2025 Symposium

Grab your nametag and program materials, grab a coffee and a treat, find your table, and get settled. 

Meet the NIMS Leadership Team, and get energized and inspired by remarks from Juan Carlos Huertas. 

Juan Carlos Huertas is the Minister of the Proclamation and Practice of Justice at First Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln. He serves on the board of the Lincoln Community Foundation.

Connect, recharge, and take care of yourself. 

Four leaders of major community organizations working in refugee resettlement and welcoming new Americans share insights from their work, and reflect on challenges and opportunities ahead. 

• Poe Dee is the Refugee Resettlement Director at Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska. Since 1948, Catholic Social Services has worked with the US Department of State and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to welcome and resettle refugee families.
• Sheila Dorsey Vinton is the Executive Director and CEO of the Asian Community and Cultural Center. The Asian Community and Cultural Center was founded in 1992 to support and empower all refugees and immigrants through programs and services and advances the sharing of Asian Cultures and the other cultural heritages of their clients with the community at large.
• Nizar Rasho is the Assistant Vice President of Community Based Services, Refugee Support at Lutheran Family Services. The Refugee Support Program at Lutheran Family Services provides intensive case management to especially vulnerable new Americans.
• Kelly Ross is the Founder and Executive Director of ECHO Collective. The ECHO Collective is a nonprofit that economically and creatively empowers refugee and immigrant women by providing opportunities for entrepreneurship education, cross-cultural relationships, and personal growth. 

Connect, recharge, and take care of yourself. 

UNL researchers summarize their ongoing research projects on welcoming new Americans, and share ways you might get involved. 

• Theresa Catalano is a Professor of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She studies language teacher education and migration (including intercultural education and arts integration), and the connection of language and visual communication to ideology, power and social inequality.
• Ted Hamman is a Professor of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He studies three overlapping areas: (1) how transnational movement of students and families is responded to by schools; (2) how educational policies are cultural productions transformed in their conversion to practice; and (3) how school reform is/is not responsive to transnationally mobile students and English language learners.
• Satveer Kaur-Gill is an Assistant Professor of Communications Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She studies the interpersonal, intergroup, structural, and socioecological processes of communication to understand health disparities and inequalities globally. She is joined by Haroon al Hayder, a doctoral student in the Communications Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 
• Julia Reilly, of the NIMS Leadership Team, will also be a panelist. 

Connect, recharge, and take care of yourself. 

Many of the most vibrant organizations serving new Americans in Nebraska were founded by refugees and immigrants to meet the needs of their communities. Hear from them in this panel. 

• Marie Hélène André is the Executive Director of Yates Illuminates. Yates Illuminates services the Omaha community by offering social, cultural, and educational resources in order to create an inclusive environment that uplifts every person’s possibilities.
• Elham Fazli leads the Lincoln office of the Nebraska Afghan Community Center, and is the Founder and CEO of Stud Media Group. The Nebraska Afghan Community Center works to build a unified, educated, and self-sufficient Afghan community in Nebraska. 

Connect, recharge, and take care of yourself. 

Kenya is a hub for leading research on the well-being of migrants and migrant communities. Three leading Kenyan researchers present on current findings and best practices for working with refugees. 

• Alice Lakati is public health expert with over 20 years of experience. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology, and is the Director of Research and Community Extension at Amref International University and has led research and held faculty positions in Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia.
• Lucy Njiru is the Dean of the School of Medical Sciences at Amref International University. She is also a trained clinical psychologist.
• Patrick Okwarah is a Research Officer at the Directorate of Research, Innovation, Consultancy and Extension with Amref International University. He is a monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning specialist with 10 years of experience in program development. 

The NIMS Leadership Team shares an exit survey on the day’s events, and sends us off for the evening. 

Our room—and our refreshments—will be available until 5 pm. Feel free to stick around and continue the conversation.