen, supported, and celebrated as valuable contributors to society—and where hope is not a distant dream, but a shared reality.
Francisco Alvarado, MD, MS, Coordinator, Illinois Hispanic Employment, Department of Central Management Services
Francisco Alvarado an experienced senior administrator in the public sector, is the coordinator of the Illinois Hispanic Employment plan within the state’s Department of Central Management Services. His dedication to both advancing diversity and fostering an environment that is welcoming, encouraging, and cooperative for all individuals and cultures motivates his work. Previously, Dr. Alvarado was the IDHS/Division of Vocational Rehabilitation's Assistant Director and Administrator of Operations. Over the course of his 32 years in the state, he has effectively created community-based programs and initiatives that foster cooperative community-based efforts to enhance educational and employment outcomes and elevate standards for all individuals with disabilities, their families, and communities. Dr. Alvarado has a Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and a Doctorate from the University Autonomous of Guadalajara School of Medicine. He grew up in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen—Little Village.
Blanca Angulo, Leader, Inmigrantes con Disacapacidades (Immigrants with Disabilities)
Blanca Angulo is a founding member of the Immigrants with Disabilities, a coalitional group of immigrants with disabilities that formed in 2018 in Los Angeles that meets biweekly to create community, share stories, and advocate for resources and policies.
Kelly Burns (she/her), Deputy Attorney General, Civil Rights Enforcement Section, California Department of Justice
Kelly Burns is a Deputy Attorney General at the California Department of Justice in the Civil Rights Enforcement Section in Oakland, where she leads the Immigration Detention Facilities Review project and serves on other immigration and disability rights matters. She is also a licensed psychologist and worked for several years as a therapist and clinical supervisor at Richmond Area Multi Services, a San Francisco clinic specializing in providing care for immigrants living with serious mental health conditions. Dr. Burns also has experience representing parents with disabilities in dependency court cases and providing psychotherapy in community mental health and substance abuse treatment settings.
Gina Carmona, Member, Inmigrantes con Disacapacidades (Immigrants with Disabilities)
Gina Carmona is a founding member of the Immigrants with Disabilities, a coalitional group of immigrants with disabilities that formed in 2018 in Los Angeles that meets biweekly to create community, share stories, and advocate for resources and policies.
David Conrad-Pérez (he/him), Research Director, Center for Media and Social Impact, American University
David Conrad-Pérez is research director at the Center for Media & Social Impact at American University. His work focuses on the intersection of journalism, social justice, community organizing, and media history. Before joining CMSI, he worked as a producer for WNYC’s On the Media and he has reported stories for news outlets that include the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Reuters, San Francisco Chronicle, and PRI’s The World. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication (2018), with a critical focus on the history and influence of charity and philanthropy in the field of journalism. His research has appeared in several of the country’s leading academic journals on the media, and he has served as an invited judge for the Peabody Awards, in the documentary category, since 2018.
Diane de Gramont, Senior Attorney, Immigration & Legal Advocacy, National Center for Youth Law
Diane is an attorney at the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL). Her work focuses on class action litigation on behalf of children in federal immigration detention, with a focus on the rights of children with disabilities. Diane monitors and enforces the nationwide class action settlements in Flores and Lucas R., including the Lucas R. Sec. 504 settlement agreement governing the treatment of children with disabilities in Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) custody. She also represents plaintiffs in Angelica S. v. HHS, a recently filed case challenging new obstacles to release for children in ORR custody. Before joining NCYL, Diane served as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Eastern District of Louisiana. She received her law degree from Yale Law School, a master’s degree in comparative politics from Oxford University, and a bachelor's from Harvard College.
Richard Diaz, Senior Attorney, Investigations Unit, Disability Rights California
Richard Diaz is a Senior Attorney in the Investigations Unit at Disability Rights California. Richard primarily investigates issues at the intersection of immigration and disability in facilities across California.
