Beroro T. Efekoro is the first African-born immigrant elected to the Albany County Legislature and the first Nigerian-born immigrant elected to public office in the State of New York. He is the founder and executive director of the International Organization for Education Inc., an organization in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Through this organization, Efekoro organizes ESL classes for New York Capital Region immigrants and educational programs for high school students in the United States and abroad. In the Albany County Legislature, Efekoro introduced the idea to provide grants to small businesses in Albany County during the pandemic. He has introduced and passed several pieces of legislation aimed at improving quality of life for the residents of Albany, including legislation to ban smoking in common areas of multi-dwelling units, a proclamation calling on President Biden to forgive student loans for millions of borrowers, and teleworking legislation for Albany County.

Nele Feldmann is the director for the Welcome Corps on Campus at the Community Sponsorship Hub, where she is leading the organization’s work to implement private sponsorship of refugee students at US campuses. She previously served as the executive coordinator of the Global Task Force on Third Country Education Pathways and as the head of Student Emergency Initiatives at the Institute of International Education, where she supported the creation of higher education pathways for refugee students globally. Feldmann has more than nine years of experience designing, managing, and supporting programs that expand access to higher education for refugee and displaced student populations. Feldmann graduated from the University of Bonn in Germany with a master’s in translation for Arabic and French and a bachelor’s in political science. She worked and studied in France, Egypt, and Syria and participated in the prestigious yearly Arabic program at the French Orient Institute in Damascus from 2009-2010.

David Khoudour (he/him) is a senior development economist and human mobility expert with more than 25 years of experience conducting data-driven and policy-oriented research, and advising decision-makers in governments and international organizations.

As global human mobility adviser within UNDP’s Crisis Bureau in New York (2020-24), Khodour spearheaded the organization’s work on migration and forced displacement. Prior to this, he worked as regional human mobility adviser at the UNDP Regional Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean in Panama (2019-20) and as adviser for migration and development at the UNDP Colombia Office (2018-19), supporting the presidency of the Republic of Colombia in its response to the Venezuelan displacement crisis.

Before joining UNDP in 2018, Khoudour was the head of the Migration and Skills Unit at the OECD Development Centre, in Paris, where he managed several policy-oriented research initiatives in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Until 2010, he was a researcher at CEPII, a French economic think tank, and a lecturer at HEC Paris, the University Paris Nanterre and Sciences Po, from where he holds a PhD in economics. Khoudour was also a Fulbright scholar at the University of California-Berkeley, as well as a professor of economics and the head of the Observatory on International Migration at the Universidad Externado de Colombia in Bogota. He has been a Morse College Fellow at Yale University since October 2024.

Dr. Wooksoo Kim is the director of the Immigrant and Refugee Research Institute (IRRI) at the University at Buffalo, which she co-founded in 2014. Through IRRI, Kim has been developing a network of researchers who are committed to creating and disseminating practical knowledge to improve the lives of immigrants and refugees. She prioritizes mutually beneficial collaborations between university-based academic researchers and immigrant and refugee communities in her work.

As a social work researcher, Kim aims to improve the well-being of immigrant and refugee populations in the US. She uses a community-based participatory research approach to gain a deeper understanding of the needs of these populations and design culturally responsive interventions to address those needs.

In addition to her research, Kim also brings a community-focused approach to her teaching.  She uses a service-learning model, allowing her students to gain hands-on learning experience in research methods while providing much-needed program evaluations to local social service programs and agencies.

Kim’s earlier work has explored a range of issues impacting Asian immigrants, such as mental health, alcohol use, and gambling. More recently, she conducted a series of surveys focusing on the needs of refugee populations in Western New York, and based on the results, she is exploring interventions that utilize the available cutting-edge technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI), to address many challenges faced by refugee populations and provide opportunities for them to learn such technologies to improve their lives in their new home.

Guillermo Martinez is the deputy director and intergovernmental liaison for the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy. He brings over 20 years of significant leadership, management, and communications experience in both the nonprofit and government sectors. During his time in the New York State Legislature, he served as the director of policy development for the New York State Assembly Task Force on New Americans and legislative and communications director for the New York State Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force, having served in that role as the longest tenured staffer in the organizations 35-year history. In those capacities, he helped research, draft, and negotiate over 200 pieces of legislation that are now state law, including programs such as the SUNY Hispanic Leadership Institute, the SUNY Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion, the codifying of the Office of New Americans, the Immigration Services Fraud Prevention Act, the Idle-Free School Zone Act, Geriatric Mental Health Act, the Undocumented Immigrant In-State-Tuition Act, the School Energy Efficiency Collaborative Act, the establishing of the New York Latino Research and Resources Network (NYLARNet), and dozens of other laws, including consumer protection measures addressing online privacy, disaster preparedness, protecting children with disabilities, and the elderly. Prior to his time in the legislature, Martinez served as director of communications and legislative affairs for the Council of Community Services of New York State and worked at SUNY Oneonta’s migrant education program (ESCORT) assisting migrant farmworkers with the educational needs of their children in a region covering 23 states.

Luis E. Montes is a seasoned public affairs and political consultant with over 20 years of experience in state, county, and local government. He currently serves as principal of Long Island Government Relations (LIGR) and as a senior consultant at Strategic Pathways Group (SPG), where he leads the MWBE practice and strategic communications. In these roles, Montes provides strategic guidance and expertise to clients on a wide range of political, policy, and business issues.

Prior to joining LIGR and SPG, Montes served as the principal lobbyist for Suffolk County before the New York State executive branch and the state legislature. In this role, he played a pivotal part in securing approval for the establishment of the Suffolk County Traffic Violations & Parking Bureau, authorizing Suffolk OTB to file for Chapter 9, and introducing 1,000 Video Lottery Terminals to generate over $16 million in recurring revenue. He also led initiatives to expand red light camera installations, raise Suffolk County DMV vehicle registration fees, and implement 50 speed cameras.

Montes’s accomplishments extend beyond the legislative arena. He has led multi-disciplinary teams to implement Executive Order 10-2013 – Language Access Policy, update Title VI (Civil Rights Act) countywide policy, strengthen Suffolk County Human Rights Local law, and implement the Americans with Disabilities Act countywide policy. He also set goals for MWBE participation in county procurement.

Previously, Montes worked as chief of staff to a member of the Speaker’s leadership team in the New York State Assembly for over 10 years. In this capacity, he provided strategic advice and managed day-to-day operations.

With an international background and fluency in English, German, Spanish, and basic Chinese, Montes has also worked as a political consultant on domestic campaigns and in several Latin American countries, including the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

City and State recognized Montes as one of 10 Long Islanders on the rise, citing his leadership in voter engagement, community advocacy, and minority outreach.

Montes received his degree in applied mathematical economics with a concentration in Asian studies from Marquette University. He also lived and studied in Beijing, China, for a year, gaining valuable insights into Chinese culture and language.

Dina Refki is the director of the Center for Women in Government & Civil Society (CWGCS) at the University at Albany. Refki studies and researches the interplay of gender with institutional structures in the US and international context. She applies gender mainstreaming and budgeting analysis from transnational perspectives. Prior to assuming leadership at CWGCS in 2009, she held different positions at the Center, including as director of the Immigrant Women & State Policy Program, which facilitated interagency collaboration, promoted dialogues with civil society and immigrant women at the state level, and worked to identify and address barriers to the integration of immigrant women in the social, economic, and political fabric of local communities. Refki studies the challenges of migration, the barriers facing immigrant women and their families, and the structural changes needed to better respond to the needs of immigrant women.