Meet the 2020-2021 class of Advocacy Corps Organizers. These 20 young adults from around the United States will be organizing in their communities to reform national immigration laws.
Ariana Riccardi
Wilmington, Ohio Advocacy Corps Organizer
Ariana is a senior at Wilmington College in Ohio majoring in political science and history. She currently serves as vice president of the Student Government Association and as president of the Peace Corps Prep Program and the Resident Student Association.
Chloe Brown
Richmond, Virginia Advocacy Corps Organizer
Chloe is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University majoring in psychology. She hopes to be an art therapist in order to help child refugees suffering from PTSD.
Dayana Maldonado
Española, New Mexico Advocacy Corps Organizer
Dayana is a senior at Northern New Mexico College majoring in psychology. She has been a passionate immigration activist in her community for six years.
Elliotte Enochs
Edgewater, Colorado Advocacy Corps Organizer
Elliotte is a college sophomore currently on leave from studying humanities at Haverford College in Pennsylvania to pursue direct activism through this year’s Advocacy Corps.
Evan Saito
Richmond, Indiana Advocacy Corps Organizer
Evan is a junior at Earlham College where he is enrolled in the peace and global studies program. He is a proud Japanese American, originally from western Massachusetts.
Faith Williams
Provo, Utah Advocacy Corps Organizer
Faith is a senior studying sociology with a minor in statistics at Brigham Young University. As a college undergraduate Faith has assisted her professors in research and consulting projects on race, immigration, and intergenerational poverty.
Fatema Jaffer
Longwood, Florida Advocacy Corps Organizer
Fatema is a current Teach for America educator, as well as manager of the scholarship project of Cross World Africa, Inc. She graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and international affairs.
Gloria Rodriguez
Orange, New Jersey Advocacy Corps Organizer
Gloria is a junior in the honors program at Bloomfield College, majoring in elementary education. She actively volunteers to help her community through her church and school.
Grey Robinson
Birmingham, Alabama Advocacy Corps Organizer
Grey is a junior law student at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama. She works closely with local organizations on issues of racial injustice and indigent defense.
Haydyn Foulke
Greensboro, North Carolina Advocacy Corps Organizer
Haydyn is a junior at Guilford College in Greensboro NC, majoring in community and justice studies. She is a passionate tutor and mentor of new refugees.
James Rider
Worcester, Massachusetts Advocacy Corps Organizer
James is a master’s student at Clark University where he is studying international development focusing on refugees, forced migration, and belonging. Before joining the Advocacy Corps, he was a Peace Corps youth development volunteer in Perú.
Jamie Kelley
West Haven, Connecticut Advocacy Corps Organizer
Jamie is a freshman law student at Quinnipiac University School of Law, focusing on criminal and immigration law. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science and history from Southern Connecticut State University.
Judith Marklin
Sewanee, Tennessee Advocacy Corps Organizer
Judith is in her final year of graduate school at the School of Theology in Sewanee, TN. She is pursuing a master’s in religion and the environment.
Karen Gamez
Seattle, Washington Advocacy Corps Organizer
Karen graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle with a bachelor’s degree in American ethnic studies. She currently works as an education advocate for a non-profit organization and serves as a commissioner on the Seattle Immigrant and Refugee Commission.
Oscar Hernandez Ortiz
Phoenix, Arizona Advocacy Corps Organizer
Oscar recently graduated from Arizona State University (ASU), with a master’s degree in education. He also just finished a two-year commitment teaching 5th grade in Arizona with Teach for America.
Patrick Kelly
Notre Dame, Indiana Advocacy Corps Organizer (2020-2021)
Patrick attends the University of Notre Dame. He is majoring in political science and Latino studies. In 2019, he served as a Democratic Cloakroom intern for the Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Tanmai Vemulapalli
Apex, North Carolina Advocacy Corps Organizer
Tanmai graduated from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., with a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and anthropology. After graduating in 2018, she worked for a year as an anthropology teacher at a small liberal arts school in Yangon, Myanmar.
Tanzania Thomas
(she/her)
Advocacy Corps Coordinator
Tanzania Thomas (she/her) is the Advocacy Corps Coordinator at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Tanzania oversees, coordinates and guides the work of the Advocacy Corps Program; a 10 month-long program that onboards up to 20 young adults organizing their local community around federal legislation.
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