Sr. Trish Doan, CSJ (she/her), Assistant Director, The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy and Innovation
Sister Trish T. Doan, CSJ, is a passionate advocate committed to social justice, disability inclusion, and systemic change. She currently serves as the Assistant Director at The Coelho Center, where her research explores the intersection of religion, immigration, and disability. In this role, she advocates for the development of faith communities that are both inclusive and responsive to the needs of people with disabilities. As a vowed member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, Sister Trish is dedicated to promoting equity and inclusion, especially among marginalized communities, including people with disabilities, immigrants, and refugees. She previously worked with Catholic Charities of Orange County, supporting outreach initiatives and fostering partnerships with religious leaders to address pressing social service needs. Before entering religious life, Sister Trish spent a decade working as an Immigration Services Officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). In this role, she conducted family-based and employment-based adjustment of status interviews and mentored new officers. She was also assigned to work on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) cases, adjudicating unaccompanied minors seeking legal protection due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment. During her work on SIJS cases, Sister Trish realized that she herself had entered the United States as an unaccompanied minor refugee, arriving with her older brother, who was two years older. This personal connection deepened her commitment to ensuring that vulnerable children navigating the immigration system are treated with dignity, compassion, and justice.
Paola Echave (she/her), Senior Research Associate, Urban Institute
Paola Echave’s areas of expertise include immigration and health in the U.S. and international contexts. Her research focuses on population health, demography, life course perspectives, health disparities, trauma, and race/ethnicity. She has extensive training in quantitative and qualitative methods, data collection and survey design in multiple languages, and experience with development and analysis of large-scale social science and demographic surveys. She has served as a technical expert for various demographic and international projects in Central America and Sub-Saharan Africa and is leading research initiatives on health and economic well-being of immigrants and refugees with disabilities at the Urban Institute. She has been the project manager and lead analyst of the Annual Survey of Refugees and a study on preventing labor trafficking in Mexico since 2021 and 2023, respectively.
Elizabeth Espinosa, TV journalist and advocate
Elizabeth Espinosa is the sister and caregiver of her brother with autism. She is also the daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico and El Salvador. Elizabeth is an Emmy award winning TV journalist who spent nearly 2 decades in Los Angeles covering the biggest news stories including immigration reform efforts for both English and Spanish broadcast media outlets.
Marisol Gaytán Escobar, M.A., Professor at the Center for Religion and Spirituality, Loyola Marymount University
Marisol Gaytán Escobar is a spiritual director, workshop facilitator, instructor, speaker, and pastoral theologian with over 25 years of experience. She accompanies adult Catholics in deepening their relationship with God through faith, music, and spiritual practices rooted in lived experience. Marisol has collaborated with faith communities in various capacities—both publicly and behind the scenes—throughout the Los Angeles area. Her work has included televised liturgies, evangelization events, retreats, workshops, and ongoing formation for youth and adults. She also offers confidential spiritual direction, providing compassionate guidance and sacred space for personal growth. Marisol ministry reflects a deep commitment to holistic spiritual formation, grounded in Catholic tradition and attuned to the unique journey of each individual.
Katharine Gordan, Staff Attorney, Capital Area Immigrant Rights (CAIR) Coalition
Katherine Gordon is a staff attorney with the Immigrant Children’s Protection Project at NIJC’s Indianapolis office. Prior to joining NIJC, Katherine practiced employment law at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in Indianapolis, where she worked with NIJC and The Advocates for Human Rights on a variety of pro bono immigration cases. Katherine graduated from the University of Michigan Law School, where she participated in the Child Advocacy Law Clinic, Human Trafficking Clinic, and the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). Before law school, Katherine completed a service year with Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest/AmeriCorps and then worked in case management at a Kansas City refugee resettlement agency. She earned her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame. Katherine is licensed to practice law in Indiana.
Dulce Gonzalez (she/her), Senior Research Associate, Urban Institute
Dulce Gonzalez is a senior research associate in the Health Policy Division at the Urban Institute. Gonzalez is a health equity researcher focusing on immigration, disability, and barriers to health care access. Her work has also focused on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on nonelderly adults and their families and climate-related risks to workers and disabled people.
