This year’s Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative (CVIIC) Regional Conference, held in Fresno November 15, brought together a diverse group of 80 community members from a variety of organizations to discuss the strengths and needs of immigrants in the Central Valley.
Californians Together was honored to be invited to facilitate a panel on Meeting the Needs of Newcomers in PK-12 Schools in the Central Valley, which included panelists Ruth Barajas (Project Director for the Support for Immigrant and Refugee Students Project), Efrain Tovar (Middle School ELD teacher in Selma Unified and founder of the California Newcomer Network), and Lindsey Bird (Emergent Bilingual Change-Agent Coach from TeachPlus). Central Valley Policy Associate, Eric Alvarez, was also present and invited participants to engage in the Central Valley Multilingual Consortium, which was launched this year by Californians Together.