Sayu Bhojwani

served as New York City's first Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, from 2002 to 2004. During her tenure as Commissioner, New York City established Immigrant Heritage Week to honor the contributions and cultures of immigrant communities in the City. Her office facilitated the passage of the earliest laws to increase immigrants' access to translation and interpretation (Local Law 73) and spearheaded the writing and Mayor's signing of Executive Order 41, an unprecedented policy to protect the confidentiality of immigration status for those seeking City services.

In 1996, Sayu started South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!), to develop the leadership potential of immigrant youth in Queens. The first and only organization of its kind, SAYA! currently works with over 500 youth each year. Sayu holds a M.Ed. in Comparative Education from Teachers' College, Columbia University, and is a recipient of numerous awards for her community leadership. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in the Politics and Education program at Columbia University, where she is researching immigrant civic engagement. Sayu serves on the boards of the National Immigration Forum and The AfterSchool Corporation (TASC). She is an immigrant of Indian descent who was raised in Belize, Central America, and is a naturalized citizen of the United States.

info@newamericanleaders.org

Ana Grande

is 1st generation Salvadoran American, born and raised in Los Angeles. At the young age of 7, she became a trained faith-based organizer and since then has led countless efforts. From working in the City of Los Angeles to Univision Music Group, to spearheading a nationwide project for the Catholic Conference of Bishops, Ana keeps in her feet on both policy issues and navigating faith communities. For the last six years, Ana has worked with PowerPAC on social policy campaigns such as the California DREAM Act, and with individual candidates formulating best strategies to win. Ana is a Truman Partner, and sits on the board of Mary's Pence and the Center at Blessed Sacrament. Ana graduated from Mount St. Mary's College.

ana@newamericanleaders.org

Pakou Hang

is a consultant with particular expertise in civic and political engagement in New American communities. She has worked with non-profit organizations, foundations and communities of color across the country to access and build power.

Prior to being a consultant, Pakou served as a Senior Trainer with Wellstone Action, the Voter Protection Director for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Deputy Vice President of Field Operations for the Children's Defense Fund in Washington D.C. She has also served as the Minnesota Field Director for America Votes, Deputy Political Director for Senator Paul Wellstone's 2002 re-election campaign and Campaign Manager for State Senator Mee Moua's historical 2002 special election.

Pakou graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Masters in Political Science in 2008 and Yale University in 1999. She has conducted extensive research in political psychology and voting behavior among New Americans and is well versed in statistical and survey data analysis. In 2007, she contributed two essays to the book: Voices of Hope: The Story of the Jane Addams School for Democracy. Pakou is a recipient of the prestigious Hubert H. Humphrey Public Leadership Award and the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.

pakou@newamericanleaders.org

MARIO LUGAY

is a philanthropic and nonprofit consultant, as well as the Program Officer for the Mitchell Kapor Foundation. His clients have included the Ford Foundation, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT), the Genius Group, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, SmartMeme, the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock and the Funders' Committee for Civic Participation, where he had previously served as the organization's first Program Director.

Prior to this, Mario spent several years in the field of community organizing, serving as the National Coordinator of Racial Justice 911: People of Color Against the War, consulting with Listen, Inc. to help bring a delegation of U.S. youth organizers to the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and holding the position of Development Coordinator for CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities in the Northwest Bronx. Today, Mario is also board chair of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) in Oakland, a board member of Resource Generation, and is a Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT) trainer. He is a graduate of Columbia University.

mario@newamericanleaders.org

NATALIE O'BRIEN

graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of International Studies from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. She received First Class Honors for her thesis on the backlash against multiculturalism. After a brief stint working in State government, she relocated to New York in 2012 where she interns with various immigrant rights organizations.

intern@newamericanleaders.org

TYLER RENY

is a recent graduate of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. As an undergraduate, he studied in Barcelona, Spain and Buenos Aires, Argentina, interned for Senator Snowe (R-ME) in Washington, DC., researched state welfare policy for the Rockefeller Institute in Albany, and wrote a senior thesis on nativism, campaign strategy, and immigration politics. He was also the President of Skidmore's chapter of the national political science honors society, Pi Sigma Alpha, and wrote a politics and current events column for the school newspaper.

tyler@newamericanleaders.org

NINA SPENSLEY

is a media consultant and independent film producer. She is a founding partner of Spensley + Ford, which specializes in brand and identity for the arts and independent media. From 2005 to 2007, Spensley was a bicoastal consultant for the Sundance Institute. She produced the Sundance Film Festival's Global Short Film Project for the GSM World Conference in Barcelona, an international collaboration of films commissioned by the Sundance Institute for viewing on mobile devices.

Previously, Spensley served as the Project Manager for Editors' World, a two-year project funded by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation that enabled the launch of a web service dedicated to redefining and improving news coverage in mid-sized American media markets. Before moving to Los Angeles in 2004, Spensley was the Director of Communications for the New York City Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs under Mayor Bloomberg. She is the producer of the recently completed feature film Ashes, directed by Ajay Naidu. Nina is a graduate of Oberlin College.

nina@newamericanleaders.org