Rooshey Hasnain, EdD, MA, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago
Rooshey Hasnain is a clinical associate professor and community-engaged researcher with the Department of Disability and Human Development, the Institute on Disability and Human Development, and the Undergraduate Rehabilitation Sciences Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She also serves as an Honors College Faculty Fellow, a LEND faculty mentor to graduate and postgraduate disability trainees, and the capstone coordinator for UIC’s undergraduate Service-Learning Program. In addition to her work at UIC, for more than twenty years she has been affiliated with the Association of University Centers for Excellence in Developmental and Related Disabilities (UCEDD) in Oregon, Massachusetts, and Chicago. She is the principal investigator and a co-investigator on several grant-funded disability projects that seek to address economic security, educational gaps, cultural stigmas, and quality of life for individuals and families from ethnically, racially, and linguistically diverse minority groups, especially immigrants and refugees. She serves on numerous boards and committees and has also presented and published extensively on disability on work equity initiatives. In all of these roles, Dr. Hasnain is recognized for developing and implementing grants that have garnered state-level recognition, especially around vocational rehabilitation and disability employment. She received the AHS Humanitarian of the Year award in 2018, and the Educator of the Year award in 2024, and the Teaching Recognition Program award in 2025.
Cindy Galvan (she/her), Social Worker, Youth Justice Education Clinic (YJEC) at the Center for Juvenile Law and Policy
At YJEC, Cindy has the opportunity to support historically underserved youth by addressing the gaps found in the education, dependency, and juvenile justice systems. In this role, she empowers youth, their families, and their communities to realize their full autonomy by providing them holistic and inclusive resources and tools to address the systemic issues that disproportionately affect People of Color. Previously, Cindy was a school social worker in St. Louis, Missouri, where she worked with youth to address the social and financial inequalities within the education system. Cindy's areas of interest include restorative justice, alternatives to incarceration, dismantling the school to prison pipeline, facilitating pathways to higher education, and youth empowerment. Cindy received a Master’s degree in Social Work from George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology, Law, and Society from the University of California, Irvine.
Marianna Guerrero, Integradora, Integrated Community Collaborative
Marianna Guerrero is an Integradora at Integrated Community Collaborative, an organization that supports Latino and Spanish-speaking families with children with developmental disabilities navigate the various service systems, including the Self-Determination Program. Marianna’s work is rooted in lived experience as a sibling and caregiver to people with disabilities, ensuring culturally responsive and hands-on support for underserved communities.
Brian Guitierrez, Project Manager, Outreach and Leadership Training, Disability Voices United
Brian actively participates in several influential disability advisory committees at both the national and state levels including the Community Advisory Board for the Disability Justice Center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Brian’s commitment to advocacy is deeply personal, as he draws from his own experiences living with Spina Bifida and as the son of Mexican immigrants.
John S. Herring, BS, Advocate, Centers for Independent Living in the State of Illinois
John S. Herring, Sr. is a native of Danville, Illinois. During his 20-plus years in administration he has been an advocate for teens, adults, families, and unhoused male veterans. Presently he leads the Centers for Independent Living in the State of Illinois, where he assists individuals on their journeys to equity, equality, and maximum independence in work, school, housing, transportation and health care. His goal is to make Illinois a Best Practice State for Centers for Independent Living. John is also a community activist and Pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He is married to Patricia; they have three children and five grandchildren.
Jose Luis Hernandez, Member, Inmigrantes con Disacapacidades (Immigrants with Disabilities)
Jose Luis Hernandez is a founding member of the Immigrants with Disabilities, a coalitional group of immigrants with disabilities that formed in 2018 in Los Angeles that meets biweekly to create community, share stories, and advocate for resources and policies.
Set Hernandez (they/she/he), Director/Producer, UNSEEN
Set Hernandez is a filmmaker, poet, and community organizer whose roots come from Bicol, Philippines. Unapologetically queer and undocumented, their filmmaking uplifts and complicates the stories of their communities onscreen. Winner of an Independent Spirit Award, Set’s feature documentary “unseen” (POV/PBS, PRX, 2024) is noted for its groundbreaking use of accessibility to center blind/disabled and undocumented audiences.
