Immigration justice attorney Cori Alonso-Yoder, human rights expert Liliane Loya, and experienced portfolio manager Joseph Thurakal join CDM’s Board of Directors
Today, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (CDM) announced the appointment of three new members to its Board of Directors: immigration attorney Ana Corina “Cori” Alonso-Yoder, experienced portfolio manager Joseph Thurakal, and human rights director Liliane Loya. With these additions, CDM’s Board of Director consists of 10 members, who offer their experience to advocate for migrant workers’ rights across the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Over the past year, the political context has heightened the need to uphold migrant workers’ rights.All three of these new Board Members are driven by their personal connection to migration and expand our organization’s legal analysis, financial planning expertise, and fundraising skills,” said Rachel Micah-Jones, Executive Director of CDM. “We are excited to welcome Cori, Joe and Liliane, who will strengthen our capacity to advance migrant justice with workers through our grassroots efforts, legal strategies and innovative advocacy.”
Cori Alonso-Yoder is the Practitioner-in-Residence with the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the American University Washington College of Law. A dedicated attorney experienced with equal justice issues, Cori has successfully advocated for access to legal counsel and health for noncitizens. Cori’s history with CDM goes back to 2009, when she volunteered with the organization as a law clerk in Zacatecas.
As the current Deputy Director at the MacArthur Foundation’s Mexico Office, Liliane Loya focuses on topics including migration, human mobility and reproductiv erights, among others. In addition to experience working in government, civil society organizations and the UN system, Liliane brings a deep understanding of temporary labor programs; notably, she oversaw the implementation of the Canada-Mexico Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program when she served as Labor Affairs Attaché at the Mexican Embassy in Ottawa.
Joseph Thurakal is a Senior Portfolio Manager for Tigmera, LLC, a progressive family office in the Bay Area. He has managed portfolios for the last decade with a focus on long/short equity and quantitative investment managers. He is also a seed and angel stage investor in political progressive technology and cleantech companies. Joseph graduated magna cum laude from Columbia College where he studied Mathematics and Physics; he earned his MA in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley.
CDM’s transnational, multi-pronged strategy includes educating workers in their home communities in Mexico, providing migrant workers access to U.S. legal services, and advocating for policies that reflect migrant workers’ voices. Today, anti-immigrant, anti-worker rhetoric and the expansion of U.S. guestworker programs have only intensified the organization’s role in addressing abuses, including fraud and trafficking.