Hon. Athena Salman
State Representative Athena Salman was born and raised in Arizona to an immigrant family from Mexico, Germany, and Palestine. Her early gratification for the rights we often take for granted inspires her defense of those most vulnerable including forcing the prisons to supply feminine hygiene products to incarcerated women by sparking national outrage, unapologetically standing […]
Shadi Alshhadeh
Shadi Alshhadeh works at the UOSSM, and he is also a student at the University of Lausanne. Shadi has studied law in Damascus, the city where he was born. He was forced to flee Syria in 2011. He first moved to Egypt where he stayed about two years, during which he founded, together with some […]
Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rea
Born in the mountains of N.C., and spending her early years amid the influences of civil rights era conflicts in rural South Carolina, Sharon is Director of Refugee & Immigration Ministries (RIM) for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She is an employee of Disciples Home Missions. RIM works to mobilize Disciples congregations around the […]
Dr. Nadia Qassim Bastaki
Dr. Bastaki currently serves as Etihad Airways’ Vice President of Medical & CSR strategy. Since joining Etihad Airways in 2007, she has helped to position the airline as a global leader in the field of aviation medicine, while also focusing on clinical care at the Etihad Airways Medical Centre in Abu Dhabi. Dr Bastaki is […]
Sarah Bouchie
Sarah Bouchie is Vice President, Global Programmes at the LEGO Foundation, leading the Foundation’s diverse portfolio of global initiatives that seek to promote learning through play in early childhood and primary school. Prior to the Lego Foundation, Sarah served as Vice President of Program Development at ChildFund International. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Eureka […]
Dauda Sesay
Dauda Sesay and his family were resettled in Baton Rouge in 2009, after spending nine years in a refugee camp where he met his beautiful wife, Alima. Upon arrival in the US, Dauda made learning English and acquiring education his top priority for him and his family. As a result, he earned an Associate of […]
Nejra Sumic
Nejra Sumic is a former refugee who was forced to flee from her home country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After a long and dangerous journey, Sumic and her family were finally granted asylum as refugees into the United States. They were able to overcome a great deal of adversity, including adapting to a new culture […]
Jen Smyers
Jen Smyers serves as the Director of Policy and Advocacy for the Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program. She has been with CWS for more than twelve years. In this position, Ms. Smyers meets with policy makers to advocate in support of refugees resettled in the United States and for immigration reform that reunites […]
Bhuwan Pyakurel
Bhuwan Pyakurel, a former refugee from Bhutan, resettled in the United States in 2009. He and his family moved to Ohio in 2014 and he became a U.S. citizen in 2015. They bought their first home in Reynoldsburg and immediately became involved in the community. Bhuwan and his wife, Dil, have been married for 14 […]
Samir Ibrahim
Samir Ibrahim is the CEO and co-founder of SunCulture. SunCulture develops and commercializes life-changing technology that solves the biggest daily challenges for the world’s 570 million smallholder farming households. The company is recognized as a Bloomberg New Energy Pioneer and a Financial Times Transformational Business, and was named to the London Stock Exchange’s “Companies to […]
Sandra Westlake
Sandra Westlake is the Head of Global Private Sector Partnerships for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). She provides strategic direction to a global team of fundraising and capacity-building experts to secure transformational partnerships that deliver resources, expertise, technology and visibility for WFP’s work. Joining the division shortly after its creation more than a […]