Bob Hurteau, Director, Center for Religion and Spirituality, Loyola Marymount University
Robert A. Hurteau, Ph.D. is director of the Center for Religion and Spirituality and a former missionary who has continued right on since with a multitude of service-oriented roles in pastoral and theological fields with a keen focus on diversity. Since becoming director in 2005, Dr. Hurteau has greatly expanded offerings in Hispanic theology and ministry, and worked in partnership with the Los Angeles African American Catholic Center for Evangelization to bring into existence a program in African American Ministry. He has been heavily involved in constructive dialogue between various religions and peoples, standing firmly in partnership with the Los Angeles Hindu-Catholic Dialogue, the Los Angeles Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue, and local initiatives for Jewish-Catholic relations.
Jose Luis Jimenez, Member, Inmigrantes con Disacapacidades (Immigrants with Disabilities)
Jose Luis Jimenez is a founding member of the Immigrants with Disabilities, a coalitional group of immigrants with disabilities that formed in 2018 in Los Angeles that meets biweekly to create community, share stories, and advocate for resources and policies.
Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Haitian Bridge Alliance
Guerline M. Jozef is a prominent human rights advocate and strategist, best known as the Founder and Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance—the only Black womynx-Haitian-American-led organization supporting migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, with a focus on people of African descent. She co-founded the Black Immigrants Bail Fund and the Cameroon Advocacy Network and created Tales from the Borderlands and Beyond. Recognized globally, Jozef was named one of POLITICO's most influential ppl on race and police in the U.S, the BBC’s 100 Women of 2024, WASHINGTONIANS' 500 People changing policies in the U.S. and has received numerous honors including the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and the AFL-CIO’s 2024 GMLK Human Rights Award. She has testified at the United Nations, U.S. Congress, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Featured in CNN, BCC, MSNBC, ABC, Forbes, The New York Times, Al Jazeera, Politico, the Griot, DemocracyNow and more. She is a powerful voice for racial, social justice, human rights and immigrants.
Anne Kelsey (she/her), Senior Policy Analyst for Disability Rights Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights
Anne Kelsey is currently working as a Disability Rights Policy Analyst at the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights. Prior to this, Anne held positions such as Adjunct Lecturer at CUNY School of Professional Studies, Staff Attorney at The Center for HIV Law and Policy, Supervising Attorney at Community Service Society of New York, and DRA Fellowship Attorney at Disability Rights Advocates. Anne is a Fordham University School of Law graduate with a J.D. degree and also holds a B.A. in History and Foreign Affairs (Latin American Concentration) from the University of Virginia.
Alexa Kort (she/her), Research Associate, Urban Institute
Alexa Kort is a mixed-methods researcher in the Housing and Communities Division at the Urban Institute. Her research interests center around health equity and racial justice. Her work at Urban has focused on affordable and public housing, place-based evaluations, and research to understand and address structural inequities in rural and urban communities. Before joining Urban, Kort was a research assistant with the Michigan Farmworker Project at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where she used community engaged methods to investigate the housing and working conditions of farmworkers in Michigan and their implications for farmworkers’ health. She also has experience studying the impacts of immigration detention for mixed-status families and has worked for community-based organizations providing direct services for refugees and farmworkers.
Miguel Lugo, Outreach Specialist, Disability Voices United
Miguel is an Outreach Specialist for Disabilities Voiced United. Miguel brings his lived experience as a person with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and the son of immigrants from Mexico. Miguel is also a well-known “sit down comedian” and has performed throughout California and parts of Mexico.
Judy Mark, President, Disability Voices United
Judy Mark is the President of Disability Voices United. Judy identifies as a person with disabilities and is the parent of a 28-year-old son with autism. Before Judy’s advocacy in the disability justice space, she worked for over 20 years for national immigrant rights organizations including the National Immigration Law Center and the National Immigration Forum.
