Registration is Now Open!
📆 Saturday, March 14, 2026
⏲ 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
📍 The City College of New York
Great Hall at Shepard Hall
160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031
The 2nd annual CUNY-IIE Conference will highlight the critical role of partnerships between community organizations and PK-12 schools in supporting immigrant communities. Amid rising anti-immigrant policies and federal actions that foster fear and uncertainty, the conference underscores the urgency of coordinated, cross-sector efforts to provide immigrants and educators with timely information, meaningful support, and accessible resources. The program will feature a keynote conversation, engaging breakout sessions that demonstrate the power of collaboration, and a panel spotlighting organizations that are actively resisting harmful policies while advocating for immigrants. Designed to inspire action, the conference invites PK–12 schools and community-based organizations to work together to protect, empower, and uplift immigrant families during these challenging times.
We invite all educators, school and district leaders, community-based staff members, advocates, and other education and immigration stakeholders to join us! Four (4) hours of CTLE credits will be provided to eligible NYS educators who attend the conference.
The registration fee is $20, which includes breakfast and lunch during the program. Students receive complimentary registration. If you would like to receive a general registration fee waiver or have any questions, please reach out to Maria Ximena Diaz at info@cuny-iie.org.
Program Schedule:
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Presentations by:
African Communities Together and Lower East Side Preparatory High School
Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc. and Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School
Educational Video Center
Mixteca and Esperanza Preparatory Academy
New York State Youth Leadership Council and International High Schools
Tenement Museum and P.S. 340
Union Settlement and P.S. 146
UnLocal
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The closing panel highlights four organizations that work at the national, state and/or city level to stand up for immigrant students and communities. Leaders from the Internationals Network, National Newcomers Network, New York Immigration Coalition and Project Open Arms from NYC Public Schools will share how they push back against anti-immigrant policies through innovative resources and collaborative approaches, especially within the current political climate. The panel aims to inspire schools and organizations to forge partnerships that respond to the fears, needs, and strengths of immigrant families.
Lara Evangelista, Executive Director, Internationals Network
Tamara Mair, Senior Director, Project Open Arms
Vladimir Tlali, Senior Policy Strategist, New York Immigration Coalition
Alejandra Vázquez Baur, Co-Founder, National Newcomer Network
See speakers’ full bios below.
Keynote Speaker:
Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is the author of the National Book Award finalist The Undocumented Americans (2020). Her debut novel, Catalina (2024), explores the experiences of an undocumented student navigating the Ivy League, and was longlisted for the National Book Award. Her work, which focuses on race, culture, and immigration, has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Elle, This American Life, n+1, The New Inquiry, and Vogue. Karla is a proud graduate of New York City public schools, after which she received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College. She is currently a PhD candidate at Yale University. Karla is a frequent speaker at high schools and colleges and has taught creative writing at Baruch College.
Speaker Bios:
Lara Evangelista
Lara Evangelista is the Executive Director of Internationals Network, a national nonprofit that partners with public school systems and community-based organizations to design and sustain equitable, multilingual learning environments for recently arrived immigrant and refugee students. The child of immigrants and a first-generation college student, Lara brings both personal and professional commitment to this work. With over 25 years of experience in New York City public schools as both an educator and as a parent, she has led transformative efforts to improve outcomes for newcomer students as a teacher, founding school team member, and administrator. She served as principal of The Flushing International High School and later as Deputy Superintendent for the Consortium, Internationals, and NYC Outward Bound Schools (CIOB) District. Lara holds degrees in languages and education from Georgetown University, New School University, Hunter College, and Teachers College, Columbia University, where she is currently a doctoral candidate in the Urban Educational Leadership program.
Tamara Mair
Tamara Mair is a Senior Director at the NYC Department of Education with over 20 years of experience advancing equity and student support systems. She currently leads Project Open Arms, coordinating citywide efforts to support newly arrived immigrant students and families through cross-agency collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and trauma-informed practice.
Vladimir Tlali
Vladimir Tlali is NYIC’s senior policy strategist, leading our New York City policy and advocacy efforts. They also oversee the Economic Justice and Education portfolios. With more than a decade of experience in nonprofit management and social justice work in Mexico and the US, Vlad specializes in human rights, immigration, gender, public policy, and nonprofit management. Previous experience includes serving as Director of the New York State LGBT Health and Human Services Network, Programs and Fundraising lead at Sin Fronteras, Mexico’s largest nonprofit organization working on immigration and asylum policy, and Gender Analyst for the World Food Programme in Nairobi, Kenya. Studies include a Master‘s degree in Public Policy at Columbia University, and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM).
Alejandra Vázquez Baur
Alejandra Vázquez Baur is a fellow at The Century Foundation, where she aims to advance systems-level solutions for immigrant youth and marginalized students grounded in educational equity, coalition-building, and student voice. In 2022, she co-founded the National Newcomer Network, a coalition of nearly 400 educators, researchers, and advocates in 46 states, aiming to improve the educational experience of newcomer students. An inaugural Obama USA Leader, Deeper Learning Equity Fellow, and former teacher, her work bridges policy, research, and organizing and has been featured in several media outlets, including Chalkbeat, The 74 Million, Education Week, Axios, The Guardian, and POLITICO. Alejandra is a proud granddaughter of Mexican farmworkers and domestic workers and holds degrees from Claremont McKenna College and Columbia University.
