2009 PAN-IMMIGRANT LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZING TRAINING (PILOT) PARTICIPANTS

2009 PILOT Participants and Trainers

Oluyinka Akinjiola
Oluyinka Akinjiola is a new CIO intern from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. Upon completion of this internship, she will earn her Bachelors of Arts in Geography with an emphasis on International Studies. She is from a Nigerian American family that has always remained active in cultural and community organizing. The Akinjiolas co-founded the Nigerian Association in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. Her major areas of interest are in cultural expressions through dance, music and maintenance of languages.

Zahra Alkabi
An asylee from Iraq, Zahra is the founder and current director of the organization, Save Refugees. Zahra started this organization in July, 2007 in order to address the needs of Iraqi refugees. She has also been involved with Portland's peace movement and has done a lot of community education about peace building and human rights. Through PILOT, Zahra hopes to build the skills necessary to grow her organization.

Susana Betancourt
An immigrant from Mexico, Susana currently works for Multnomah County Health Department as a Community Health Specialist in the Environmental Health section. Through her work, Susana brings the community information on health issues and connects them to resources. Susana loves to speak and teach in front of large groups. Through PILOT, Susana hopes to learn more about cross-cultural community movement building.

Anna Brozek
Anna immigrated from Poland to the United States in 2000 so that she could improve her language skills and participate in an exchange program. She received a Bachelor's Degree in International Studies with a focus on European Studies from Portland State University in June 2006. Anna currently volunteers with the Polish Community teaching Polish language and works for the Office of International Affairs at Portland State University. She is also currently finishing her Master's Degree in International Conflict Resolution and Mediation.

Baher Butti
A refugee from Iraq, Baher works as a cultural counselor in mental health. He also works in the leadership group for Portland's Community Gathering Center, is a member of CIO, a member of the board of Directors of the Institute for Progressive Spirituality, and is Secretary General for the newly founded Iraqi Society of Oregon. Through PILOT, Baher would like to learn administrative, managerial skills and networking.

Morie Conteh
Morie was born in Sierra Leone. He started his own small business in Portland, INPACO-TECH, where he works as a technician. He also volunteers at KBOO community radio. In the past, Morie worked with Mercy Ships, an NGO that provides free medical aid to developing countries. Morie is excited to learn more about the US government and democratic systems during his time in PILOT.

Julia Garcia
Julia immigrated to the United States from Mexico. In addition to working as a Family Support Worker in the Program Healthy Start in Lane County, Julia also volunteers for United Way Lane County (Tomando Control de su Salud Program) and Latinas Unidas. As a Family Support Worker, Julia values the opportunities to work with immigrant parents so that they can reach their goals and strengthen their parenting skills.

Judith Gelin
A refugee from Haiti, Judith now works as a Medical Assistant and a volunteer at the Haitian-Community Church. She is also the Program Coordinator for the Society for Haitian Arts and Culture, where she works with all ages in the Haitian-American community, and is putting the Haitian-American Community together in civic engagement and community activities. Judith is passionate about advocating for human rights for refugees and immigrants and is also a singer, musician and traditional dance instructor.

Celia Higueras
Celia was born in the U.S, but moved to Chile when she was 5 months old. She returned to the U.S 4 years ago to come to school. Celia works with the Sexual Assault Resource Center in Washington County where she is the Latina Program Coordinator. Through this job, Celia works to better serve the Latino community in Washington County, which is rapidly growing but lacks services. Celia feels confident in her advocacy skills and her capacity to provide one-on-one services.

Franklin Kwa
An immigrant from Cameroon, Franklin has lived in the United States for 6 years. Franklin enjoys playing soccer, painting, and working with kids. He is currently involved with Light of Africa, where he has a soccer team that is made up of immigrants from all over Africa. Through this work, Franklin hopes to put together a strong community for his fellow teammates. Franklin relates to lots of different kinds of people well, puts others at ease and is a good listener.

Juan Ignacio Castillejos Lopez
Born in Mexico, Ignacio currently works as a software engineer in Beaverton. As a volunteer with Oregon Oaxaca Solidarity, Ignacio organized a day of conferences and art exhibitions with the community in Woodburn to strengthen and celebrate the identity of Latino immigrants. He hopes to improve his community organizing skills while in PILOT.