Mr. Tedros Markos Tekle, MA, Self-advocate
Mr. Tedros Markos Tekle, a self-advocate from Eritrea with 20 years of journalism experience, resettled in Chicago under refugee status in December 2019 after five years in exile. He has written and edited numerous articles and translated English exclusives to and from English, many in collaboration with senior government officials, as well as hundreds of documents from international agencies, including the United Nations. He has also interviewed dozens of refugees who have survived traumatizing experiences. He is an associate with Partners of Refugees in Illinois Employment Disability (PRIDE) at UIC and served as an educational associate with Agents of Hope, a non-profit agency. He completed a disability leadership fellowship at UIC during the 2019–2020 academic year and completed his Master’s in Rehabilitation Counseling at Northeastern Illinois University in August 2024. He is currently working as a Rehabilitation Counselor with the Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services.
Helena Marissa Montes, Visiting Associate Clinical Professor and Clinical Director, Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic, Loyola Law School
Marissa Montes is the Director and Co-Founder of LIJC. She built LIJC while in law school in response to an unmet need for free immigration legal services on the Eastside of Los Angeles. She was then jointly awarded Loyola’s Public Interest Fellowship, to establish the clinic and develop its immigration-lawyering curriculum for law students. In addition to the clinic, Marissa teaches courses in regard to Cross-Cultural Competency and Trauma-Informed Lawyering, as well as spearheaded Loyola’s Immigration Law and Border Practicum, which includes an alternative spring break trip to El Paso, TX. Marissa serves as a visiting professor at the ITESO in Guadalajara, Mexico, where she teaches U.S. asylum law and serves migrant shelters.
Jennifer Mathis (she/her), Deputy Director, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Jennifer Mathis is Deputy Director of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. She has worked at the Center since 1999 except for two periods of service in the federal government. Between December 2021 and January 2025, Jennifer served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, reviewing the work of the Disability Rights Section, the Special Litigation Section’s disability work, and the work of the Federal Coordination and Compliance Section and the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section. Prior to arriving at DOJ, Jennifer served as Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy at the Bazelon Center, using litigation as well as legislative and administrative policy advocacy to promote equal opportunity for people with disabilities in all areas of life, including community living, health care, housing, employment, education, parental and family rights, voting, and other areas. Jennifer played a key role in coordinating strategy and briefing when the Olmstead case was heard by the Supreme Court and has litigated numerous community integration cases before and after. She also served on the disability community negotiating team that worked with representatives of the business community to craft language that became the ADA Amendments Act and played a lead role in securing passage of the ADAAA. Between 2010 and 2011, Jennifer served as a Special Assistant to Commissioner Chai Feldblum at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, helping to draft regulations implementing the ADA Amendments Act and the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act.
Laura Murchie (she/her), Staff Attorney, Disability Law United
Laura Murchie is a Disability Law United Staff Attorney who works at the intersection of disability and immigrant justice. She previously worked as a Litigation Staff Attorney at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, working on impact litigation in both voting rights and immigrant justice, and as a Direct Services Attorney with the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative at the Southern Poverty Law Center, providing legal representation to immigrants detained throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. She earned her B.A. from the University of Miami and her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.
Qudsiya Naqui, Legal Scholar and Disability Media-Maker
Qudsiya Naqui is a legal scholar and disability media-maker. Her legal scholarship and media work aim to center disability justice and the disabled experience as tools that catalyze transformative cultural, legal, and policy change towards a more just and equitable society. She is currently Assistant Professor at the University of the District of Columbia’s David A. Clark School of Law. Prior to joining UDC, Qudsiya served as Senior Counsel in the Office for Access to Justice at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she led efforts to improve access to justice for disabled people. Qudsiya also produces and hosts the acclaimed podcast, Down to the Struts—a collection of conversations about disability, design, and intersectionality aimed at uncovering the building blocks for a more just, inclusive and accessible world. She is an expert on the intersection of immigration and disability. From 2022-2023, she served as visiting professor in the Immigrant and Noncitizen Rights Clinic at CUNY Law School, where she developed a novel curriculum to guide law students in their advocacy on behalf of immigrant clients with disabilities. She also served as the impact producer for the award-winning, feature-length documentary film, Unseen, chronicling the experiences of Pedro, an aspiring social worker navigating the crossroads of disability, immigration, and mental health. Her work has appeared in Vox, Oxford University Press, the UCLA Law Review, and the Disability Visibility Project. When she’s not podcasting, writing, or teaching, Qudsiya enjoys spending time outdoors through adaptive sports such as hiking and tandem cycling.
