MEET THE TEAM
LORENA QUIROZ
Founder/Director
Lorena Quiroz, is a 22-year Mississippi resident. Born in Ecuador, by way of New York, she’s an organizer and mother of three amazing girls; first generation Afro Latinas born in the beautiful Delta flatlands. She is the founder of the Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity, an organization whose purpose is to amplify the voices of marginalized, multi-racial, and immigrant communities by active participation in civic engagement in deconstructing barriers that perpetuate racial, xenophobic, socio-economical, and gender identity and sexuality disparities and oppression.
Yudenia Tiza
Promotora Manager
Yudenia es graduada de la escuela de medicina de Cuba en el 2021. Ha desarrollado experiencia en medicina familiar comunitaria por más de 10 años en Cuba y una misión médica en Venezuela (2004-2007). Especialista de primer grado en Medicina General Integral en el 2005. Obtuvo su categoría docente como instructor graduado en 2009 y especialista de primer grado en Medicina Intensiva y Emergencias en el 2015, en La Habana, Cuba.
Al llegar al Mississippi en el 2017, las experiencias como inmigrante le hicieron consciente de las necesidades de la creciente comunidad. Del 2017 al 2019 participó voluntariamente en el programa de tutorías bilingüe de OTCC para la comunidad latina en Ridgeland. Durante el curso escolar 2018-2019 se incorporó al sistema educativo de Madison County Schools como tutora para los estudiantes de familias inmigrantes, dando apoyo en la comprensión del idioma, matemáticas y ciencias, donde permaneció hasta el curso 2020-2021.
En el 2022 se unió a la Alianza de Inmigrantes para Justicia y Equidad (IAJE) como consultante en medicina preventiva. Actualmente es Manager del programa " Promotoras de Salud" una plataforma de salud donde desarrolla intervenciones educativa preventivas dirigida a la familia, con representantes de las comunidades de la región Central y el Delta del Mississippi.
JESS MANRRIQUEZ
Director of Finance and Operation
Jess Manrriquez is a queer Chicane educator specializing in the pre-Columbian Southeast. They have over a decade of experience in grassroots queer and racial justice movement work in Mississippi and throughout the Southeast. Jess is dedicated to uplifting and making space for marginalized folks, breaking down systems of oppression, and building systems that are just and equitable.
Sun/Moon: Cancer; Rising: Leo
Isela Gonzalez
Lead Promotora
Hello, my name is Isela Gonzalez; I am the Community Health Worker (Promotora) Lead of IAJE. I really like helping my community, that they learn about their rights in this country and to be valued as the great human beings that they are. My work with IAJE obeys in particular because I want to empower more women like me, so that their rights are respected and they are treated with dignity.
Lauren Lewis
Earth Justice Organizer
Lauren is 23 year old Delta native with experience in advocating and around public health safety, herbalism, reproductive justice and healing as abolition. As an organizer, Lauren has interviewed for MS Black Women’s Roundtable, Top of Mind Podcast, and was a panelist at the Yale School of Public Health at the height of the Jackson Mississippi Water Crisis. Lauren has affection for youth and in the future hopes to have her own afterschool space to teach growing minds. She believes children are entitled to a calm, safe space where they can simultaneously learn the value of imagination, music, critical thinking, and books while also applying social and comprehension skills.
More Info Coming Soon...
Team Member | Name | Role | Email |
|---|---|---|---|
Sasha Lewis | Youth Organizer | sasha@iajems.org | |
Jackie Wansely | Administrative | jackie@iajems.org | |
Efren Nuñez | Organizer | efren@iajems.org |