Citizenship Ambassadors

Fernando Morales is currently a director of 211 with United Way of Northern Utah and a commissioner in the Ogden City Diversity Commission. He finds great joy in helping new Americans integrate into their communities and seeing them thrive. His passion for helping and mentoring new Americans comes from his own family’s experience as immigrants from El Salvador. As the first person in his family to become a U.S. citizen, he first helped his family through the process and soon was helping others. He directed an immigrant services program in the Salt Lake City area and has held other leadership roles in both community and religious settings mentoring and educating Hispanic immigrants. He is a member of the Utah New American Taskforce and chairman of the Community of Salvadoreans of Northern Utah. He received a bachelor’s degree in business management from Brigham Young University – Idaho and has extensive professional experience working in the nonprofit sector. His commitment to advocating for equity in accessing social resources and his unmatching dedication to collaborating with diverse community partners has allowed him to transform his passion into community impact. Most recently, organizing welcoming informational workshops and a citizenship initiative in Ogden City. 

Miranda Alexander was born to a family of humble beginnings in the village of Carenage, Trinidad and Tobago. She was thrust into ministry as a young adult and developed her thought leadership skills while serving 6 years in Antigua and Barbuda as a pastor’s wife.  She later immigrated to the United States with her then-husband, 24 years ago.  She is the mother to a 23-year-old son, Jonathon Alexander.

She is a trained early childhood education Montessori teacher, with 25 years of combined child development in teaching pre-kindergarten, childcare domestic worker and a K-2 support services assistant at a local Philadelphia elementary school.

Alexander is a certified interior designer and has established many youth and adult community-based programs in Philadelphia, working within intersectional spaces with community organizations, partners, stakeholders and city agencies. She is enthusiastic about creating, developing and leading programs that connect people to their purpose. She is passionate about human rights, human service and advocacy, and is the past president of the United Nations Association of Greater Philadelphia.

She is the founding president and strategic project director of Caribbean Community in Philadelphia (CCP), established in 2013. CCP, which is fiscally managed by CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia, is a grassroots non-profit organization whose social mission is, “Positively reframing the narrative about and for Caribbean people and all underserved populations.” CCP operates on an eight-part program: education, health, arts and culture, sports, seniors, business, immigration, and natural disaster and climate change.

Alexander’s organization is a leading partner in Philadelphia with National Caribbean American Heritage Month, which promotes the significant contributions of Caribbean Americans in the month of June. She is a judge with Ignite Caribbean 30 under 30 Changemakers, recognizing Caribbean young adult achievements in four areas of exemplary service.

She has worked in establishing many community-based programs in Philadelphia and with many community partners and city agencies. She was recently recognized by President Joseph Biden with a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for 20 years of committed service to the community.

The city of Philadelphia, under the Office of Immigrant Affairs, honored her with a Welcoming Award for her work with the immigrant community.
 

Abdirizak Bihi is the Executive Director of the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center (SESAC), which he co-founded in 2002 with other community members to provide social services for the Somali and East African communities in Minnesota. SESAC provides mentoring, tutoring, employment placement, and other integration support services for East African youth, adults, and families. Bihi also serves as a consultant for Minnesota state and local municipal institutions and organizations, helping them to better understand and reach the East African community, including the City of Minneapolis Health Department, the Legacy Fund of US Bank, the Cedar Riverside People Center Clinic, Allina Health, Cedar Cultural Center, the University of Wisconsin (at Eu Claire), and the Hennepin County U.S. Census Bureau (Minnesota).

Bihi has been an activist in and with the Somali and East African community since 1996. His vision to educate and train community leaders for civic action and engagement comes directly from the experiences of this father, who was imprisoned for 17 years in Somalia for consistently speaking out on behalf of the community.  

Margarita Rocha was born in Blythe, California and raised in Fresno. She is a mother of three sons, grandmother of ten, and a great-grandmother of ten. From early on, her mother and father who worked in the fields instilled in her that hard work and dedication were the key to success. Rocha was the first person in her family to go to college.   

Rocha is the Executive Director of Centro La Familia Advocacy Services (CLFA) and knows that policy decisions can have an immense impact on communities. With more than four decades of experience in community organizing, she also knows that policy decisions occur two ways: with the community’s involvement or without the community’s involvement. She has long been involved in organizing communities in the Central Valley region to raise awareness among residents about their power to impact their communities. She is a strong advocate of U.S. citizenship and is already actively working to promote naturalization. 

In her leadership role, Rocha has guided CLFA in the design and implementation of successful programs focusing on serving in a holistic manner that acknowledges and respects the cultural issues of the families they serve. Her work has transformed CLFA from a small, grassroots organization into an important resource for the Hispanic/Latino community, growing the agency from a small staff of five to nearly one hundred, with four locations in Fresno County.  

A strong and determined advocate for families, Rocha’s career in advocacy began in the 1970’s. Her work has taken her to Washington, DC, and Cleveland, OH, where she worked in the newly established Office for Civil Rights with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. During this time, she also co-founded the nonprofit League of United Latin American Citizens in Cleveland. A 1976 profile in the local newspaper names her as one of the few Spanish-Speaking Americans working at the federal level field.  

Since then, Rocha’s work has been recognized by many others including being CSU Fresno, Fresno City College, The Business Journal, Vida en El Valle, local elected officials, and several community-organizations. In 2019, she has recognized as Woman of the Year by Fresno City Council President Soria, Woman of the Year for District 7, and Champion of Justice by Central California Legal Services. 

In November 2020, Rocha was recognized by the Government of Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Ohtli award, one of the highest honors bestowed by the Mexican Government upon persons of Mexican descent for their leadership and blazing a trail for younger generations.