Stacy Nuñez, Staff Attorney for the Youth Justice Education Clinic (YJEC) at the Center for Juvenile Law and Policy
Stacy was an Equal Justice Works fellow with YJEC and focused on advocating for the educational needs of Secure Track youth in Los Angeles County. Stacy’s goal is to emphasize the importance of education in supporting young people live a fulfilled life once they are released from detention. They continue their work with other LA County stakeholders to ensure young people actually receive the robust educational programming and appropriate services they are entitled to by law. While in law school, Stacy was a student with YJEC for two years before graduation, interned with Public Counsel’s Children’s Rights Project, and co-chaired the Public Interest Law Foundation. Stacy is committed to dismantling the school-prison nexus by advocating for school stability, access to appropriate services, and representing students in school discipline proceedings. They hold a B.A. in English from the University of California, Irvine and a J.D. from LMU Loyola Law School.
José Ortiz-Rosales, Deputy Program Director, Child Advocate Program, Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights
Jose is a Deputy Program Director within the Child Advocate Program of the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. He received his master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California. Jose has over 13 years of experience working exclusively with unaccompanied children across the country in various capacities and at different stages in their immigration journey in the United States. Additionally, Jose has had a critical role in collaborating and partnering with immigration attorneys to provide client-centered legal services focusing on assisting unaccompanied children navigate their immigration case. In 2018, Jose co-authored a book chapter that discusses the multidimensional lives of unaccompanied children in the U.S. and the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to supporting them when they encounter various systems such as child welfare, education, delinquency, criminal justice, behavioral health, immigration, and social systems, among others.
Katherine Perez (she/they), Director, The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation
Katherine Perez is the inaugural Director of The Coelho Center at Loyola Marymount University and Visiting Professor of Law at Loyola Law School. She holds a JD from UCLA School of Law and a PhD in Disability Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Some of Katherine’s advocacy, policy, and scholarship include work related to disability access in higher education, the intersection of disability rights and immigration law, and disability legal historical analysis. Her lived experience as a neurodiverse and queer Latina woman with psychiatric disabilities informs her scholarly and advocacy work. Katherine is a proud granddaughter of immigrants from Mexico.
Susan Popkin, Institute Fellow, Urban Institute
Susan J. Popkin PhD is an Institute Fellow in the Center for Equity and Community Impact and Co-Director of the Urban Institute’s Disability Equity Policy Initiative (DEPI). Popkin is a disabled researcher and began laying the groundwork for DEPI in 2021, building on her work on housing for older adults and people with disabilities. DEPI’s goals are to build a body of evidence to improve the lives of disabled people, and to infuse a disability lens throughout Urban’s work. Dr. Popkin is the author of No Simple Solutions: Transforming Public Housing in Chicago; co-author of the award-winning Moving To Opportunity: The Story of an American Experiment to Fight Ghetto Poverty; lead author for the book The Hidden War: Crime and the Tragedy of Public Housing in Chicago; and is co-author of Public Housing Transformation: The Legacy of Segregation.
Vanessa Ramos, Advisor, Disability Rights California
Vanessa Ramos is a Los Angeles drug war survivor and an Advisor at Disability Rights California. Drawing from her lived experience with failed health and educational systems, she champions independence, innovation, and recovery-driven solutions born within the community. Vanessa’s work spans multiple sectors, focusing on ending unnecessary forced institutionalization and promoting accessible wellness. As a yoga and somatic experiencing practitioner, she empowers others while fostering inclusive, creative spaces. While her work is central to her life, her most cherished role is that of a mother.
Cynthia Rice, Legal Director, Disability Law United
Cynthia L. Rice has represented hundreds of workers in administrative and court proceedings involving labor and employment rights. Her work in education focuses on advocacy on behalf of English Learners, Migrant students and students of color, and has resulted in landmark settlements compelling school districts to affirmatively address discriminatory discipline policies. Additionally, she has successfully litigated cases against a variety of state agencies, including the California Department of Education, California’s Unemployment Insurance agencies: the California Employment Development Department and the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, and the California Labor Commissioner. Rice has been actively involved in developing litigation strategies under state and federal laws for the enforcement of education, labor and employment and civil rights for California low wage families since 1979.
