Panel Title: Supporting the Underrepresented: Interns on Serving Refugee, Immigrant, and Minority Communities
Panel Moderator: Cara Lapenas
This panel brings together interns who have spent their summers and following semesters working with nonprofits focused on supporting immigrant, refugee, and underrepresented communities. From patient advocacy and healthcare access to legal accompaniment and direct service, each panelist reflects on the challenges and lessons of working in high-impact, community-focused environments. Interns supported immigrant advocacy in detention, represented undocumented communities in court, and helped develop multilingual resources for legal aid. They also led communications campaigns amplifying marginalized voices and planned health clinics in underserved neighborhoods. Working across nonprofits in Washington, D.C., Georgia, and New York, the panelists will share how they’ve learned to navigate self-directed work, engage with trauma-informed care, balance personal investment with professional boundaries, and frame issues of inequity for diverse audiences. This conversation will offer insight into what it means to do advocacy work in nonprofit spaces– as students, and as emerging advocates.

• Speaker 1 Name: Emilia Campoverde-Fordon
  Title: Fostering Support Systems Across Barriers: Amplifying Immigrant Voices in Detention
• Speaker 2 Name: Elísabet Lau
  Title: Learning Through Service: Legal, Ethical, and Emotional Dimensions of Immigrant Advocacy
• Speaker 3 Name: Zosia Kessel
  Title: Supporting the Integration of Refugee and Immigrant Communities at USCRI
• Speaker 4 Name: Ava DiMichele
  Title: Advocacy in Action: Developing Health Equity in Marginalized Communities
• Speaker 5 Name: Myra Zia
  Title: Bridging Gaps: Language Access and Demographic Research at NIWAP