Presentation Topic:
Working with International Populations: A multidisciplinary approach
McKenzie Wren, MPH – Director, Clarkston Community Center (Moderator)
McKenzie Wren is the Executive Director of the Clarkston Community Center, Inc. responsible for the day to day operations of the center, setting vision and direction for all activities, program development, budget creation and supervision of all employees and the vast number of volunteers who give their time to the center.
McKenzie has a great deal of experience working with diverse communities in the Atlanta area as well as other areas of the country and brings much to the Clarkston Community Center where 52 different languages are spoken in the schools and at least 85% of the population consists of refugees who have been resettled in the area.
She has a Masters of Public Health from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a Bachelor of Arts from the American University in Washington DC. She speaks fluent Spanish, Danish and French .
McKenzie is a skilled artist and teacher and has great storytelling skills which she has demonstrated at the Clarkston Community Center and Inman Park Cooperative Preschool.
Maja Hasic, MA - Anti-Human Trafficking Program Cooridinator, Tapestri
Maja Hasic has served as the Anti-Human Trafficking Program Coordinator with Tapestri Inc., a non-profit social service agency that works with survivors of violence from the immigrant and refugee community since March 2008. She provides direct services to survivors of human trafficking.
Ms. Hasic also designs and provides trainings and outreach to mainstream service providers, law enforcement, and community organizations on human trafficking on a local, state-wide, and national basis. Ms. Hasic has conducted numerous trainings on; Human Trafficking 101, Addressing the Unique Needs of Human Trafficking Victims, Collaboration between Law Enforcement, Victims, Non-Governmental Organizations, Non-Conventional Housing Options for Human Trafficking Victims, and Effective Attorney and Case Manager Co-Managing of Trafficking Cases. She also facilitated local trainings and trainings at the annual Freedom Network conferences. Currently, Ms. Hasic works to establish collaborative relationships with other nonprofit organizations and law enforcement around the issue of human trafficking.
In addition, Ms. Hasic serves as a spokes person for Tapestri on the issue of human trafficking. Ms. Hasic has written her non thesis on the impact of immigration policies and tolerance of the sex industry on human trafficking in the European Union. She holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science.
Monica Khant, JD – Executive Director, Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network
Monica Modi Khant is currently the Program Director for the Georgia Asylum & Immigration Network (GAIN) in Atlanta, GA. As Program Director, Ms. Modi Khant oversees, supervises, trains and mentors pro bono attorneys who represent immigrant victims of violence. Ms. Modi Khant also trains law enforcement, pro bono attorneys and advocates on immigrant human trafficking and domestic violence issues. She received her BA from Rutgers University in 1995 and her J.D. from New England School of Law in 1998. Upon graduation, she was the Detention Attorney at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) where she represented detained asylum seekers. In 2000, Ms. Modi Khant continued practicing immigration law with private immigration law firms in Boston, MA. In 2005, Ms. Modi Khant was appointed as the Director of Legal Services at the International Institute of Boston (IIB). With this position, Ms. Modi Khant worked extensively with victims of abuse and trafficking. She has also trained law enforcement (ICE & FBI) on how to work with immigrant victims of violence. Ms. Modi Khant currently serves Board of Directors of Raksha, a Georgia-based nonprofit organization for the South Asian Community and has served as Pro Bono Liaison of the Atlanta chapter of the America Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Ms. Modi Khant has also appeared on local television shows in Atlanta, GA speaking about the issue of domestic violence and human trafficking in Georgia.
Alawode Oladele, MD, MPH – Refugee Health Services, Dekalb Co. Board of Health
Dr. Alawode Oladele was born in Nigeria. He received his Medical degree from Morehouse School of Medicine, and his Masters of Public Health degree from Emory University, and did his internship, residency and fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.
He currently works in the Public Health and Global Health setting, and is the Medical Director of County Wide Services at the DeKalb County Board of Health in the State of Georgia. He has served as the refugee health and tuberculosis medical director for the past 15 years. He is the CEO and President of Premiere International Health Care Inc., with several HIV and community health projects in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean . In addition he works with numerous US based and international organizations including Physicians for Human Rights, the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care, and the Global Initiative for AIDS Nutritional Therapy.
Some of his other areas of interests include working on social justice issues (including but not limited to: economic development; community development; environmental justice; human rights; human development; and social change). He has also participated in numerous ethnographic and cross cultural health research projects.