2025 CVIIC Regional Conference on Immigrant Integration: Registration Opens

Registration has opened for the 2025 CVIIC Regional Conference on Immigrant Integration. As in past years, this regional event brings together representatives from scores of immigrant-serving and immigrant rights organizations that operate in the San Joaquin Valley, including the following counties: Kern, Kings, Tulare, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin. Participants include representatives of community-based organizations, nonprofit immigration legal services providers, educational and vocational institutions, elected officials, small business development agencies, libraries, health advocates, and clinics, among others.

The annual convening serves to strengthen regional collaborative efforts, identify priorities, develop work plans, offer trainings on key topics, and share resources designed to empower immigrant families.

A key feature of the conference will be the thematic panels that will be led and organized by participating agencies on a wide variety of topics. Below, please find a draft of the program:

Conference Program
8-8:30 Conference Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30-9:00 Welcome
• Hugo Morales, Chair, CVIIC Board of Directors
• Alejandra Tovar, CVIIC Board Member
• Maria Lemus, CVIIC Board Member
• Jesus Martinez, Executive Director, CVIIC

9:00-9:55 (Plenary) Rapid Response Under Trump 2
• Maria Romani, ACLU of Northern California
• Juana Carbajal, UFW Foundation
• Blanca Ojeda, Faith in the Valley
• Sukaina Hussain, California Immigrant Policy Center

10:00-10:55 Round 1 Breakout Sessions
Supporting Community Through Immigration Enforcement
• Kristina McKibben-Sias, Community Justice Alliance
• Rosemary Gomez, California Rural Legal Assistance

CRIMMIGRATION: How to Help Immigrants with Criminal History
• Olga Grosh, Pasifika Immigration Law Group LLP
• Lazaro Salazar, Lazaro Salazar Law, Inc.
• Elizabeth Lincoln, Fresno County Public Defender’s Office

Building Bridges: Immigrant Integration in an Era of Automation and Technological Change
• Jie Zong, UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

11-11:55 Round 2 Breakout Sessions
Ask Journalists: Immigration and Misinformation
• Gisselle Medina, Religion, Culture and Community Development Reporter at Fresnoland
• Melissa Montalvo, Government Accountability reporter at the Fresno Bee
• Esther Quintanilla, English Learners reporter at the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative

Supporting Immigrant Communities through Worker Cooperatives and SEED
• Vanessa Bransburg, Democracy at Work Institute
• Iliana Perez, Immigrants Rising
• Luis Perez, Immigrants Rising
• Pedro Ramirez, Immigrants Rising

Resistance: Community, Intersectionality and Organizing
• Jesus Ibanez, Education and Leadership Foundation
• Gustavo Gasca, Education and Leadership Foundation

Advocating for Immigrant Victims Through Threats of Mass Deportation
• Tina Rodriguez, Beloved Survivors Trauma Recovery Center
• Jose Ledezma Cervantes, Beloved Survivors Trauma Recovery Center
• Diana Sanchez, Beloved Survivors Trauma Recovery Center

12:00-1:30 Lunch and Plenary
12:00-12:30 Buffet Lunch
12:30-1:30 (Plenary) A Funder’s Perspective: What is Philanthropy Currently Thinking and Doing to Support our Undocumented and Vulnerable Communities?
• Janaki Anagha, 11th Hour Project
• Mark Washington, Kresge Foundation
• Sidra Fatima, Kresge Foundation
• Artie Padilla, Central Valley Community Foundation
• Reyna Villalobos, Sierra Health Foundation
• Maria Cortez, Stanislaus Community Foundation
• Jose Corona, The Agricultural Platform Collective
• Gina DaSilva, Governor’s Office

1:30-2:25 Round 3 Breakout Sessions
Overview and Discussion: Immigration Enforcement and Concord Court Trends
• Moderator: Rosemary Gomez, CRLA Foundation
• Pablo Badra, California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice
• Sean Lai McMahon, California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice

The Weight of Uncertainty: Mental Health Challenges Among Immigrants
• Polet Diaz, Social Justice Collaborative
• Maira Oregel, Social Justice Collaborative

Life After College for Undocumented Students
• Raul Moreno, Moreno Seeds Foundation
• Juan Carranza, Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative

2:30-3:30 (Plenary) Learning, Appreciations, and Next Steps
• Led by Allison Davenport, Immigrant Legal Resource Center

Partial List of Participating Organizations

ACLU of Northern California
All for Kids
Aspire Public Schools
Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula’s office
Belen Sanchez Insurance Agency, Inc.
Beloved Survivors Trauma Recovery Center
Binational of California
California Endowment
California Immigrant Policy Center
Carolyn D. Phillips, Attorney at Law
Catholic Charities, Diocese of Fresno
California Department of Public Health
Central California Legal Services
Central Valley Community Foundation
Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative
Central Valley Partnership
Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño
Centro La Familia Advocacy Services, Inc
CHIRLA
Community Justice Alliance
Concrete Development Inc
Consulate of Mexico in Fresno
CRLA Foundation Fresno
Education & Leadership Foundation
FIRM – Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries
Fresno County Public Defender’s Office
Fresno State
Fresnoland
Ginkgo Solutions
Governor’s Office
Immigrant Legal Defense
Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)
Immigrants Rising
International Rescue Committee
Kaweah Health
Kern Community College District-Public Affairs & Development
Kids in Need of Defense
Law Office of Armida Mendoza
Lazaro Salazar Law, Inc.
Madera County
Moreno Seeds Foundation
NBCLC
Oasis Legal Services
Ocho Semillas
Office of Assemblymember Arambula
Office of Senator Melissa Hurtado
Poder Latinx
PPMM
Proteus Inc.
Reading and Beyond
San Joaquin College of Law-NALC
SBDC
Sequoias Adult Education Consortium & Visalia Adult School
Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN)
Small Business Majority
Social Justice Collaborative
Stanislaus Community Foundation
State Center Adult Education Consortium
The California Endowment
The Rosenberg Foundation
UC Immigrant Legal Services Center
UC Merced
United Way of Fresno & Madera
United Way of Merced County
Univision Foundation
Valley Onward
Valley Voices
Vision y Compromiso
West Coast Mennonite Central Committee
WKF Fund
World Relief Modesto

2025 Regional Conference Registration (Closed)

Registration for the 20225 regional conference is now closed.