Building advocacy, community, and leadership.
Build communities that provide advocacy, education, social and economic opportunity for immigrant children and families.
An immigrant community that is self-empowered, and civically engaged to transform social structures that benefit all people.
Center for Immigrant Progress it’s an immigrant-led organization in Lake County, IL, dedicated to dismantling barriers that immigrant families face in health, education, legal access, and civic life.
Mission
Vision
Guiding Principles
ADVOCACY: We advocate for policies that increase resources, protection, and opportunity for immigrant families and children. We also provide our community with safe spaces to help inform decision-makers on the impacts of anti-immigrant policies.
COMMUNITY: In recent years, anti-immigrant rhetoric has created a fearful and unsafe environment for immigrants. There have been multiple changes to immigration policy that have made it difficult for many to stay up to date and understand. Through our community education sessions, we bring awareness to current issues impacting immigrant families.
LEADERSHIP: We believe that true power is something created by communities directly impacted. We want to provide training that gives immigrant youth and young adults the knowledge needed to understand the vital role immigrants play in changing social systems through civic engagement, policy, and organizing.
Meet the Team!
-
Carmen Patlan
Executive Director
Carmen Patlan, identified by the pronouns she/her/hers, is a profoundly spiritual individual whose faith fuels her deep sense of conviction and compassion. Her life's mission is dedicated to enhancing the human condition.
Her work is centered on transforming inequities, actively bridging the gap between disparate communities, ensuring equitable opportunities and resources for all, and focusing on access for the most vulnerable members of society.
With a respected 17-year tenure in the nonprofit sector, Carmen has been pivotal in establishing vital services and access points for various groups. These include immigrants, survivors of domestic violence and their families, and initiatives aimed at diminishing mental health stigma in communities of color. Furthermore, her efforts extend to improving mental health counseling services and educational opportunities for people across all age groups.
-
Jael Mejia
Director of Legal and Civic Engagement
Jael is an accomplished immigration legal professional and organizational leader with over a decade of experience in immigration law, program development, and community advocacy. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from National Louis University, an ABA-approved Associate Degree in Paralegal Studies, and has extensive expertise in immigration law practice as a U.S. Department of Justice Accredited Representative.
Jael began her nonprofit career at Mano a Mano Family Resource Center, where she built an Immigration Legal Services Program that continues to thrive. She most recently served as Paralegal Manager and Lead Trial Paralegal at Zuma Law LLC, where she oversaw complex asylum and humanitarian cases, trained staff, optimized case workflows, and ensured the highest standards of legal service delivery.
Board Members
-
Dulce Dominguez
BOARD PRESIDENT
Dulce Dominguez is originally from Ixtapan de la Sal, Mexico, and immigrated with her family to the United States at the age of two. Dulce is now a DACA recipient and has worked in the Lake County Community in Illinois as an advocate for immigrant families since her senior year of high school. Throughout her work in Lake County, Dulce has been a part of community efforts that advance the protection of immigrant families.
Dulce obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Northeastern Illinois University and a Master’s Degree in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. As an undergraduate intern Dulce worked at Nicasa Behavioral Health Services, providing bilingual substance abuse counseling to Latinos in the area.
In 2019, Dulce worked at Mano a Mano Family Resource Center as the community engagement manager, where she led the organization’s outreach and strategic partnerships and facilitated community workshops on policies and programs impacting immigrants. Most recently, Dulce worked as the development coordinator at Alianza Americas, a Chicago-based organization advocating transnationally for immigrant justice. She first joined Alianza Americas in 2018 as part of her graduate internship in policy and research, where she spearheaded two research projects on the health and safety of outdoor immigrant workers.
Dulce is passionate about immigrant justice and building leadership among immigrant youth in Lake County.
-
Melanie Hernandez
BOARD MEMBER
Melanie Hernandez is a field supervisor with the US Census Bureau. She is passionate about justice and equality. She received her bachelor’s degree in political science with a concentration in public policy and psychology from Marquette University in 2019. She has worked on Capitol Hill in Washington DC where she researched public policy put in place by Hispanic legislators all over the United States with the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators.
She has worked with nonprofits and specialized in family-based immigration. Since then she has become a firm believer that the people need to be at the forefront of public policy. She decided to join the Center for Immigrant Progress to empower and help other Lake/McHenry County community members take action.
Born and raised between two different cultures, Mexican and American, she acknowledges the challenges that bicultural individuals face and wants to help build bridges to create a safer, healthier, and a more just community. She wants to make the difference.
-
Shareny Mota
BOARD MEMBER
Every day Shareny Mota continues learning about the challenges that are affecting our community. She graduated from Northern Illinois University with a degree in Public Health and Family and Child studies.
Shareny has presented research at the Society for Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) national conference focused on individual prenatal care for a diverse population of women and a separate study on students with disabilities to help bring awareness to the importance of disability laws, accommodations, etiquette, and first-person language which greatly affected the well-being and learning of students at her university.
Currently, she is the Initiatives Coordinator of Success by 6 at United Way of Lake County. Where challenges such as the low percentage of students who lack the readiness skills for Kindergarten motivate her to explore new ways she can equip children with the tools necessary to be successful in their classroom and their future. Shareny is also a student at Loyola University Chicago where she studies her Masters of Social Work through the Online Bilingual MSW program.
She hopes to one-day work in the health field as a social worker and would like to influence health care systems and policy to eradicate mental health disparities. Through the Center for Immigrant Progress, she will dedicate her time to listen to her communities’ needs, protect those who are facing discrimination and oppression and bring her knowledge to service and advocate for immigrant families and children.
-
Sandra Diaz
Board Member
Sandra Díaz serves as the Communications Director at the Center for Immigrant Progress. Sandra is a current DACA recipient born in Reynosa Tamaulipas, Mexico, and migrated to the US at the age of 5. Sandra’s career in the nonprofit sector started in 2017, her commitment to the work was ignited by the impact of immigration policies on her local community and family.
In her previous roles, Sandra spearheaded implementing a civic engagement program in Lake County, Democracy in Action, amplifying the voices of those traditionally underrepresented in civic duty. Her work was dedicated to narrative change which led to the creation of campaigns aimed at reshaping perceptions and fostering understanding.
As a Board Member of Alianza Americas, a transnational organization, Sandra brings a unique perspective to her immigrant rights advocacy efforts. She holds an associate's degree in Networking and Computer Administration, combining technical expertise with her passion for storytelling to bridge gaps and address the needs of undocumented students, young professionals, and immigrant families.
In 2019, Sandra co-founded the Center for Immigrant Progress alongside five other immigrant women and daughters of immigrants. This grassroots organization is committed to championing access to education, immigrant rights, and fostering a dignified way of life for all people.
