Keeping Kids Safe

Judge Barkett has served on all the Courts of Florida, including as Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court. She was subsequently appointed to the Federal Appellate Courts (11th Circuit) where she served for 20 years. Thereafter she was appointed to the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal and as an Ad Hoc Judge on the International Court of Justice, both of which sit in the Hague. She was born in Mexico of Syrian parents and as an immigrant and naturalized citizen has always participated in efforts to assure justice to immigrants and refugees and give them the same opportunities given to her and her family.

Jorge A. Bermudez is president and CEO of the Byebrook Group, a consulting firm in the financial services industry and the former Chief Risk Officer of Citigroup/Citibank. Mr. Bermudez serves on the following boards: Moody’s Corporation (Chair Audit Committee); Alliance Bernstein Funds; Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley (Past Chair); Smart Grid Center (Chair). In the past, he served on the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank 11th District; Electric Reliability Council of Texas; American Institute of Architects; Federal Reserve Bank Houston; Citibank, NA; Texas A&M Foundation (Past Chair); The Association of Former Students (Past Chair). He serves Texas A&M University on the International Advisory Board; Dean’s Advisory Board College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and Dean's Advisory Board Mays Business School. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Texas A&M University and has received the following recognitions: Distinguished Alumnus (2017); Outstanding International Alumnus (2016); and Outstanding Alumnus College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (2009).

Ambassador (ret.) Luis C.deBaca is Professor of Practice at the University of Michigan Law School. He led U.S. government activities in the global fight against contemporary forms of slavery during the Obama administration as Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. He has investigated and prosecuted complex criminal cases, negotiated labor and human rights advances, and managed multi-million-dollar grant portfolios. As a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Civil Rights Division, C.deBaca investigated and prosecuted cases of trafficking/slavery, hate crimes, and police misconduct, as well as immigration, organized crime, and money laundering. As Director of the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Registering, Tracking, and Apprehending (SMART), he supported tribal efforts to confront sexual abuse and reformed federal approaches to juvenile sex offender registration. As a House Judiciary Committee staff member his portfolio included Civil Rights, National Security, Immigration, and Slavery/Trafficking issues. Ambassador C.deBaca served as an Open Society Human Rights Fellow and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Maria Socorro Gomez has been a healthcare executive for over 30 years and is the founder and former President and CEO of Mary’s Center, a federally qualified health center in the DC region. She is a registered nurse, holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, and a master's degree in Public Health from UC Berkeley. Gomez is an ardent advocate of how health, family education, and social support promote social economic mobility, and has participated in multiple advisory roles for the private and public sector on issues promoting the health, education, and well-being of families. She was also selected by President Obama to receive the 2012 Presidential Citizen Medal, the second highest honor in the country.

HON. Ramona A. Gonzalez is the presiding judge in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. She was first elected as a circuit judge in 1995 and re-elected in 2001, 2007, and 2013. Born in the Dominican Republic, Judge Gonzalez is a highly sought expert on family law issues, especially on national and international matters relating to child custody, domestic violence, and civil child abduction. Judge Gonzalez is a Past President of the National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) and a national trainer on domestic violence issues, a former member of the Wisconsin Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, and current member of the Wisconsin Judicial Committee on Child Welfare. Judge Gonzalez holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Loyola University in Chicago and a JD from the Marquette University Law School. She has participated in conventions, conferences, seminars, and workgroups throughout the world and regularly addresses national and international audiences as a trainer and keynote speaker. She has trained international audiences on issues related to Gender Violence most recently in Costa Rica presenting at III Congreso Nacional “Nuevos Horizontes de Respuesta a la Violencia Basada en Género”. She has been featured on the NBC Nightly News and the Canadian version of 60 Minutes news show, W5 CTV News. Judge Gonzalez is the 2023 recipient of the State Bar of Wisconsin Bench and Bar Committee's Lifetime Jurist Award.

Dr. Heval Kelli is a Syrian Kurdish-born physician. He moved to the United States as refugee two weeks after 9/11 and enrolled at Georgia State 10 months later as a freshman. He graduated Summa Cum Laude while working as a dishwasher and he was later accepted to Morehouse School of Medicine, where he graduated Cum Laude. He finished his internal medicine residency with honorable distinction and then completed cardiology fellowship at Emory University in 2020. He co-founded and operated several non-profit organizations focused on medical education (Young Physician Initiative), mentorship (U-Beyond, Mentorship Initiative for New Americans), and healthcare outreach (You4Prevent). Dr. Kelli was named the 2017 Friend of Freedom award. He received the 40 under 40 awards at each institute where he completed his education including the 2018 inaugural Georgia State University 40 under 40 award, 2019 Morehouse School of Medicine 10 under 40, and 2019 Emory University 40 under 40 alumni award. He also received the first Points of Light award after the passing of President George H.W. Bush. Furthermore, he published over 50 scientific articles in the field of preventive cardiology while implementing his work in underrepresented communities. His remarkable journey and work were praised by Presidents Carter, Bush, Obama and United Nations Secretary-General and have been featured on national and international news including the Associated Press, Washington Post, NY Times, New Yorker, Hulu, WHO, UN, CNN, NPR, and more.

