About The Panelists

Aseel Elborno, Advocacy Campaign Specialist for Islamic Relief USA
Naika Foroutan, Professor of Social Sciences at Humboldt University; Co-Founder and Head of Department at the Berlin Institute on Integration and Migration
Téa Ivanovic, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Immigrant Food
Gbenga Ogunjimi, Chief Storyteller at GO Global
Naznin Saifi, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center
Peter Schechter, Co-Founder and President of Immigrant Food
Kelly White, Program Director for the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition’s Detained Adult Program

Aseel Elborno
Advocacy Campaign Specialist for Islamic Relief USA
Aseel Elborno serves as IRUSA’s Advocacy Campaign Specialist and has been in the field of civic and community engagement for over 15 years. She did her graduate studies in Political Communication at Johns Hopkins University and earned an undergraduate degree in Political Science from North Carolina State University. She spent a year in Egypt working with students from underserved communities who have aspirations of studying in the United States. Aseel also ran several programs for low-income residents that resided in affordable housing developments, including workforce solutions, food distributions, and voter registration. Aseel was recognized as one of the 40 under 40 emerging leaders of Virginia by the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce for her work in community organizing. Aseel has been a long-time advocate for civil rights, refugees, affordable housing, food security, and voter empowerment. Aseel did her graduate research study at JHU on the best methods for engaging the Arab and Muslim communities in the United States in civic engagement. Aseel is the lead on the IRUSA side for the Women’s Empowerment Campaign.

Naika Foroutan
Professor of Social Sciences at Humboldt University; Co-Founder and Head of Department at the Berlin Institute on Integration and Migration
Naika Foroutan is a Professor of Social Sciences at the Humboldt University in Berlin where she heads the department of integration studies and social policy at the Berlin Institute on Integration and Migration (BIM). She also co-directs the German Center for Integration and Migration (DeZIM) a Ministry-funded research institute that provides empirical analysis on migration, integration, and racism, monitoring Racist Realities in Germany. Foroutan’s research focuses on countries of immigration, their changing identities and attitudes towards minorities as well as the impact of pluralization on norms and values. In her book The Post-migrant society: A promise of plural democracy she developed a much acclaimed theoretical framework for analyzing social transformations in migration-impacted societies. She has published widely on societal conflicts related to minorities in pluralistic democracies, with a particular focus on the equal treatment of Islam and Muslims, on Muslim identities and anti-Muslim attitudes as well as on Islamism and radicalization. Her surveys on “East-Migrant Analogies” gained considerable attention by comparing East Germans with immigrants and testing for effects on anti-Muslim racism. This empirical study was followed by her most recent book, “The Society of Others”, which she published together with journalist Jana Hensel.

Téa Ivanovic
Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Immigrant Food
Téa is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Immigrant Food, a social enterprise startup that fuses innovative gastronomy and immigration advocacy. In less than two years, the company opened three restaurant locations in Washington D.C., and donated close to 25,000 meals to the immigrant community through its local partnerships. Immigrant Food’s mission is to celebrate immigrants’ contributions through food while being an advocate and a platform for educating on behalf of immigrants. In 2022, Téa was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 List, Washington Business Journal’s 25 Women Who Mean Business, FSR’s 40 Restaurant Stars on the Rise, and DC Fray’s 8 Trailblazing Women in Hospitality. Previously, Téa managed strategic communications for global asset managers, with a focus on impact investing, and ESG/CSR. She was the Washington correspondent for Oslobodjenje—Bosnia and Herzegovina’s oldest newspaper and leading news outlet in the Balkans. She also contributed articles and analyses to The Cipher Brief, The Huffington Post, and The Hill, among others. She is co-editor of three Brookings Institution book publications. Téa was a D1 student-athlete and graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Virginia Tech. She holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and International Economics from The Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) with a specialization in European and Eurasian affairs.

Gbenga Ogunjimi
Chief Storyteller at GO Global
Gbenga is a West African word that means Elevate. As a social entrepreneur, impact investor, and identity strategist, Gbenga applies his wealth of experience in social enterprise, philanthropy, and international service as a bridge builder—bridging the gap of access holding back leaders from making imprints on the global stage. Today, as an identity strategist, Gbenga architects the personal brand of leaders at all levels in career transition. He has coached hundreds of business and nonprofit leaders at organizations like Verizon, Airbnb, American Express, Teach for America, The Foundation Center, Susan G Komen, and the UN Foundation. Gbenga’s international platforms include the Social Enterprise World Forum, and his Business of Storytelling Series (Tell Your Story) has reached business leaders across Corporate America. Gbenga has worked with the governments of the United States and several emerging market countries to empower profit and nonprofit leaders. He has received global recognition for his work and impact. He is a proud Atlas Corps Alum (US), Global Young Social Entrepreneurs Fellow (Malaysia) and Cordes/Opportunity Collaboration Fellow (Mexico). Gbenga has written on Identity for The Huffington Post and makes his impact investments through LDI Africa.

