Team

Executive Director

Angélica Salas

Angelica Salas is an immigrant from Durango, Mexico.  She came to the United States as a child to reunite with her parents, who came to provide a better life for their family.  Angelica comes to her understanding of immigrants and immigration first hand, she and her entire family lived in the country undocumented, experienced deportation, and were able to legalize their status.  In 2008, Angelica became a U.S. citizen.  She makes Pasadena, California her home, the first city she arrived at as a child.  She is married to Mayron Payes, an immigrant from El Salvador, and has two children Ruben and Maya Payes.

Angelica joined CHIRLA in 1995 and became CHIRLA’s Executive Director in 1999.  In her role, she has transformed CHIRLA into a mass membership immigrant-led organization that empowers immigrants and their families to win local, state, and national policies that advance their human, civil, and labor rights.  She has grown CHIRLA into one of the nation’s largest and most effective immigrant rights organizations that organize, advocates, educates, and provides legal services to all immigrants. She has spearheaded ambitious statewide and national campaigns to expand immigrant rights. She has helped found organizations and coalitions to advocate for immigrant workers, youth, and families.  Among her achievements include: winning in-state, financial aid and grant programs for California’s undocumented students, establishing day-laborer centers that become national models, winning drivers’ licenses for undocumented drivers, decoupling local police departments from immigration enforcement, expanding access to immigrant legal services and winning Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Angelica is a state and national leader in the advocacy for immigration reform and immigrant justice.  She was instrumental in the formation of and serves on the Executive Committee of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) and the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), two of the country’s largest immigrant rights coalitions.

Angelica is a recognized grassroots leader that plays a national leadership role in all major immigration reform campaigns. She serves as a national spokesperson for immigrant communities and immigrant rights campaigns. Angelica has sought expert responses from Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Univision. Telemundo, NPR, etc. Recently, Angelica’s work led to the House of Representatives passage of the Dream and Promise Act of 2019, a bill to give people with DACA and TPS a path to citizenship.

She graduated from Occidental College with a B.A. in History and a B.A. in Sociology in 1993.  In 2007, Occidental College awarded her an Honorary Doctorate for her many contributions making her one of the youngest persons to earn such an honor in the college’s history.

Managing Director

Zerihoun Yilma

Zerihoun Yilma is the associate director of CHIRLA. He is an immigrant from Ethiopia, who is committed to fighting racial, economic, and social inequality. He has worked tirelessly to bridge diverse immigrant groups with native-born Americans to bring immigration reform to the top of the American moral agenda.

Zerihoun has studied and worked in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors in Ethiopia, Botswana, Namibia, India and the U.S.

He currently serves as a Board member of the Californians for Human Immigrant Rights Leadership Action Fund, as the Board Chair for Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and as a Board member of Casa Libre Shelter/Freedom House (CHRCL).Before coming to CHIRLA, Zerihoun worked in financial services in Los Angeles and in Africa, where he managed small to medium manufacturing and service plants.

In Los Angeles, Zerihoun has helped shape several nonprofits: he is co-founder of the African Communities Public Health Coalition (African Coalition), co-founder of the Academia Moderna, a longtime member of Black Immigration Network (BIN) and has served as vice president of the Virgin Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Cathedral.

Zerihoun earned a Masters in accounting and cost accounting from Poona University and a BA in industrial management from Shivaji University in India.

As a social change leader, Zerihoun continually refines and expands his management skills through participation in leadership programs. He is a 2015-2016 Cross movement fellow at Rockwood Leadership Institute.

Director of Executive Affairs

Areli Hernandez

Favorite Quote

“Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly”- Micah 6:8

Director of HR and Operations

Yolanda Jones

Yolanda Jones joined CHIRLA in 2013 and became its director of administration in 2014. She oversees office management, information technology, bookkeeping and the executive and administrative assistant staff. She oversees the work plan under the organization’s strategic plan. Before CHIRLA, Yolanda lived in Washington D.C. and worked for the National Council of La Raza and Center for Community Change. Yolanda was born and raised in El Salvador, and she came to the United States as a teenager to reunite with her parents. She has completed certificate programs at Montgomery College and George Washington University to complement more than two decades of nonprofit administrative experience.

