Board

Ahmed Said (he/him)

Lama (she/her)

Roberto Tijerina (he/him)

Nicole Santamaría (she/her/we)

wendelin regalado (she/her/we/our)

  • Board President

    Ahmed Said is Refugee Resettlement Director at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, prior to his work at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Ahmed served at UN Migration Agency as Senior Migrant Service Adviser and Protection Focal Point,  Ahmed has a wide range of experience in Project Management, Case Management and Quality Compliance.

    Ahmed is a professional interpreter/translator with more than 10 years of work experience in the field of vulnerable migrants and refugees. Ahmed is Cairo Community Interpreter Project (CCIP) advisory board and alumni, He is originally from East Africa, born and spent some of his life in the Middle East where he worked with different non-profit organizations such as Saint Andrew's Refugee Services (StARS).

    Ahmed received a B.A. and M.B.A. from Cairo University-Egypt, Ahmed also holds Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. 

  • Board Secretary

  • Board member

    wendelin (we/she) is a mother, land steward, and language justice practitioner interpreting, translating, and consulting to help create and strengthen cross-language communication in movement and agricultural spaces. she has supported local, national, and international organizations working to end violence against women, to amplify and support black and indigenous liberatory economic practices, to organize domestic workers, to end racism in the food system, and more. our work is currently grounded in the intersection of land and language, focused on supporting food sovereignty and rematriation efforts in the northeast of the so-called united states.

  • Board member

    Nicole Santamaría has expertise in healing justice and anti-violence work, providing support to survivors of violence over 20 years ago, specifically with women, sex workers, both cis and trans, in the rural areas of El Salvador. Her work with the LGBTQI+ community began with art therapy and research in El Salvador for survivors of anti-LGBTQI+, domestic, and sexual violence. She co-founded Colectivo Alejandria SV, collaborating with NGOs, activists, and government entities in multiple countries to raise awareness around the realities of LGBTQI+ communities. Nicole currently serves as the Executive Director of El/La Para TransLatinas, where she uses a trauma-informed lens to develop El/La’s diverse programs, support staff growth, strengthen partnerships, ensure continued funding, and serve as spokesperson to the public. She continues to participate in the Mesoamerican Network of Women’s Human Rights Defenders, working globally to raise awareness about body autonomy for women, Intersex, and trans people, and as a beacon of community union, inclusion, and strength.

  • Board Treasurer

    Roberto Tijerina is a queer, Latino, first-generation child of immigrants, organizer and keeper of the heart-space. Since becoming politicized in his early adolescence, Roberto has worked as an organizer connecting his queer, immigrant, multilingual experience to broader racial, economic, and gender justice movements.  His experience includes working for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Highlander Research and Education Center, the Audre Lorde Project, and Southerners on New Ground (SONG).

     Learning at the feet of many and by doing the work, he has helped to develop a Language Justice frame and lens that is informing current movement work. His political north star has always been the question: “Are you willing to be transformed in the service of the work?”