Wednesday, April 3

SAM TALKS

To kickstart this year’s Summit, we have four of the next generation’s greatest community leaders with us. Their stories embody “Think globally. Act locally.” Touching our host state and nation’s hot topic of immigration, these four young leaders will connect their stories to research and practice in our field of service-learning and civic engagement, and give us a call to action that will keep us motivated all summit long.

Lina Tori Jan: More Precious than Freedom

Lina Tori Jan is an international student from Kabul, Afghanistan attending the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. She is a member of the Class of 2020. She is studying Political Science with a double major in Leadership. Currently, she is interning with the Department of Restoration of Rights with the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia, where she facilitates restoring civil rights to returning citizens. Lina has also served as the Women’s Refugee Community Integration Intern with the International Rescue Committee in Richmond. She connected newly arrived refugees and immigrants with cultural adjustment resources in terms of educational and employment programs. Lina is passionate about spreading quality educational opportunities and advocating for basic rights of children, women and minority groups. Her goal is to serve as an ambassador with the United Nation upon the completion of her studies in International and Foreign Affairs.

 

 

 

 

 

Noor Ghazi: The Truth Behind a Real Refugee Story

Noor Ghazi is currently a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), majoring in Peace and Conflict Studies. She graduated from UNCG in 2017 with Bachelor of Art in Humanities and minor in Philosophy. During her academic career, she worked with a number of local organizations and helped with the resettlement of newly-arrived refugees. In 2017, she published an academic article, “The Syrian refugees in Turkey”. Noor was born and raised in Iraq and moved to Syria when she was 16 years old. She came with her family to the Triad Area as a refugee in 2008 when she was 18 years old. She recently returned to Iraq to visit Mosul (A city that was occupied by ISIS for three years.) to film a documentary about life during and after ISIS. A home surrounded by conflict and war has inspired her to help others to mitigate the suffering of war around the world.

 

 

 

 

 

Jovhana Avila: From the Inside, Looking In: Immigration Advocacy through Working in Public Service

Jovahana Avila was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She is currently a senior at St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX. As a first-generation Mexican-American, her experiences reflect the challenges that the Latinx community faces. She was raised off her entire family’s hard work and willpower, which helped her to develop a deeply rooted sense of identity and drive. It is because of her experiences that she grew up keenly aware of the need to improve and strengthen her community and city. Jovahana’s interest in the intersection of public policy and communications led her to pursue a bachelor’s in political science and a minor in writing and rhetoric. On campus, Jovahana has served as the President of Latino Student Leaders Organization and has worked to facilitate student engagement and cultivating leadership amongst students. She hopes to be a change agent, improving the ways that government agencies, public policy, and institutions serve communities. She got her start working at the Texas House of Representatives, which changed her perspective on advocacy and led to internships with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., League of Women Voters of Texas, Annie’s List, The Office of Austin Mayor Steve Adler, The U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., and at the Center for Public Policy Priorities. Upon graduation, Jovahana will be working as a Global Compliance Analyst at Goldman Sachs. In the future, Jovahana plans to return to school to pursue a combined JD/MPP degree and continue to champion for an equitable nation for current and future generations.

 

 

Josue Damian-Martinez: DACAmented

Josue Damian-Martinez is a Dreamer, artist, and aspiring politician who graduated high school from the Academy for Technology and the Classics (ATC). At ATC, Josue pursued his creative writing passions while heavily involved with the community of Santa Fe. He worked for organizations like Earth Care, New Energy Economy, and the Boys and Girls Club in order to address issues affecting the environment, low-income communities, and immigrant families. While at St. Edward’s University, Josue worked for Grassroots Leadership, where he supported with volunteer coordination & mobilization, leading to their full engagement with changing policies and practices impacting the immigrant community. Josue’s passion for serving the community eventually took him to Washington D.C., where he worked with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) on higher education policy issues before the U.S. Congress. Aside from his passions in public service, Josue tells his story through hip-hop. On stage, he is known as “Creative-Jay” and believes people’s stories change narratives and once we change narratives, we can find compromise in conflict. Josue conveys his personal experiences as a male immigrant within the Latinx community through Hip-Hop. He brings attention to some of today’s most important issues like immigration, toxic masculinity, and income inequality, while also empowering younger generations. For Josue, music is another avenue for spreading love and optimism.

 

 

 

Thursday, April 4

Raul I. Raymundo

Raul I. Raymundo is a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of The Resurrection Project (TRP), a comprehensive and holistic community development institution. Since its inception, with a capital seed of $30,000, TRP has leveraged more than $400 million in community reinvestment, created over 600 affordable homes, and developed community facilities, including a charter high school, early childhood centers, and neighborhood hubs. Under his direction, TRP has become a pillar of community development in the Chicago metropolitan region. Through his leadership, TRP has been able to seamlessly blend community development, community organizing, human service delivery, and advocacy to build vibrant, healthier and involved communities. In addition to his work at TRP, Mr. Raymundo also serves as a Director on several boards including the Ounce of Prevention Fund, St. Anthony Hospital Ministry Board, Self Help Federal Credit Union, National Association of Latino Asset Builders (NALCAB) and the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition. Mr. Raymundo graduated from Carleton College, is a 1996 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow and has received numerous awards and recognition for his work and civic contributions. In 2010, Raul was recognized as one the 40 Chicago Pioneers between 1970 and 2010 by Chicago Magazine (November Issue 2010).  In 2015 Raul was recognized by the Association of Fundraising Professionals as an Outstanding Community Leader. He and his wife, Maria Luisa, have a son, Raul Jr. and twin daughters, Maya and Bela.  They reside in Chicago’s Pilsen community, where they are life-long residents.

 

Friday, April 5

Dr. Phillip Lyons

Dr. Phillip Lyons was appointed the sixth Dean of the College of Criminal Justice in September 2015 after serving as Interim Dean for a year. Dean Lyons joined the faculty of Sam Houston State University in 1995 and served as an associate professor and in several administrative roles, including as Interim Chair of the Department of Security Studies, Director of the Division of Professional Justice Studies, and Executive Director for the Center for Policing Innovation. In 2012, Dr. Lyons was named the first recipient of the David Payne Academic Community Engagement Award at SHSU, which recognizes excellence in community engagement through teaching, research, and service. He also designed, developed, and implemented a community policing internship program with students in residence at Sam Houston for a year from the Zhejiang Police College in Hangzhou, China. Dr. Lyons has written or coauthored dozens of scholarly and professional works, including books, book chapters, and journal articles, many of which are published in some of the leading journals of his field. He also was selected by his peers to serve a three-year term on American Psychological Association’s prestigious Committee on Legal Issues. Before joining, SHSU, Dr. Lyons completed a year-long, pre-doctoral internship in Forensic Clinical Psychology at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, an institution within the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and spent several years as a law enforcement officer in the Hillcrest Village Marshal’s Office, the Alvin Community College Police Department, and the Alvin Police Department. Dean Lyons received M.A., J.D., and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.