Conference Speakers

Chelsey Butchereit

Since May 2018, Chelsey Butchereit has led the USCRI-Missouri field office and served as the State Refugee Health Coordinator for Missouri. She has 15 years’ experience coordinating community-based programs, with more than 8 of those working in refugee health. Chelsey has a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Utah State University, a master’s degree in Public Health from Brigham Young University, and a certificate in Forced Migration from the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University. She currently serves as Secretary on the Executive Board of the Association of Refugee Health Coordinators and is a member of the Executive Committee of the St. Louis area Immigrant Service Provider Network. For more than a decade has volunteered with New Americans in different capacities including as a family mentor, English tutor, and citizenship tutor.

Mansha Mirza

Mansha Mirza is an Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She has doctoral and postdoctoral training in disability studies and health services research. Her scholarship addresses health and social service disparities among low-income, underserved communities, with a special focus on refugees and asylum seekers with disabilities. She has published and presented widely on this topic. She identifies as a first-generation immigrant and a cisgender woman of color.

Mitra Naseh

Mitra Naseh is an early career migration researcher and an assistant professor at Brown School. She is an immigrant from Iran who earned her doctoral degree in social welfare from Florida International University in 2020. Naseh’s research is rooted in and guided by her previous professional work experience as a staff member of non-governmental organizations and the United Nations in the Middle East and South Asia.

Mustafa Rfat

Mustafa Rfat is a Ph.D. student at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. He came to the US as a refugee and began his academic career by completing his BA and MA in social work and an MA in public administration at West Virginia University. Mustafa began working at the Center for Excellence in Disabilities as a passionate advocate for the rights of individuals with disabilities. He wrote multiple policy blogs to shed light on the needs of refugees with disabilities, especially in an educational setting. Mustafa Rfat is a middle-aged cisgender man and a person of color.

Nikki Lopresti

Nicole Lopresti has co-owned and operated All Access Interpreters, LLC for over 11 years. Previously, she was the Director at LAMP for almost 10 years, giving her 21 years of experience in the interpreting industry in the St. Louis metropolitan area. She has a B.S. degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Finance as well as a B.A. in Spanish. She has lived and studied in Spain and Costa Rica, and she enjoys working in a culturally diverse environment.

Nancy Spargo

Nancy Spargo is the chief innovation officer of Operation Food Search, where she is responsible for developing sustainable solutions to food insecurity with a focus that includes a focus on mental health. She is a graduate of the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago and completed a postgraduate clinical externship in Family Therapy at the Institute for Juvenile Research of the University of Illinois at Chicago. She excels at systems integration and program development for marginalized populations with a trauma lens, using her forty-plus years of experience working with a range of human service organizations. Her career is characterized by a collaborative approach, innovative program design, quality service delivery, professional development, and advocacy. Ms. Spargo’s commitment to strengthening families as well as their communities has led her to serve a variety of clients, including immigrants and refugees, foster and adoptive families, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations, and the homeless. She is the mother of four young adult children, a grandmother of three, and lives with her partner, and their dog. Outside of spending time with family, Ms. Spargo enjoys live music, the outdoors, entertaining friends at home, and volunteering with social justice efforts.

Cate Hensley

In her role as the Coordinator of Community Engagement & Advocacy, Cate actively recruits, educates, and supports our network of advocates and community leaders.  Additionally, they oversee regular community meetings to foster relationship-building and shared learning about food insecurity and related issues in Missouri. Cate also supports Food Is Medicine Missouri by recruiting collaborative partners and coordinating logistics for coalition meetings. Cate earned a dual Bachelor of Arts in English and Communication from DePauw University and a Master of Social Work with a concentration in Mental Health from Washington University in St. Louis. While at Washington University she participated in the Graduate Policy Scholar program. They have also volunteered with the Awakenings Foundation in Chicago, IL as an Associate Board Member and with Rhythm of the Rein Equine Therapy Program in Montpelier, VT. In her free time, Cate loves to paint and explore all creative outlets. Furthermore, they love to sing and make music as they have played the Violin for 10 years. They enjoy spooky movies and books all year-round.

