Guest Speakers
Manuel Pastor
Dr. Manuel Pastor is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Pastor holds an economics Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is the inaugural holder of the Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change, and he currently directs the Equity Research Institute (ERI). Dr. Pastor’s research has generally focused on issues of the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities – and the social movements seeking to change those realities. His work culminates in his most recent book, State of Resistance: What California's Dizzying Descent and Remarkable Resurgence Means for America's Future (New Press 2018). Pastor has served as a member of the Governor's Task Force on Jobs and Business Recovery and as a Public Member of the Strategic Growth Council in California. He also previously served as a member of the Commission on Regions appointed by California’s Speaker of the State Assembly, and as a member of the Regional Targets Advisory Committee for the California Air Resources Board.
Marvin Opiyo
Marvin Opiyo is an educator and storyteller. He writes about immigration and in his new book, Stuck Here: African Immigrants Tell Their Stories, he shares fascinating and heart-wrenching accounts from years of his diligent research. The process of immigration is one which marks a crucial turning point in one’s life. Although one leaves one’s home country, he/she does not leave behind the traditions, languages, experiences, and values. He holds a doctoral degree in education from La Sierra University, Riverside, as well as a Bachelor's degree in Literature and English from Kenyatta University, Nairobi.
Natoschia Scruggs
Natoschia Scruggs is an Assistant Professor of Global Studies. Before joining the department, she held positions over the years in academia, at NGOs, and in government, including having served for nearly five years as principal advisor on research to Ambassador Susan Rice, Ambassador Samantha Power, and Ambassador Nikki Haley at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. She has an interdisciplinary PhD in African Diaspora Studies with a focus on global migration and was a Ford Foundation Fellow, Rotary Ambassadorial Fellow, and Fulbright Scholar.
Student Panel
Leayealee Daisy Byers
Leayealee Daisy Byers is Liberian graduate student at USF’s Master in Migration Studies (MIMS). Her work focuses on the role of international law in protecting and supporting internally displaced persons (IDPs). Her latest research aimed to highlight the struggle of Liberian IDPs, who have faced severe violence and trauma since the country’s civil war, with no support from the international community or their government. She argues that since Africa is one of the largest producers of the world migrant population, it should be at the center of global conversation on Migration Management Frameworks. She previously worked with New American Pathway, a refugee resettlement program in Atlanta, Georgia.
Hamida Dahir
Hamida Dahir is a mental health activist, poet and an advocate for gender equality. She has lived and worked in Somalia, Kenya and the US. Her most recent research centers on the effects of trauma, violence and displacement on the mental health of Somali refugees in the diaspora. The project particularly focused on the use of resistance tools such as indigenous knowledge production and creative writing in building supportive community networks and championing the deconstruction of mental health stigma. She previously work with NGOs in the provision of medical and livelihood training for repatriated Somali refugees from Dadaab refugee camp. At the moment, she is a graduate student at USF’s Master in Migration Studies (MIMS) program.
Zefitret Abera Molla
Born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Zefitret Abera Molla is a multi-lingual migration scholar with experience studying and working in Ethiopia, France, the US and Mexico. She is a second-year student in the Master of Arts in Migration Studies program at the University of San Francisco. She obtained her Bachelor of Laws in French Law and Political Science with a certificate in American Law from the Université Jean Moulin Lyon III, in Lyon, France in 2018. She is currently working as a graduate student assistant at the University of San Francisco and a graduate reader/tutor at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests lie at the intersection of migration and race, blackness, racial and gender oppression. Her most recent work looks at the hardships faced by Black African and Haitian migrants forced to remain in Mexico due to restrictive immigration policies.
Mutui Fakorede
Mutiu Fakorede is a seasoned development strategy, finance, and risk compliance consultant with years of experience working across oil & gas, telecommunications, energy, financial services, humanitarian, DFI’s, agriculture, general manufacturing, and construction industries. He is a Big-4 trained professional, highly skilled in research and development, business strategy, financial management and risk & compliance.
Shennel Henries
Shennel EP Henries is a SHE-CAN scholar and an outstanding international student from Liberia. She is pursuing a major in international studies with a regional track: Africa and a concentration: Global Politics and Society. Shennel has long been an advocate and transformational leader who believes in the power of people working together to make a difference. During her time at USF, she has gotten involved with several organizations. Shennel is a fellow of the Magis Emerging Leadership Program, secretary of the International Student Association, and member of other organizations. Shennel is also the Student Assistant for International Student Programs at Cultural Centers and she is a part of the OII Student Advisory Committee.