Madeline (“Maddie”) Riley (she/her), Staff Attorney, Immigrant Defenders Law Center
Maddie is a staff attorney on the Immigrant Defenders Law Center’s Detained Youth Empowerment Project. In this role, she supports unaccompanied children’s efforts to advocate for their rights in shelters and provides direct representation for detained and released youth. Maddie graduated from Loyola Law School in May 2023, where she worked at the Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic for two years and served on the board of the National Lawyers Guild–Loyola. She has worked in immigrant justice since 2016 and envisions a world without immigration detention or enforcement.
César Rodriguez, Coordinador del Área de Atención Jurídica en FM4 PASO LIBRE
Rodriquez is the legal coordinator of FM4 Paso Libre, a non-governmental organization in Mexico dedicated to the defense and promotion of the human rights of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. He is a lawyer from the University of Guadalajara with a master's degree in Human Rights and Peace from ITESO Jesuit University of Guadalajara, a Specialist in International Migration, and a graduate of the Colegio de la Frontera Norte. Rodriquez completed a specialization in Migration and Asylum with a Human Rights Perspective at the National University of Lanús and the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He's currently a PhD student in Peace Management and Violence Prevention at the University of Guadalajara.
Eric Rosenthal, Executive Director, Disability Rights International
Rosenthal is Founder and Executive Director of Disability Rights International (DRI), one of the first and leading international human rights organizations for children and adults with disabilities. He has investigated conditions and trained activists in three-dozen countries. DRI has won groundbreaking disability cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, and the United States. Rosenthal teaches international human rights practitioners through the Academy on International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at American University’s Washington College of Law. He has been recognized for “pioneering the field of international human rights advocacy for people with disabilities” by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD).
Nina Russell, Research Analyst, Urban Institute
Nina Russell is a research analyst in the Housing and Communities Division at the Urban Institute. She is also a member of the Disability Equity Policy Initiative. Some of her research interests include the DC metropolitan area, public housing, educational equity, accessibility in community spaces, and disability policy.
Deylin Thrift-Viveros (he/him), Deputy Attorney General, Civil Rights Enforcement Section, California Department of Justice
Deylin Thrift-Viveros is a Deputy Attorney General at the California Department of Justice in the Civil Rights Enforcement Section in Los Angeles, where he works on the Immigration Detention Facilities Review project and other immigration and civil rights matters. Prior to working at the Department of Justice, Deylin worked at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), litigating immigrants’ rights, consumer rights, employment rights, and voting rights cases on behalf of Latinos and immigrants. Deylin also worked at Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland, bringing wage and employment discrimination cases on behalf of low-wage workers in the Bay Area.
Vivian Wong (she/her), Interim Clinical Director, Youth Justice Education Clinic (YJEC) at the Center for Juvenile Law and Policy
Vivian was a Skadden Fellow at the Learning Rights Law Center, where she developed a program to provide intensive, trauma-informed special education legal services for system-involved youth, with an emphasis on increasing mental health access. Vivian’s passion for education equity, as well as disability and racial justice, stems from her experiences as a woman of color with a disability working with marginalized young people. Her passion for disability activism began in college, where she founded an organization to create safe spaces for students with hidden and visible disabilities. Before pursuing her law degree, she received a Stanford Public Interest Network Fellowship to help first-generation, low-income students apply and prepare for college. She worked closely with students who grappled with abusive families, unstable homes, gang violence, and anxiety over poverty and legal status. During law school, she sought every opportunity to serve students with disabilities through direct legal services and impact litigation addressing school force-out issues that disproportionately affect students of color with disabilities. Through a career in holistic advocacy, she works towards dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline and ensuring that all youth of color with disabilities receive a quality education. She received a B.A. from Stanford University and a J.D. from UCLA School of Law.