Lizzie Warner

Lizzie Warner is the current Program Manager at the Immigrant Home English Learning Program, and the chair of ISPN's Language Access Committee. She grew up in St. Louis, MO. After graduating from Truman State University with degrees in Psychology and Spanish, she worked as a case manager in Austin, TX with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. She has been involved in both nutrition and ESOL education since returning to the St. Louis region and loves being involved with the immigrant community here. 

Ness Sandoval

J.S. Onésimo Sándoval is a professor of demography and sociology at Saint Louis University. He has been conducting research at the intersection of Demography and Computational Spatial Science to study the spatial hierarchy of inequality in American cities. His research currently focuses on spatial inequality, Latino and immigration demographic patterns, and crime patterns in American cities. He recently founded two geospatial applied community projects: Demography 4 Democracy and Coding for Spatial Justice. Both projects are designed to empower community members to envision the future they want for their neighborhoods and acquire the resources to make their visions happen. Professor Sandoval is the Acting Associate Director of the Taylor Geospatial Institute, Co-Director of the Ph.D. Public and Social Policy Program and the Director of the MS Sociology Program.

Jean-Francois Trani

Jean-Francois Trani investigates the intersection of mental health, disability, vulnerability, and poverty with a focus on conducting field research that informs policy and service design for individuals living in conflict-affected fragile states and low-income countries. He is a member of the Prevention Research Center and the Social System Design Lab at the Brown School. Trani's research has contributed to policy papers of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Health in Afghanistan. He is an editor of ALTER, the European Journal of Disability Research, and the Revue Tiers Monde. He is also a coordinator of the Health and Disability group at the Human Development and Capability Association. Trani’s teaching is linked to his professional experience in global health and international development, and he involves master’s and doctoral students in all phases of his research projects.

Concettina (Connie) Trimboli

Concettina (Connie) Trimboli is an Occupational Therapist who has 22 years of experience working in Australia, London, Barcelona, Sweden, and Bremen. Her experiences range from working in pediatrics, brain injury, spinal cord injury, mental health, and acute, rehabilitative, and community settings. Her expertise includes assessment, intervention planning, and functional rehabilitation of clients of all ages and backgrounds. In addition, she is interested in the development of her profession, contributing to research and publication. Concettina has completed a Master of Advanced Occupational Therapy via distance learning at Salford University and is now a PhD. Candidate at Curtin University studying occupational therapy psychosocial interventions for refugee children aged 6-12 years, located in high-income countries.

Dianne Carty

DIANNE MOGILEVSKY CARTY came to Bilingual International as a Russian interpreter in 2012 and has worked with a wide range of clients and programming. Born in Uzbekistan (then Soviet Union), Dianne arrived in the U.S. in 1991 and helped her family adjust to American culture. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography: GIS and worked as a Cartographic Analyst for the Department of Defense for two years before switching fields to pursue her passion for helping people. Dianne now works with our Social Services Team to ensure clinical and contract compliance across all social services funding and provides direct oversight of the Macklind International Senior Center. She advises on the challenges impacting Limited English Proficient communities on several boards including St. Louis Regional Health Commission, St. Louis Area Agency on Aging Advisory Board, and as a Lead Delegate from Missouri for Refugee Congress, a national nonpartisan advocacy organization led by former refugees to promote the wellbeing and dignity of all vulnerable migrants.

