Programs NO BAN- A Community Call to Action

Thursday, February 20th 2020 at 7.30 PM

Free with RSVP

Join The Africa Center along with the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, Africa Services Committee, and African Communities Together for a forum to discuss the expanded travel ban, build community power, and hold community space.

About the Speakers

Amaha Kassa is founder and Executive Director of African Communities Together, a national membership organization of African immigrants and their families which he founded in 2012. Amaha has worked as a labor and community organizer for 25 years. He is a licensed attorney who earned his law degree from UC Berkeley and his Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. He is an immigrant from Ethiopia.

May Malik serves as the Deputy Commissioner for External Affairs at the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, where she leads the agency’s work in three distinct teams: Communications, Intergovernmental Affairs, Outreach & Organizing and Public-Private Partnerships. Previously, May served as the Director of Public/Private Partnerships at NYC Service, where she lead and executed strategic cross-sector partnerships designed to leverage financial and people power in addressing some of New York City’s socioeconomic challenges; worked in Sudan as part of a collaborative effort between Save the Children, UNICEF, and the Federal Ministry of Education to provide psycho-social intervention programs to children in conflict and post-conflict zones; helped to design communications and support fundraising strategies for Lalela, which provides arts education and critical messaging to at-risk youth in South Africa, Northern Uganda, and the South Bronx; co-founded P.R.Y.D.E., a nonprofit aimed at partnering with conflict-affected communities in order to facilitate social transformation through community-driven peace education; and traveled to 30+ countries and over 100 cities as a tour publicist for Depeche Mode. May received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her MA in International Educational Development from Columbia University.

Samah Mcgona Sisay was born in Liberia and immigrated to the United States with her family at a young age. Samah completed her undergraduate studies in International Affairs at George Washington University and received her law degree from NYU Law. During her three years at NYU Law, Samah was actively involved with the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) and served as a student advocate for two years in the Immigrant Rights Clinic. Samah also worked as a legal intern for Defence for Children International in Freetown, Sierra Leone where she monitored the juvenile court and detention centers and advocated for better services for juvenile survivors of sexual violence. Samah is currently staff attorney at African Services Committee and an Equal Justice Works fellow sponsored by BNY Mellon and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. During her two year fellowship, Samah provides free legal representation at African Services Committee on a wide range of immigration matters to African and Caribbean immigrant women impacted by gender-based violence. Samah speaks conversational French.