Payroll and HR Administrator

Patricia Garcia

Favorite Quote

“I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change…I’m changing the things I cannot accept.” – Angela Davis

Talent Recruitment and Operations Manager

Maribel Molina

Favorite Quote

“See it, Believe it, Achieve it.”-  Lori-Ann Muenzer

Operations Manager

Maria Montes

Systems and Network Manager

Gebriel Dawit

Favorite Quote

“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”

IT Support Specialist

Batbayasgalan Enkhbold

Favorite Quote

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”– Maya Angelou

Custodian

Victoria Francisco

Favorite Quote

“Aquí estamos y no nos vamos y si nos echan nos regresamos”

Political Director

Fatima Flores Lagunas

Deputy Director of Data and Research

Soila Rodriguez

Favorite Quote

“The way to right wrongs is to shine the light of truth on them” ~ Ida B. Wells

Deputy Director of Civic Engagement

Karen Diaz

Favorite Quote

“You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.” -Michelle Obama

Director of Communications

Jorge-Mario Cabrera

Jorge-Mario Cabrera joined CHIRLA in 2008 as director of communications after long experience in immigrant rights nonprofits. Before CHIRLA, he worked  at the National Alliance of Latinoamerican and Caribbean Communities, the Central American Resource Center, and Bienestar Human Services. He joined CHIRLA because he believes no family should be torn apart and no person should be dehumanized by this country’s immigration laws. Jorge-Mario has raised CHIRLA’s profile in the media as one of the nation’s premier advocates for immigrants.

Deputy Director of Communications

Fermin Vasquez

Director of Community Education and Outreach

Miriam Mesa

Miriam Mesa joined CHIRLA in 2000 as an information and referrals specialist, was promoted to coordinator in 2009, and became the department’s director in 2016. She has received specialized training in immigration law, wage theft, intimate partner violence, LGBTQ issues, housing, access to benefits, worker’s rights, mental health awareness and the citizenship application process. She has extensive paralegal training in immigration law and is accredited with the Department of Justice. As a Cuban immigrant (she arrived in 1995), she intrinsically understands the challenges of immigrants. Miriam graduated with a chemical engineering degree from the University of Havana.

Immigrant Assistant Line Supervisor

Elizabeth Rodriguez

 Favorite Quote

“At the end of the day, we can endure much more! Then we think we can!”

Information and Referral Assistant

Daysi Flores

Community Education Programs Manager

Jessica Huerta

Favorite Quote

“Mantente alejado de aquellas personas que tratan de menospreciar tus ambiciones. Las personas pequeñas siempre lo hacen, pero los verdaderamente grandes hacen sentirte que tú también puedes ser grande” – MARK TWAIN

Information and Referral Assistant

Esmeralda Morales

Favorite Quote

“The only problem is whenever I try to make a taco, I get too excited and crush it.” – Kevin Malone, The Office

Program Assistant

Julian Herrera Millan

Favorite Quote

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any”.  – Alice Walker

Regional Field Coordinator, South LA

Grelia Vegas

Favorite Quote

“Social Justice starts in your heart!!!!”

Regional Field Coordinator South East LA

Elizabeth Alcantar

Favorite Quote

“A good organizer is a social arsonist who goes around setting people on fire.”

Regional Field Coordinator, Orange County 

Katie Brazer

Favorite Quote

“You can choose courage or you can choose comfort. You cannot have both.” – Brene Brown

South OC Community Education Representative

Karen Hernandez

Favorite Quote

“Sometimes we have to do the work even though we don’t yet see a glimmer on the horizon that it’s actually going to be possible”

Regional Field Coordinator, San Fernando Valley

Marisol Rubio

Favorite Quote

“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Regional Field Coordinator Fresno

Brenda Ordaz

Favorite Quote

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” – Martin Luther King

Deputy Director of Development

Michell Saucedo

Favorite Quote

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

Senior Grant Writer

Sharon Park

Favorite Quote

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” – James Baldwin

Director of External Affairs

Apolonio Morales

Apolonio Morales joined CHIRLA in 2014 as political director and transitioned to external affairs director in 2019. Previously, he was a labor organizer for the California Nurses Association/United Steelworkers’ Healthcare Workers Alliance and a community organizer for Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization (CCISCO) and Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action (BOCA), where he served as interim director. He was national immigration organizer for Faith in Action’s Campaign for Citizenship. A child of undocumented immigrants, Polo has dedicated his life to advancing pro-immigrant policies and changing the anti-immigrant narrative in the United States. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA in English in 1999.

