I am Salvadoran and migrated to San Francisco, CA 31 years ago. I am the father of two sons, Josué and David Cordova. I am a tireless defender of the LGBTQ community and founder of groups such as Hermanos de Luna y Sol, Padres Gay, Teatro LGBTQ, Santi Project, Sida Por Vida. I have worked for many years in HIV and AIDS prevention programs, and supported my community through the pandemic. I moved to Durham, North Carolina in 2006, where I created and promoted various LGBTQ programs. I am the creator of Bolero Pequeno Teatro Latino, focused on showcasing plays that address the experiences of LGBTQ immigrants. I am currently the director of the organization, Lila LGBTQ Inc. I have integrated art such as painting, dance and theater as a means of healing in the face of social aggression suffered by our community. Working to address the most pressing issues faced by LGBTQ communities in the south has given me the opportunity to create spaces and programs that did not exist, such as my FB program Alex Cordova Contigo, which provides educational resources on the issues faced by LGBTQ communities for Latino populations. I am currently married and with a lot of energy and drive to continue working for the benefit of my community, supported unconditionally by my husband.

Father, husband, pastor and community Leader. Born in Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, from an early age Ciego became involved in community work. In 2005 he led youth initiatives at a local, nationa, and international level in his native Guatemala, traveling to various places in interior Guatemala and Central America, promoting multiculturalism and youth participation in different areas.Ciego moved to the United States in 2006; and is currently serving as co-pastor of the Jehovah Shalom Church, a Hispanic Congregation with more than 300 members located in the Bronx. He is also the founding president of the Children of Livingston Organization, a group of Garífuna visionaries who work to strengthen, innovate, and support the visions of self-sustainable entrepreneurship of Garífuna and Guatemalan people. He is currently a board member of the Honduran Organization Against AIDS / Casa Yurumein, a collaborator with many other community organizations here in the Y.S. and abroad. He is the founding director of the virtual program “Conversando Con Arnold Ciego,” a virtual platform that was born out of the need to disseminate contributions and make visible the contribution of the Garífuna people in social networks. Ciego has also participated in international meetings with the UN and OAS, proudly representing his organization. Ciego graduated from the ASA University of Manhattan, NY in 2011 with a degree in accounting in business Administration; he also graduated from the BCC Adonai Christian University in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Theology and Christian Education. Ciego has several certificates from different courses, including one received from the HarvardX program in the American Government and Its Constitutional Foundation course.

Carolina was born in Zacatecas, Mexico, and brought into the United States by her mother in 1994. She is a 2011 graduate of Richfield High School. Carolina is a DACA recipient who is currently studying communications at Normandale Community College while working full-time as the communications director for COPAL. In addition to her recent founding of the Mírame | LOOK.AT.ME project, Carolina is a community activist who has contributed her time and talents to organizations such as Youth Frontiers, Youth Link, Sharing and Caring Hands, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, and Saint John’s University since she was a teenager. Carolina is very passionate about her family and friends and engaged in her jobs, her education, and Mírame. But she is also interested in connecting with others who share her interest in social justice.

Cindy Garcia, originally from Fort Worth, Texas, is an advocate for immigrant rights in Alabama and nationally. She lived in Salinas de Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Mexico, during her childhood and adolescence. During her years in Mexico, she was part of the social work that her parents and family did in their community, which inspired her to advocate for those most in need. Cindy's journey for social justice in the United States began in 2011 during the implementation of House Bill 56, one of the cruelest laws against the immigrant community in Alabama. Garcia co-founded the Alabama Migrant Movement, which supported growing leadership and education on immigrant rights. Cindy also fights to defend the rights of women, victims, and survivors of domestic violence. As a survivor of domestic abuse, during her professional career, she has developed new initiatives to support and provide resources to women with the same story. Cindy currently works at AIDS Alabama, where she is responsible for creating a safe space and advocating for Latinos living with HIV. Garcia also participates with collective groups of Mexican leaders to promote binational workspaces and meet the needs of women from different migration contexts. Her extensive work with the Latino community in Mexico and the United States has allowed her to see change in her community, but her fight continues. She is motivated to continue in the fight and advocacy to be a role model for her daughter Valeria and future generations.

Elmer Romero represents CRECEN in Houston, Texas as the director of strategies and partnerships. He has recently worked as an educator working as a program manager at the Houston Center for Literacy. Previously, he developed programming and oversaw local and federal contracts and grant implementation for Baker Ripley/Neighborhood Centers, Inc. in Harris County. Before moving to Texas, he was the director of education for CASA Inc. of Maryland,. He has a degree in journalism from the University of El Salvador and a diploma of advanced studies in popular education and community development from the University "Antonio Ruiz De Montoya," the Jesuit University in Perú. Before moving to the U.S. in 2000, he worked in his home country of El Salvador for 15 years as the director of publications for Asociación Equipo Maíz, El Salvador, one of the most prestigious education non-profits in Central America. He used popular education methods for adult education that are grounded in a vision for participatory democracy.

Giselle Rodriguez is an immigrant woman from Nayarit, Mexico and is 26 years old. She comes from a working, mixed-status family. Giselle grew up in Chicago and the northern suburbs of Illinois. Currently, Giselle is the Founder and Executive Director of Illinois Workers in Action, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower workers through education, grassroots organizing, power, and workers' rights. The organization strives to build worker power in immigrant, Latino, and Black communities by working to promote systemic change that promotes racial and social justice and stabilizes low-income immigrants and communities of color. As Executive Director, Giselle takes on many different roles, from community organizer to managing daily operations, fundraising, and more. Giselle educates and organizes black and brown immigrant workers in and around Chicago. Giselle is an advocate for immigrant and worker rights. Additionally, she is co-founder of the Center for Immigrant Progress, an organization that focuses on building communities that provide protection, education, and social and economic opportunities to immigrant children and families. Giselle has a bachelor's degree from Northeastern University and recently earned her master's degree in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. Throughout her professional career she has worked with several non-profit organizations, focusing on advocacy for immigration issues, labor rights, and survivors of sexual abuse and secondary education for undocumented students. Believes that through advocacy, education, organizing and leadership development we can empower young people, immigrants and workers. The most important goal for her is to make higher education more accessible for young immigrants and to continue educating our community about their rights as workers and immigrants. As a young immigrant, Giselle believes that education should be accessible to all people regardless of their immigration status.

Co-founder and executive director, Honduran immigrant, activist, and community organizer with more than 13 years of experience in leadership, grassroots organizing and activism. Through her work at Familias Unidas en Accion (FUA by its acronym in Spanish), she analyzes and challenges our current political and social institutions by questioning their legitimacy and directly confronting how they perpetuate inequity. Leticia’s focuses include direct action, community organizing, and electoral work. As an undocumented Afro-descendant Garifuna immigrant, she knows that the future we imagine requires the creation of new institutions and practices to replace the broken ones that have not been serving us.

Luis López Resendiz is currently CIELO’s Indigenous interpreter program director; he is a Ñuú Savi. He is committed to taking the struggle for the respect of the rights of Indigenous peoples to spaces where Indigenous peoples are not represented and to make visible their migration to the United States. He graduated from the University of California Berkeley with a B.A. in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. He is a poet whose work has been presented at the Center for Race and Gender at UC Berkeley. Mr. Resendiz has been featured in La Jornada, la Trinchera , KPFK, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and El Excelsior. Currently, he is a host on Tu’un Dali Podcast, a podcast for and by Indigenous people.