Kris Walentik

Kristine Walentik is the Immigration Managing Attorney at St. Francis Community Services, Catholic Legal Assistance Ministry. She joined St. Francis in September 2011 after completing her Juris Doctorate and Masters in Public Policy from the University of Denver. Her focus is primarily on representing Latino clients in removal proceedings, specifically unaccompanied minors and asylum seekers, as well as assisting applicants of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. In addition to practicing law, Ms. Walentik is an adjunct professor at St. Louis University School of Law teaching a course on Removal Defense. She frequently speaks to immigrant and community groups and provides Know Your Rights presentations. Ms. Walentik is a member of the St. Louis Immigrant Service Providers Network, the Archdiocese of St. Louis Immigration Task Force, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Amira Chambers

Amira Chambers Ottley (she/her) was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. In 2018, she graduated from Wesleyan University with a B.A. in American Studies, as well as Dance. Following this undergraduate experience, Amira has been driven to work at the intersection of human rights advocacy, international education, and community development. She has worked with both Global Glimpse in Panama and Global Kids in New York City empowering the next generation to become responsible global citizens and changemakers. Currently, she is a graduate student at Washington University in St Louis pursuing her Master of Social Work with a concentration in International Social and Economic Development and a policy specialization. Her practicum experiences have included working with immigrant populations doing economic development work at Lifewise STL and accompaniment work with IFCLA. She is also a member of Wash U's McDonnell International Scholar Academy and the Graduate Policy Scholars Program. 

Chelsea Viteri

Educator, youth worker, and artist at heart, Chelsea Viteri was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador. She completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, majoring in Theater Arts and minoring in International Development. Her master's degree is in Community Development and Planning. A community organizer for over ten years, Chelsea has collaborated with diverse communities in both Ecuador and the United States. In her work, she has utilized artistic expression, including theater of the oppressed, music, poetry, and documentaries as means of collective empowerment and creative conflict transformation. Most recently, she served as Resident Director and Instructor for Pachaysana, an Ecuadorian non-profit focused on intercultural exchange and study abroad that seeks to decolonize education and reimagine international education. As a scholar-practitioner, Chelsea is also active as a researcher. Her earlier work focused on the gendered impacts of extractive industries in communities of Latin America. Lately, her focus has shifted to transformative justice, epistemic pluralism, and gender dynamics in the context of intercultural and organizational spaces. Chelsea currently works at Washington University in St. Louis as a Program Coordinator for Global Studies.

Cinthia Romo

Cinthia Romo is a second-year Ph.D. student in Sociology at Washington University in St. Louis and a recipient of the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Fellowship. She graduated from Grinnell College as a Sociology and French major in May 2021 where she also became a recipient of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship and began research on the experiences of asylum seekers waiting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. It was also during this time that she began her journey as an immigration paralegal helping asylum seekers file for asylum. Now, Cinthia is a volunteer for the Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project in St. Louis helping asylum seekers write their affidavits for immigration court. Cinthia’s research coupled with her involvement in prison education programs and restorative justice has shaped her career trajectory and research interests which lie at the intersection of immigration and the carceral system. 

Sarah Owsley

Sarah Owsley is a people lover from Kansas City, MO. She is passionate about ending poverty and knows that the Missouri state legislature must do more to ease the experience of our neighbors who struggle to meet their basic needs. That can’t happen without lawmakers hearing from the people who know the most about poverty. She spends her day as Empower Missouri’s Advocacy Director providing individual advocates and direct service staff with the training, they need to practice legislative advocacy, share their stories, and plan strategies for systems change. She earned a Masters in Social Work from the University of Kansas.

Suzanne Sierra

As Senior Program Manager for the St. Louis Mosaic Project Suzanne manages programs toward Mosaic’s goal of transforming St. Louis into the fastest-growing major metropolitan area for immigration by 2025. This includes collaborating with business, university, and community partners to provide connections to foreign-born individuals and entrepreneurs that help them acclimate to the region. Previously, Suzanne held senior communication roles with Fleishman-Hillard Public Relations and Anheuser-Busch in Hispanic marketing, government affairs, and crisis communications. Suzanne holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin, is the daughter of Colombian immigrants, and speaks Spanish. She serves on the Boards of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce-St. Louis and The Collective Thread. She is a former City Council person for Olivette and is passionate about helping foreign-born individuals find resources that help them succeed. In 2021 Suzanne was named a Champion of Diversity and Inclusion by the St. Louis Business Journal.

Dianna Parra Perez

Speaker description coming soon.

Geoffrey Soyiantet

Speaker description coming soon.