Ignite Amplify
Join Empower

Executive Director

Lorena's journey began in New York City. She was born to immigrant parents who valued cultural heritage and community. In Mississippi, she raises her children with values of resilience and community involvement. As Executive Director of IAJE, Lorena employs innovative strategies, amplifying unheard voices and fostering recognition and respect for all. The many rich experiences and stories from her lived experiences inform her resilience, innovation, and dedication required for the strong leadership in IAJE’s fight for community empowerment.

Head of Operations

Lauren is a native Mississippian who moved to the capitol city to attend college. She has volunteered to organize with youth in the state. Lauren now works at IAJE full-time as the organization’s Operations Manager. She has experience in advocating and organizing around public health safety, herbalism, reproductive justice and healing as abolition. She uplifts language access, food and land sovereignty, baking therapy and cultural organizing through a Black feminist lens while implementing popular education through the arts at IAJE. Lauren has a multicultural and multi-ethnic background, and was raised in opposite spectrums: a Metropolitan area and the rural Mississippi Delta. With a father born in Mound Bayou, a historically significant town, and a mother born in South America, who later migrated to NYC. These ancestral gifts have shaped her viewpoint of the world around her.

Head of Finance

Leslye, a dynamic individual who grew up in the culturally rich city of Miami, serves as the Head of Finance at IAJE. Her work at IAJE places her firmly at the crucial intersections of health access, immigrant rights, and language sovereignty. She is trilingual, and ensures that community members whose first language is not English receive the essential information they need to make informed decisions for themselves and their families. Her unwavering passion for her work plays a vital role in ensuring that IAJE is fully able to continue its steadfast commitment to creating sustainable futures for all.

Head of People and Programs

A first-generation immigrant, Michael grew up in New York City. His humanitarian journey began with the Red Cross, later serving in West Africa with the Peace Corps, and finally landed at the Mississippi Teacher Corps, where he was assigned to teach in the Mississippi Delta. He went on to serve as a recruiter in college admissions at an HBCU. Now at IAJE, he leverages his previous experiences as current Head of People and Programs, empowering team members in their projects, in addition to nurturing and supporting them in their personal and professional growth and development.

Lead Youth Organizer & Policy Fellow

Sasha is the Lead Youth Organizer currently working for IAJE, the only organization in the state of Mississippi founded by immigrants for immigrants. She is a Mississippi native currently attending a historic HBCU. She strives to promote and encourage youth engagement in the state of Mississippi and focuses her work on amplifying the voices of youth in Jackson. She has contributed to her work by creating advanced curriculums for fellowships under the Progressive Youth of MS. As a creative, Sasha has added to the beauty of the IAJE facilities.

Youth Organizer & Public Health Fellow

Originally from Mexico, Crystal has lived in Mississippi during her formative years and is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Public Health in her Honors College at a prestigious HBCU. At IAJE, Crystal engages young people in civic education and works with Promotoras de salud, hosting bi-weekly discussions on preventive health and emotional intelligence. Her bilingual fluency in English and Spanish allows her to effectively support English learners in her community. When not working or studying, Crystal stays active and encourages her community to embrace movement through a holistic wellness approach.

Executive Assistant & Office Coordinator

As a first-generation Mexican-American, Kimberly, IAJE’s Office Coordinator, exemplifies the resilience and innovation that are fundamental to the mission of the IAJE. Her role in coordinating activities and schedules within the IAJE community center. Kimberly's dedication enables her to engage authentically with the state's immigrant communities. Kim facilitates new memberships, and presents new members with access to essential community services. Her efforts ensure that the IAJE remains a welcoming hub that cultivates connections and empowers individuals.

Facilities

Cooper serves as Facilities and Ground Support at IAJE, bringing strong dedication to community service and faith-based engagement to his role in the community center. His role is to ensure that IAJE's physical spaces effectively support the organization's mission of empowering Mississippi's immigrant communities. As a central MS native, his deep understanding of the unique regional context enriches his contributions to IAJE.

Mandesha-DeSha’ is a Mississippi-based communications strategist dedicated to amplifying the voices of immigrant, Black, and LGBTQIA+ communities. With a background in television as a television news producer and digital anchor, Mandesha-DeSha’ specializes in crafting narratives that highlight resilience, justice, and cultural pride. At IAJE, she leads strategic communications campaigns, supports community-centered messaging, fields reporter requests, and so much more! Outside of work, Mandesha-DeSha’ finds joy in attending golf tournaments, music, shopping, creating TikTok’s, trying and exploring local food scenes, and hanging out with her cats. 

A native of Orange County, California, Cori devoted her formative years to immersing herself in the state's diverse cultural landscape. Having achieved conversational proficiency in Spanish, she demonstrates strong comprehension skills in the language. During her collegiate studies, she enhanced her international perspective through an academic sojourn to Aviano, Italy, where she gained valuable insights into contemporary Italian society while stationed at the military installation as a guest. Having relocated to Mississippi eleven years ago, she was presented with the opportunity to contribute to IAJE's mission. In her capacity as Executive Assistant to the Executive Director, her multicultural competency proves instrumental in facilitating effective communication with organizers regarding events, functions, meetings, and IAJE community partnerships. Through her dedication to maintaining organizational efficiency and fostering inter-organizational relationships, she advances IAJE's mission of promoting equitable outcomes for all communities.

Theo is a native of central MS with family roots in the MS Delta. Growing up his parents would emphasize the need to acquire understanding and be of service to others. This upbringing has served as a source of inspiration and motivation throughout his life. His passion to pour into the next generation led to the formation of a mentorship program in 2020. This experience, in addition to organizing communities around diverse issues, is what he brings to IAJE. In his current role, he helps facilitate conversations and connections amongst those we serve. Theo believes true success is in the empowerment of a successor. For this reason, he is committed to the success of IAJE and every person encountered. The goal is to return to 'being' human, rather than our current state of human 'doing'. Ase'

Puto is a rich steamed rice cake snack from the Philippines. Usually cheese is added to it, which makes for a tasty treat!

Trakas is a modern Spanish slang term, made popular among younger generations in Latin America. It's a versatile expression that conveys surprise, disbelief, or admiration, depending on the context