Debbie Lee retired from Futures Without Violence (formerly, Family Violence Prevention Fund) in 2020 after 40 years with the organization. She designed and directed the organization’s National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence since its inception in 1993 with an amazing team, strengthening the health care response to domestic violence and forging partnerships in 27 states working with public health departments and domestic violence programs and as well as 25 health centers in Tribal communities across the country. Her more recent work focused on prevention, including directing Building Healthy Teen Relationships to promote prevention to decrease relationship violence and increase positive, protective relationship skills in 13 communities across the country. Ms. Lee was a founding board member of the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, the San Francisco-based Asian Women’s Shelter, the National Network on Behalf of Immigrant and Refugee Women, two California state coalitions, and The (CA) Women’s Foundation. In 2010-2012, she was appointed to the Department of Justice National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women. Ms. Lee was the recipient of the first annual California Office of Women’s Health, Helen Rodriguez-Trias 2002 Award for Excellence in Community-based Women’s Health Leadership. In 2012, she was one of the 20 Movement Makers in Move to End Violence funded by the NOVO Foundation.

Cecilia Muñoz is a national leader in public policy and public interest technology with nearly three decades of experience in the non-profit sector and 8 years of service on President Obama’s senior team. Before working in government, she spent 20 years at the National Council of La Raza (now UNIDOS US), the nation’s largest Hispanic policy and advocacy organization. She received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2000 for her work on immigration and civil rights, and is a trustee of the Kresge, MacArthur and Joyce Foundations. She advises the Open Society and JPB Foundations and serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations. In 2020, she published the award-winning More Than Ready: Be Strong and Be You...and Other Lessons for Women of Color on the Rise, which shares insights from her career as well as the careers of other notable women of color.

 Former U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) is Senior Advisor at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, assisting clients navigating complex legislative and policy issues. A native of Cuba, she served for almost three decades as a Member of Congress representing diverse areas in South Florida. She was the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In these roles, she led on pressing foreign policy issues, including championing the advancement of freedom and democracy for all; fighting Islamist extremism; supporting free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea; and imposing sanctions on human rights violators in Venezuela. Her record of over nearly four decades of public service includes fighting against tyranny and oppression, particularly in her native homeland of Cuba, as well as working diligently to support and strengthen the US - Israel strategic partnership. Rep. Ros-Lehtinen served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and was a member of the CIA Subcommittee and the National Security Agency and Cybersecurity Subcommittee. A strong proponent of education, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen holds a doctorate from the University of Miami, a master's and bachelor’s degrees from Florida International University, and an associate degree from Miami Dade College. She began her career as a Florida certified teacher and founded and served as the principal of a private bilingual elementary school. She was the first Hispanic woman elected to Congress and to the State of Florida House of Representatives and Senate. She is married to Dexter Lehtinen, former US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and a decorated Vietnam combat veteran. They have four adult children and nine grandchildren.

Bri Stensrud is an author, speaker, and human dignity advocate. Currently she serves as the Director of Women of Welcome, a non-partisan, advocacy project for immigrants and refugees founded by World Relief and the National Immigration Forum. Her passion is to inspire and equip the Christian community to engage more tangibly within human dignity issues, living out a consistent and holistic pro-life ethic.    She holds a Masters of Biblical & Theological Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary and lives in Colorado with her husband and two kids. Her children's book, The Biggest Best Light is available wherever books are sold. Find her commentary and resources on Instagram @Bri.Stenz and @womenofwelcome

Sam served in legal and policy positions at the U.S. Department of State for 22 years, including six years as Deputy Legal Adviser (2001-2007) and three years (2007-2010) as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, where he helped manage the US Government’s worldwide refugee relief programs, including frequently heading the State Department’s diplomacy on these issues at the United Nations. He was the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration during the final year of the George W. Bush Administration and the first part of the Obama Administration during the Iraqi refugee crisis. Earlier State Department roles included Acting Director of the Office of War Crimes Issues, Assistant Legal Adviser for Law Enforcement and Intelligence, and Legal Adviser to the State Department Office of Counterterrorism. He currently serves as Counsel with the international law firm Arnold & Porter. He has volunteered for KIND since he left the State Department in 2010, including helping it expand its presence in Europe.

Luis H. Zayas, Ph.D., is a social worker and developmental psychologist specializing in disadvantaged Hispanic and other ethnic/racial minority families, and immigrant and refugee children and parents. Presently, he is Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Previously, Zayas taught at the University of Texas at Austin, Washington University in St. Louis, Fordham University, and Columbia University. He has published over 130 scientific papers and three books. One book, Forgotten Citizens: Deportation, Children, and the Making of American Exiles and Orphans (2015), focuses on the mental health of U.S. citizen-children whose undocumented parents are deported. His most recent book, Through Iceboxes and Kennels: How Immigration Detention Harms Children and Families (2023), tackles the impact of detention and separation on children. In addition to a popular 2019 TED Talk in which he addresses detention and trauma, Zayas has lectured nationally and internationally, and has appeared in numerous Spanish- and English-language media.