Senior Accountant 

Arvin Nazari

Favorite Quote

“Never regret a day in your life: Good days give happiness, bad days give experience, worst days give lessons, and best days give memories.”

Director of Legal Services & Special Iniciatives

Karla Navarrete

Karla Patricia Navarrete is a first-generation Chicana, daughter of a single mother who migrated from Mexico. Ms. Navarrete grew up in National City, CA.  Her interest in immigration law was sparked by her proximity to the San Diego/Tijuana border.  She graduated from UCLA in 2006. She attended Loyola Law School where she graduated in 2012. Ms. Navarrete is admitted to practice law in the State of California and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. As an attorney, Ms. Navarrete worked at the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) as a DACA Fellow where she primarily assisted in DACA legal clinics and advocacy. Since June 2014, Ms. Navarrete has worked for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA).  In her current role as Interim Legal Services Director, she leads a team of fifty legal staff.  She has been part of the development and implementation of the legal department by helping build the capacity of her team. She also coordinates pro-bono efforts and manages the client intake process.  She has represented families in their various immigration processes such as U-Visas, VAWA, Adjustment of Status, Family Petitions, Waiver, Consular Process, Bond Hearings, Removal Hearings, Parole in Place, Advanced Parole, and much more. She spends her free time with her two young daughters exploring Southern California.

Director of Programs & Submcontract Administration

Maritza R. Agundez, Esq.

Favorite Quote

“Talk is Cheap… It is the way we organize and use our lives everyday that tells what we believe in.” – Cesar Chavez

Director of Legal Programs

Karla E. Aguayo

Favorite Quote

“Let us not tire of preaching love; it is the force that will overcome the world.” – Oscar Romero

Managing Attorney

Yolanda Martin

Favorite Quote

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” – Marianne Williamson

Senior Paralegal

Angelica Escobar

Favorite Quote

“Enjoy the Little Things”

Senior Paralegal

Liliana Ibanez

Favorite Quote

“It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

― Assata Shakur, Assata: An Autobiography

California Legal Immigration Fellow

Irving Partida

Paralegal

Aimee Negrete

Favorite Quote

“When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.” – Audre Lorde

Data Coordinator

Monica Vargas

“Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz.” – Benito Juarez.

Managing Attorney

Sandy Benitez

Favorite Quote

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – Barack Obama

Senior Paralegal

Nancy E. Ramirez

Law Clerk

Daisy Mendoza

Interim managing attorney (student legal services)

Sylvia Ortiz

Favorite Quote

“Instead of letting your hardships and failures discourage or exhaust you, let them inspire you. Let them make you even hungrier to succeed” – Michelle Obama

Staff Attorney

Yunuen Trujillo

Managing Attorney

Diana E. Vasquez

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in the power of your hand to do so.” -Proverbs 3:27

Legal Fellow

Bryan Alvarado

Favorite Quote

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy” – MLK

Citizenship Coordinator

Fabiana Barcenas

Supervising Staff Attorney 

Navil Canal

Favorite Quote

“Laughter is timeless, Imagination has no age, and Dreams are forever” – Walt Disney

Legal Fellow

Jorge L. Galindo

Favorite Quote

“The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” – W.E.B. Du Bois

DOJ Accredited Representative

Bethzy Garcia

Favorite Quote

“The only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them.”  – Michelle Obama

Legal Fellow

Bolivia Calenzani

Favorite Quote

“…for us the first and main task isn’t to fight against our compañeros, but with them to change the system we live in for another, in which men and women will have the right to live, to work, to organize.” – Domitila Barrios De Chúngara, Bolivian labor rights leader and political activist

