Board

Border Network for Human Rights

2010 – 2011 Board of Directors:

Don Kerwin – Donald Kerwin is Vice President for Programs at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), overseeing all of MPI’s national and international programs.

Prior to joining MPI, Mr. Kerwin worked for more than 16 years at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), serving as Executive Director for nearly 15 years. CLINIC is a public interest legal corporation that supports a national network of 173 charitable legal programs for immigrants in more than 270 locations. Upon his arrival at CLINIC in 1992, Mr. Kerwin directed CLINIC’s political asylum project for Haitians. He became CLINIC’s Executive Director in December 1993 and during his tenure, CLINIC coordinated the nation’s largest political asylum, detainee services, immigration appeals, and naturalization programs. CLINIC also offers the nation’s most extensive training and legal support programs for community-based immigrant agencies.

Mr. Kerwin is an advisor to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Immigration Task Force, on the board of directors of Jesuit Refugee Services-USA, and an associate fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center.

Mr. Kerwin is a 1984 graduate of Georgetown University and a 1989 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.

Puja Dhawan -is the Manager of Initiatives for Women and Girls at the NoVo Foundation.  Her work focuses on ending violence against women and girls, and empowering women and girls in the United States and overseas.  She was previously the Senior Program Officer for the U.S. Human Rights Fund at Public Interest Projects, where she carried out domestic human rights grantmaking and donor outreach.  Puja has also done consulting work on developing domestic human rights funding and advocacy strategies.  Sheauthored the 2010 report Domestic Dignity for the Asian Law Caucus on integrating domestic human rights into the Asian American advocacy community, and was a contributing author for Perfecting Our Union: Human Rights Success Stories from Across the United States. She worked on international human rights law at the U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women, where she assisted the monitoring body for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and at Human Rights Watch where she worked on gender and caste discrimination in South Asia.   After law school, Puja worked as a Staff Attorney at Bay Area Legal Aid, and represented battered women in family law proceedings.  She earned her J.D. from NYU School of Law and a B.A.(honors) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Grisella Martinez, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs for the National Immigration Forum, whom was established in 1982, the National Immigration Forum is the leading immigrant advocacy organization in the country with a mission to advocate for the value of immigrants and immigration to the nation.  The Forum uses its communications, advocacy and policy expertise to create a vision, consensus and strategy that leads to a better, more welcoming America – one that treats all newcomers fairly.

Dr. Josiah Heyman – Josiah Heyman is Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the Sociology and Anthropology Department at the University of Texas at El Paso.  He is the author of over 50 academic articles and author or editor of three scholarly books, including Finding a Moral Heart for U.S. Immigration Policy: An Anthropological Perspective.  His area of expertise is U.S. Immigration law enforcement and border policy.

Professor Ricardo Blazquez – Mr. Ricardo R. Blazquez was named executive director of the Center for Inter-American and Border Studies of the University of Texas at El Paso in 2007. He leads the efforts of the Center in its academic programs and university-wide engagements in Latin America. He also is an adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas at El Paso and a visiting adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Business of the I.T.E.S.M. in Monterrey, Mexico. His areas of interest, research, and instruction are Latin American business, globalization, operations management, continuous improvement strategies, strategy deployment methodologies, global information technology management, organizational behavior, leadership, labor relations and the dynamics of corporate politics, bureaucracy, and ethics. Mr. Blazquez has over 25 years of experience in industry, with well over 15 years as an executive with General Motors. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in sociology and history from DePaul University and a master’s degree in management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Fernando Garcia (Non-Voting Member) – Fernando Garcia is Founding Director of the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR). The BNHR supports immigrant border communities in the promotion of their human rights and the demand of humane of immigration reform that is consistent with human rights. As Director, Fernando is responsible for facilitating the creation of Human Rights Community-Based Committees and the training of Human Rights Promoters in Southern New Mexico, West Texas, Arizona, Houston, Dallas, San Jose CA and New Jersey.  In 2001, he became the National Coordinator of the National Movement for Legalization and Human Rights – an alliance of community based immigrant groups and organizations in the U.S. Under Fernando’s coordination, the Border Network for Human Rights has also worked closely with local elected officials and community organizations to develop city council resolutions in El Paso, Texas to oppose the militarization of the border, a call for comprehensive immigration reform, and against the presence of racist groups in the border region such as the minutemen. At the present time he is a member of the Independent Task Force of Immigration and America’s Future convened by the Migration Policy Institute.

The Board of Directors is also composed from Community Members whom live and reside in the areas the BNHR Works directly in. These members do not work national organizations, but nonetheless are important figures that define the direction of BNHR.

Community Members:

• Concepcion Nevarez – Housewife who resides in East El Paso, TX and is a member of the “Tesoros del Desierto” Human Rights Committees and Region.
• Marie Acero – Housewife who resides in East El Paso, TX and is a member of the “Valle de las Misiones” Human Rights Committees and Region.
• Maria Elena Villareal – Housewife who resides in East El Paso, TX and is a member of the “Paso del Norte” Human Rights Committees and Region.
• Adrian Ramirez – Is a student whom resides in Southern New Mexico and is a member of the “Tierra del Encanto ” Human Rights Committees and Region.
• Sandra Montoya – Housewife who resides in Southern New Mexico and is a member of the “Rio Grande” Human Rights Committees and Region.
• Susana Hererra – Housewife who resides in Central El Paso, TX and is a member of the “Chamizal” Human Rights Committees and Region; Susana is also the BNHR Secretary.