Naznin Saifi
Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center
Naznin Saifi received her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in 1987 and her law degree from The American University’s Washington College of Law in 1992. Ms. Saifi became the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center in August 2015. After graduating from law school, Ms. Saifi worked as a staff attorney practicing in the areas of public benefits and housing at the Spokane Legal Services Center in Spokane, Washington, and then at the Legal Aid Society of Mercer County in Trenton, New Jersey. In 2001, Ms. Saifi became the managing attorney of the Prince William branch office of Legal Services of Northern Virginia practicing family law. Prior to joining the APALRC, Ms. Saifi was a deputy director at Northeast New Jersey Legal Services where she practiced consumer and public benefits law. Ms. Saifi has served on numerous committees and has been the recipient of several awards for her service to the low-income communities in which she practiced.

Peter Schechter
Co-Founder and President of Immigrant Food
Peter is Immigrant Food’s intellectual author and is its co-founder and president. The company is an homage to his parents, who were chain immigrants to the United States. Immigrant Food’s gastroadvocacy represents the perfect bridge between Peter’s political consulting and policy career and his experience in hospitality. Born in Rome, Italy, Peter speaks six languages and is a shaking pot of immigrant mixes. Until the age of six, he spoke only Italian at home in Rome with his parents who immigrated to the United States from Austria and Germany. He then lived in Latin America for almost a decade. Peter is a recognized global policy expert, political adviser, and business leader. Until 2017, he was the Senior Vice President of the Atlantic Council and Founding Director of the Council’s Latin America Center. His 25 years of experience include political campaigns in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, private enterprise advisory, and launching non-profits and new media startups. Peter also hosts and produces Altamar, a critically acclaimed global affairs podcast. Peter was also a Board member and is a long-time investor in José Andrés’ restaurant group. He owned Agur Winery, a boutique winery in Israel, and co-manages a Virginia goat farm.

Kelly White
Program Director for the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition’s Detained Adult Program
Kelly White, Esq., is the Program Director for the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition’s Detained Adult Program which provides legal services to immigrants from DC, MD, and VA detained in immigration prisons in VA, PA, and GA. These services include direct representation, pro bono mentorship and training, and community outreach. Ms. White, who joined CAIR Coalition in 2014, has a full view of the conditions of asylum seekers in their journeys from having worked in refugee camps, resettlement, migrant camps, detention centers, and immigration court for the last 15 years. With partners, she has pushed for localities to put public dollars towards representation for immigrants. She works with the fervent and real hope that local cities and states that fund immigration defense programs will eventually give rise to Federal Legislation- creating a public defender-like model in immigration court nationwide, removing a key barrier to asylum seekers in the U.S. She received her J.D. from the University of California–Davis. Ms. White previously worked as a contractor for UNHCR in Tanzania and for Church World Service Global representing and advocating alongside immigrants in North Carolina. She incorporates holistic and movement lawyering into her advocacy, learning from community groups, and pushing for legislation with local experts and partners.

About the Moderator

Drew Lichtenberg
STC Resident Dramaturg
Dr. Drew Lichtenberg has been STC’s Resident Dramaturg since the 2011/12 Season, working on over 57 productions. Dramaturgy credits: NEW YORK: Broadway: Roundabout Theatre Company: Time and the Conways (dir. Rebecca Taichman). Off-Broadway: New York Shakespeare Festival: Macbeth (dir. Moisés Kaufman) | La MaMa: Hoppla, We’re Alive! (dir. Zishan Ugurlu). INTERNATIONAL: Royal National Theatre: Les Blancs, Salomé (dir. Yaël Farber) REGIONAL: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, McCarter Theatre Center, American Conservatory Theatre San Francisco, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre. PUBLICATIONS: Theater, Theatre Journal, Contemporary Theatre Review, The Piscatorbühne Century (Routledge, 2021) and a forthcoming book on STC, for the Arden Series. PERSONAL: Proud partner of Rebecca Ende Lichtenberg and parent of Dylan and Noah Lichtenberg. | Teaching: Catholic University of America, David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, Eugene Lang College of the Liberal Arts at the New School | Training: Yale School of Drama, DFA in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism | DrewLichtenberg.com.