Legal Fellow

Ana Lujan

Favorite Quote

“Without community, there is no liberation”- Audre Lorde

DOJ Accredited Representative

Leslie Melendez

Favorite Quote

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” – Mark Twain

DOJ Accredited Representative

Mercedes Montano

Paralegal

Alison Salazar

“Education leads to enlightenment. Enlightenment opens the way to empathy. Empathy foreshadows reform.” Derrick A. Bell

Citizenship Coordinator

Gregory L. Simons

“Con tantas personas perdidas, llorar por las cosas sería como faltarle el respeto al dolor.  With so many people lost, to cry over lost things would be to lack respect for pain itself.” – Eduardo Galeano

DOJ Accredited Representative

Eden Velasco

Legal Support Manager

Jose Mendoza

Legal Fellow

Sandy Lopez

Favorite Quote

“The Future depends on what we do in Present” – Mahatma Gandhi

Legal Assistant

Sandra Provencio

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” –C.S. Lewis

Paralegal

Nancy V. Gomez

Favorite Quote

“It is our choices … that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” – Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter.

Director of Data Analytics and Programs

Lorraine Tamburrino

Lorraine Tamburrino has over ten years in the field of data analytics with experience in the non-profit and private sector. She has worked for Fortune 500 companies, where she was responsible for developing recommendations that guide media and marketing strategies. In marketing analytics, her focus was on measuring the campaign effectiveness in different media channels, defining the ideal consumer prior to product development, or revamping the consumer profile for existing products in Latin American markets. She has also been an Instructor for the Master of Applied Analytics at Columbia University and the Master of Audience Analytics and the University of Florida.

Since 2019, Lorraine has worked for CHIRLA developing data management solutions that support the organization’s capture, processing, and reporting of data for effective decision-making. As the Director of Data Analytics and Programs, she oversees all data systems and integrations between platforms including Salesforce, departmental reporting, organizational research initiatives, and programmatic evaluation efforts. She received her master’s degree in Communication Studies from the University of Miami, and her bachelor’s in business administration with a concentration in Marketing from Florida International University.

International Program Manager

Arturo Viscarra

“We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity.” – Malcolm X

Membership and volunteer Coordinator

Zuleyma Barajas

Director of Membership and Member Services

Anabella Bastida

Anabella Bastida serves CHIRLA as Director of Membership and Membership Services. In this capacity, Mrs. Bastida, with her team, provides direct services and opportunities to CHIRLA members and to the immigrant community at large.

Mrs. Bastida counts with over 16 years of experience working in the non-profit sector and has expertise in finance, management, program design, community outreach, and organizing. During her career, she has implemented initiatives to educate the immigrant community in topics related to AB60 Driver’s licenses, DACA programs, naturalization drives, and education and health initiatives. She has developed lessons and curriculum for Promotoras Civicas and community leaders. Mrs. Bastida lead efforts in the promotion of the 2020 Census and worked with different coalitions while at the same time engaged Promotoras Civicas and community leaders in direct outreach to immigrants.

Mrs. Bastida has attended fellowships and trainings to create lasting collaborations and to work more effectively and sustainably. Mrs.  Bastida counts with a successful track record of project accomplishment. Mrs. Bastida is a well-known and respected leader in the immigrant community and she is recognized as an effective leader devoted to the advancement of immigrant families.

She has a BA in Liberal Studies and a Master’s Degree in Multicultural Education from CSUDH.  She is currently pursuing a JD from People’s College of Law. Mrs. Bastida was featured in her alma mater as an Alumna who works to foster education in the immigrant community.

Mrs. Bastida enjoys music, nature, spirituality, and spending quality time with her family.

Membership Campaign Coordinator

Veronica Villa

Director of Organizing

Pedro Trujillo

Deputy Director of Organizing

Diana Ramos

Favorite Quote

“Mirando  atrás, estoy lleno de gratitud,
 Mirando hacia adelante, me  lleno de visión,
Mirando hacia  arriba, me lleno de fuerza,
Mirando hacia  dentro, descubro la paz.”

