Presenter Profiles

Hello my name is Yael Balbuena Basto, and I am a DACA recipient. I migrated to the United States when I was just four years old. Because of DACA, I was able to attend Brophy College Preparatory where I helped create a campaign named 'The DreamON campaign' alongside my friends. The campaign itself focused on helping others learn more about what DACA is, and create action to help out the thousands of DACA recipients affected. Within the campaign, we were able to pass legislation, travel thought the United States to speak at conferences and schools, but most importantly we were able to give a voice to the voiceless. I am proud to consider myself a DREAMER and hope to continue fighting for my fellow DACA recipients.

Pastor Mike McBride is a national leader in the movement to implement public health and community centered gun violence prevention programs. The campaigns that he has co-led have contributed to 30-50% reductions of gun related homicides in Oakland, CA, Stockton, CA, Camden, NJ, Baton Rouge, LA, and many other cities across the country.

He is the Founder and Lead Pastor of The Way Church in Berkeley, CA. He also serves as the Director of Faith in Action’s LIVE FREE gun violence prevention campaign. He is a Co-Founder of the Black Church PAC and the National Black Brown Gun Violence Prevention Consortium, which works to center black and brown gun violence prevention practitioners and scale up life-saving interventions related to urban and communal violence. Regarded as a national faith leader, active in the Ferguson uprisings and many subsequent uprisings, he helps bridge, train and support millennials and religious institutions working on racial justice and black liberation.

José Arnulfo Cabrera was born in a small village in Mexico and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Growing up, Cabrera remembers his mom organizing undocumented workers in Cincinnati for a just wage and safe working conditions. During this time, he learned organizing tricks and skills to keep people engaged and hopeful during disappointing moments. It wasn’t long until Cabrera started organizing for immigration reform issues, sharing his family’s story, and how he would benefit from legislation like the DREAM Act. After high school, Cabrera, a DACA recipient, studied at Xavier University, while at the same time working at the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC) in Cincinnati where he started a group called Youth Educating Society (YES). Through his work at IJPC and YES he became an advocate for DACA recipients across Cincinnati, particularly at Xavier, by training and working with staff members on making Xavier a DACA friendly campus. In 2017 Cabrera attended his first ISN program, the Ignatian Justice Summit on Immigration, where Cabrera fell in love with ISN’s mission. He spoke at the Advocacy Day Public Witness during the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice in 2017 and the 2018 Ignatian Justice Summit and has contributed to ISN’s online content. After graduation, Cabrera served as a government relations associate at NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice in Washington, D.C. where he enhanced his understanding and knowledge of furthering pro-immigrant policy.

Angel Mortel is an organizer with LA Voice. She spent over 15 years in Brazil, serving most of those years with Maryknoll Lay Missioners. Her ministry involved organizing community health volunteers, coordinating an income generation project for women and fundraising for the national prison ministry of the Brazilian Catholic Church. Her passion for social justice grew out of her experiences in Brazil, but also from living and teaching in inner city Washington, DC and working with Bread for the World and Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. Most recently, she managed the faith community outreach program at Brave New Films. Angel has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Third World Studies from Oberlin College and a Master of Arts in International Development from American University.

Yosimar Reyes is a nationally-acclaimed Poet and Public Speaker. Born in Guerrero, Mexico, and raised in Eastside San Jose, Reyes explores the themes of migration and sexuality in his work. The Advocate named Reyes one of "13 LGBT Latinos Changing the World" and Remezcla included Reyes on their list of "10 Up And Coming Latinx Poets You Need To Know."

Ruby Rivera is the Director of Programs and Policy at Legacy LA, a youth development center in Boyle Heights. In this role she has the opportunity to engage youth leaders and youth serving organizations in citywide policy advocacy, organizing, and coalition building centered on the Invest in Youth Campaign.

Ruby is a proud Queer Latina born and raised in Lynwood, CA. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chicana/o Studies and Labor and Workplace Studies from the University of California Los Angeles in 2010. In 2017, she earned her Master of Social Work in Community, Organization, and Business Innovation from the University of Southern California where she interned at the Center for the Study of Social Policy in New York City. Ruby has served the community of Boyle Heights for over 9 years as an advocate for positive youth development, environmental justice, and equitable community development.

Annie Fox is the Provincial Assistant for Social Ministry Organizing for Jesuits West. Prior to this role, Annie served as the Lead Organizer and Chief of Staff at LA Voice, the Lead Organizer at Sacramento Area Congregations Together (ACT) and Lead Education Organizer for PICO California; all of which are affiliates of Faith in Action, the largest faith-based organizing network in the country. Fox has run grassroots campaigns focused on housing, homelessness, education, immigration, and mass incarceration. She has trained hundreds of faith leaders from many racial, religious and economic backgrounds. She has organized with UNITE Here, the Industrial Area Foundations, the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, and Moishe Kavod Jewish Social Justice House.

Saúl Rascon Salazar is a sophomore at Loyola Marymount University studying International Relations & French. He is originally from Sonora, Mexico & began my work in advocacy with the Dream On Campaign after finding out he was undocumented in 2016 and qualifying for the DACA program. Having led The DreamON Campaign at Brophy College Prep in Arizona, Saúl has years of hands-on experience in immigration advocacy & local legislative action. Saúl enjoys advocating & being a voice for those who do not feel as empowered to speak out against our unjust immigration system its treatment towards us.