Community Leaders Panel
Adoubou Traore
Adoubou is the Executive Director of The African Advocacy Network with the responsibility of carrying out the mission of the organization. He is also involved in all aspects of organization management including: overseeing administration, programs and strategic planning, maintaining a positive relationship with the board of directors and acting as a liaison between AAN and a range of external stakeholders. He is AAN’s representative on several collaborative programs including the Northern California TPS Coalition, Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s special program: Strengthening Legal and Language Services Infrastructure (SILF), the Steering Committee of Santa Clara County Immigrant Integration program, California Drive, among others. Adoubou also conducts community outreach and education for African and Afro Caribbean communities. Adoubou is a DOJ Accredited Representative and provides translation and interpretation services.
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. A Movement attorney for the past 25 years, Nana is co-founder of Justice Warriors 4 Black Lives and Human Rights Advocacy, both dedicated to fighting for human rights and Black liberation. She has served as the Executive Director of Black Women's Forum (an organization co-founded by Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who serves as its President), and is a former professor in the Pan African Studies Department at California State University Los Angeles. Nana has long been a sought after voice for legal and political insight into issues affecting Black communities and has repeat appearances in documentaries and other media, including Tales of the Grim Sleeper and Democracy Now! With Amy Goodman.
Guerline M. Jozef
Guerline M. Jozef iis the co-founder and executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, which assists thousands of Haitians and other migrants who have endured a dangerous journey from their native countries to the U.S.-Mexico border via South America, crossing as many as 10 countries in search of a better life in the United States. The Haitian Bridge Alliance’s mission is to guide, elevate and empower Haitian and other Black immigrants from the Caribbean and Africa through advocacy, organizing, outreach, direct services included but not limited to Immigration detention visits, transitional housing, legal assistance in partnership with various attorneys and legal providers, educational, social and cultural programs so that they may fully integrate into American society while maintaining their cultural heritage as they continue to navigate the complex immigration system in the United States.
Amaha Kassa
Amaha Kassa is founder and Executive Director of African Communities Together, a national membership organization of African immigrants and their families which he founded in 2012. Amaha has worked as a labor and community organizer for 25 years. Amaha is a licensed attorney who earned his law degree from UC Berkeley and his Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. He is an immigrant from Ethiopia. African Communities Together (ACT) is an organization of immigrants from Africa and their families. ACT empowers African immigrants to integrate socially, get ahead economically, and engage civically. ACT connects African immigrants to critical services, help Africans develop as leaders, and organizes communities on the issues that matter. ACT was founded in 2012 by a first-generation Ethiopian immigrant organizer to address the “organizing gap” in African immigrant communities. Since launching as an organization, ACT has built a base of thousands of African immigrants, connected thousands of community members to legal services, developed and engaged hundreds of grassroots leaders, and waged multiple successful policy campaigns.
Nunu Kidane
Nunu Kidane is the Director of Priority Africa Network, (PAN) an Oakland-based Africa advocacy organization. She has worked on issues of global policy as relates to historic, political and social developments in Africa including militarism, race and migration. In 2012, Nunu was recognized by the Obama admiration as a “Champion of Change'' for her work with the African diaspora in the US. She is a founding member of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), the Pan African Network in Defense of Migrants' Rights (PANiDMR and serves as a global Ambassador with Africans Rising for Justice, Peace & Dignity. Nunu has been the voice for enhanced transnational dialogue on immigration and race, culture and identity. She is a graduate of the University of California in Berkeley and makes her home between Berkeley and Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
Jean Pierre Ndagijimana
Mr. Ndagijimana is a co-founder of the Rwanda Psychological Society (RPS) and has worked in the fields of trauma and community education in post-genocide and forced migration contexts for nearly 10 years in a variety of settings. He facilitated psychosocial needs assessments in refugee camps in Rwanda and trained refugee aid workers and immigrant populations on stress regulation and contextual, cultural considerations in Rwanda, Europe, and the United States. Mr. Ndagijimana is a doctoral candidate in International and Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco. He works at Partnerships for Trauma Recovery (PTR) as an African Communities Wellbeing Coordinator.