– Proverbio Indigena

Youth Programs Manager

Kathia Garcia

Favorite Quote

“Pies para que los quiero si tengo alas para volar” – Frida Kahlo

Orange County Organizer

Janeth Bucio

Favorite Quote

“Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.” – MLK

Northern Regional CDN Organizer

Eva Jimenez

Favorite Quote

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” – Elie Wiesel

Central Valley CDN Organizer

Gloria Vallin

Favorite Quote

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new” – Socrates

Los Angeles Regional Organizer

Ana Martinez

San Fernando Valley Organizer 

Maru Galvan

Favorite Quote

“Don’t wait for an opportunity, create it.”

Antelope Valley Organizer

Patricia Salazar

Favorite Quote

“Be you the change you want to see in the world, sharing your own humanity!”

High Desert Organizer

Mariela Jaquez

Favorite Quote

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou

San Bernardino Organizer

Mireya Gonzalez

Favorite Quote

“Una nación no debe juzgarse por cómo trata a sus ciudadanos con mejor posición, sino por como trata a los que tienen poco o nada.” – Nelson Mandela

Central Valley Organizer

Leticia Lopez

Education and Outreach Domestic Workers

Elsy Perez

Director of Policy and Advocacy

Gloria Cruz Cardenas

General Counsel

Carl Bergquist

Favorite Quotes

“I dissent, therefore, from this legalization of racism. Racial discrimination in any form and in any degree has no justifiable part whatever in our democratic way of life.” – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Murphy, dissenting opinion in Korematsu v. U.S. (1944).

“Taken together, “the words of the President” help to “create the strong perception” that the rescission decision was “contaminated by impermissible discriminatory animus.” – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor, concurring opinion in the DACA case, DHS v. Regents (2020).

National Policy Advocate

Luz Castro

“Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.”
-Dolores Huerta

Deputy Director- State Policy and Advocacy

Rita Medina

Digital Media Manager

Felipe Chacon

Accountant

Cristina Jaquez Nevarez

Regional Subcontractor Administrator

Candace Leos

Legal Fellow

Dayana Bryden

Paralegal

Oscar Alulema

Staff Attorney

Genesis Palma

Director of Legal Development & Outreach

Franco Torres

Legal Assistant

Kim Garcia

Regional Policy Advocate - Los Angeles

Guadalupe Martinez

Legal Fellow

Stephanie Medina

Law Clerk

Ana Hernandez

Paralegal

Christopher Flores

OC Organizer

Yesenia Altamirano

Grant Writer

Sally Hwang

Legal Assistant

Isabel Medina

Legal Assistant

Christian Ortiz

Legal Assistant

Agustin Hernandez

Accountant

Keo Vang

Data and Research Coordinator

Jason Barajas

Paralegal

Alexander Freitag

Director of Development

Julio Martinez

Refugee Campaign Manager

Anahita Panahi

Receptionist

Genesis Gomez

Social Media Coordinator

Melissa Diaz

Northern California Refugee Organize

Kawser Amine Bidar

Legal Fellow

Ramon Hernandez

LA Justice Fund Program Manager

Kathy Khommarath

Paralegal

Haydee Perez

Graphic Designer

Sara Eustache

Donor Engagement & Events Coordinator

Rosemary Gutierrez

Paralegal

Riham Sukariya

Deputy Director of External Affairs

Vladimir Carrasco

Law Clerk

Nancy Bailon

Call Center Manager

Daniel de la Cruz

Youth Organizer, Wise-Up!

Samantha Barrientos

Youth Organizer, Wise-Up!

Kimberly Lopez

Civic Engagement Coordinator

Veronica Miranda

Communications Support Coordinator

Emanel Noreza

Production Coordinator

Danielle Hochman

Membership Manager

Katherine Cabrel

Law Clerk

Nour Vakhshour

Legal Assistant

Jessica Corson

Clara Sena-Gersh

Staff Attorney, Removal Defense

Emily Kyle

Grant Writer

Daisy Pizana

Development Assistant

Michelle Rincon

Regional Policy Advocate

Jhon Luna

State Policy & Advocacy Advocate

Cynthia Gomez

Law Clerk

Julio Perez

Managing Attorney

Monica Valencia