Alex has more than a decade of experience as an attorney and public advocate. After graduating from St. Mary’s School of Law in San Antonio, Texas, he served as a law clerk to Sr. United States District Judge David Briones. At St. Mary’s he served as Editor-in-chief of The Scholar, the school’s specialty law journal. He completed his bachelors in Public Policy at Stanford University.

Dr. Nicholas D. Natividad is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at New Mexico State University. His teaching and research interests focus on civil and human rights. His scholarship focuses on transnational and local community practices of human rights informed by indigenous and post-colonial methodologies that address inequality, crime, and violence. Dr. Natividad is an advocate for community engagement initiatives and believes education should offer outlets for students to learn from and give back to their communities.

Melissa Cedillo was born and raised in California’s Coachella Valley. Working at the intersection of religion and public life, Melissa has worked in campaigns in Florida, Texas, California and Washington, DC on immigration. She attended Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and Harvard Divinity School for graduate school. She is dedicated to advocating for preventative domestic violence policy, immigration advocacy, pushing for prison divestment and decarceration work.

Alan Simpson is a financial advisor with Cetera Advisor Networks in El Paso, Texas. Previously, Alan spent 22 years as CEO of Silver Streak Restaurant Corporation, growing the company to 15 restaurants in El Paso, TX, and Juarez, MX. He currently serves on the El Paso Diocesan Building Council and the Laudato Si’ Commission, and he and his wife, Sue, volunteer at the Holy Family Refugee Center, helping migrants find their way to their families in the United States.

Ms. Lorena Andrade is the executive director of La Mujer Obrera, an internationally acclaimed & award-winning, 30-year-old grassroots organization dedicated to development and advocacy in defense and recognition of Mexican migrant women workers’ heritage, rights and contributions. La Mujer Obrera’s community development model is ecological, community-led, and leading to full community empowerment and self-sufficiency.

J. Kevin Appleby is the senior director of international migration policy for the Center for Migration Studies of New York and the Scalabrini International Migration Network. He previously served as director of migration and public affairs in the Office of Migration and Refugee Policy at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Appleby holds a law degree from the University of Maryland and a master's degree in international affairs from George Washington University.

Msgr. Arturo J. Bañuelas is the founding chair of the Hope Border Institute. He has founded a number of initiatives in theology, ministries and border activism and is the founder and past president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS) as well as the founder of the Tepeyac Institute, a diocesan ministry formation center. Msgr. Bañuelas holds a doctorate in Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy.

Bishop Anthony C. Celino is a native of the Philippines and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of El Paso. In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop of El Paso, the third Filipino to be elevated as a U.S. bishop. Bishop Celino studied at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein and holds a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Catholic University of America.

Dylan Corbett is the founder and executive director of the Hope Border Institute, a faith-based research, advocacy and humanitarian action organization at the US-Mexico border. He has over fifteen years of experience working in international and human development globally, in Washington, DC, and in the borderlands. Dylan has served as an official at the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and also coordinated the work of the Vatican's Migrants & Refugees Section in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Dylan previously worked with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development as well as with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the USCCB's national anti-poverty program. He has studied at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. Dylan is a board member of the Border Immigration Law & Justice Center, a member of the Texas Advisory Committee of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a member of the advisory board of the Texas Resilient States Project, and is a consultant to the USCCB Committee on Migration. He lives in El Paso with his wife and two children.

Kenneth Ferrone is the current Executive Director of Catholic Charities of Southern New Mexico.  His 25-year academic career includes serving in leadership positions at the University of Chicago, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, Loyola Marymount University, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Chapman University.  Kenneth received his Bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and his Masters degree from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.

Dr. Luis Ricardo Fraga is the Rev. Donald P. McNeill, C.S.C., Professor of Transformative Latino Leadership, Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Professor of Political Science, Director of the Institute for Latino Studies, and Fellow at the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame. He has been on the faculty at the University of Washington, Stanford University, and the University of Oklahoma. He is a native of Corpus Christi, Texas. He received his A.B., cum laude, from Harvard University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Rice University. 

Sofía serves on the Charitable Giving and Hispanic Development teams of CRS, the official overseas relief and development agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. She is a seasoned fundraising executive with extensive experience. Sofía worked as a major gifts officer for the Augustine Institute and the Catholic Foundation for the Diocese of El Paso. She is a graduate of Loretto Academy and The University of Texas at El Paso. She has served on community boards, including the El Paso County Board of Ethics, Pan American Round Table, and the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence.

Amirah Orozco is a PhD Student in Theology at the University of Notre Dame where she studies liberation theologies from the Americas. She is originally from the borderlands. She obtained her Bachelor's of Arts in Philosophy and Master's of Theological Studies at Boston College. Her publications have appeared in Commonweal Magazine, the National Catholic Reporter, as well as Perspectivas and the Journal of Interreligious Studies. She is passionate about bringing Catholic thought into contact with the realities, joys, hopes and sufferings of the borderlands regions.