Grassia Melendez
Grassia began volunteering with CIO in November 2007 and joined the CIO staff as the Membership Coordinator in the Spring of 2008. During her time at CIO, Grassia successfully doubled CIO’s membership. An immigrant from El Salvador, Grassia went to WSU and got her undergraduate degree in anthropology.

Abdirahman Mohamed
Shariff was born in Somalia and currently works with African youth in Portland. A refugee himself, he gains great fulfillment from helping new refugees navigate the system. He has been working with refugees since 1997, and has been employed with a refugee resettlement agency since 2004. Shariff sees his strengths as mentoring and informing new immigrants about American culture and laws. Through PILOT, he is hoping to get a new approach to leadership.

Eleonora Nuryagdiev
Eleonora was born in Azerbaijan and raised in Turkmenistan (both countries in the past were republics of the former Soviet Union). She now works as a counselor with high school students, 80% of whom are from immigrant families. Through counseling and advising, Eleonora assists students of immigrant families with their academic performance. For several years, at her own initiative, she has organized and led a Russian-speaking student club at the high school that twice became the winner of Oregon's Youth Leadership Conference.

Folashade M. Onadeko
Sade was born in the United States while her parents attended school, and returned to live in Nigeria at the age of two. Sade attended UC Berkeley for her undergraduate degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on industrial development. For the past 3 years, she has been working in Nigeria where she established the organization, EarthFirst. Sade describes her life's work as contributing towards the empowerment and economic development of impoverished communities.

Annah Sidigu
Born in Kenya, Annah now works as the Development Assistant with the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation. In that capacity, she does fundraising and organizing work on behalf of grassroots grantees. She also serves on the boards of the African Women's Coalition and Jubilee Oregon and is an active member of CIO. During her time in PILOT, Annah would like to improve her public speaking skills and to learn how to be a more effective leader and bridge-builder.

Greggory Tokayuk
Greggory was born in Germany and resided in the former USSR before coming to the United States. Greggory currently works at SOAR (Sponsors Organized to Assist Refugees), holding a position of Cuban / Haitian Case Manager. He also has living and working experience in the countries of USSR, France, USA, Italy, Czechoslovakia & Austria as a Lecturer and Teacher of French, Italian & Russian. Greggory takes much pleasure in teaching clients self-sufficiency skills.

Sourixay Vilalay
SV was born in Thailand, but is a decent from Lao parents. For SV, life is about humanity and the opportunity for a healthy education to embark on a path of liberation through participation. He is passionate about media and is currently involved with MetroEast Community Access Television, where he volunteers time to share and showcase local artists through media. As a student newspaper photographer for the Advocate, Mt. Hood Community College's paper, he was selected for the 1st place award. Some may ask what SV stand for; Technically, it stands for his name, Sourixay Vilalay. However, he also goes by the motto, “Style Versatile,” which also has the same acronym.

Anna Volkova
An immigrant from Ukraine, Ann now works as a Workforce Specialist at Human Solutions. Anna works closely with immigrants from Eastern Europe to help them to adapt to the American workforce, to become self-sufficient, to gain skills and knowledge, and to become absolutely employable after program completion. During her time in PILOT, Anna hopes to attain a strong knowledge and practical experience in Community Organizing. She also wants to learn how to give people the power of faith in themselves and how to encourage them in leadership.

Nim Xuto
Immigrating to the US in 1987 from Thailand to pursue a career as an artist, Nim has been combining her degree in Marketing with fine art and working as a successful professional artist and art educator in Portland for these past 15 years. Since 2006, Nim has used her experience as a former flight attendant of Thai International Airlines and as an immigrant mother of two teenager boys to help her husband, a Portland Civil rights activist and lawyer, to educate and welcome new immigrants and refugees by volunteering for Asian Family Center and IRCO whenever she can. A grand-daughter of one of Thailand’s most respected diplomats, Nim hopes to use her friendly and communication skills to bind people of all nationalities together one smile at a time.