Advocacy Corps 2025-2026

Alexis Cortes

Alexis Cortes is an Advocacy Corps Organizer at FCNL. In this role, she advocates for impactful policy change and strengthens community engagement with legislators. Her background includes advocacy with RESULTS, Brightspark’s Policy Council, and the WSA Parent Ambassador program. Alexis is pursuing degrees in Political Science and Social Work. She enjoys exploring the outdoors of Washington with her husband, Justino, and their four children: Mykah, Soriya-Esme, Itzali, and Ixchel-Bella.

Autumn Strange

Autumn is a recent graduate of Kennesaw State University, where she majored in International Conflict Resolution. Throughout her studies, she developed her focus on humanitarian aid, identity-based conflict, and post-conflict development. With experience teaching English to refugees, she completed her master’s degree researching the decolonization of the English language with regards to teaching Adult ESOL from a perspective of cultural humility and incorporating trauma-centered approaches.

Citlali Arredondo

Citlali Arredondo is an Advocacy Corps Organizer with FCNL. She is currently pursuing a B.A. in Political Science and Human Rights with a minor in Law and Legal Reasoning at Southern Methodist University. Her experiences include working with organizations such as 4DWN, El Movimiento, LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens). She has studied human rights in Poland and political science in Japan and is passionate about migration. Citlali’s goal is to become an immigration attorney and support migrant communities around her.

Hermione Carvente-Lopez

Hermione Carvente-Lopez is a current business major interested in the intersection of immigration, policy, and marketing. She strives for change at AFSC’s Immigrant Right’s Program where her involvement includes working with youth and digital advocates to elevate their voices, and ensuring her community is heard. She hopes to continue her career in politics and marketing to continue creating positive change for current and future generations.

Ivan Pelley

Ivan Pelley is a rising senior at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy. A member of the Blount Scholars program at UA, he is an American studies major and proud Frater of Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity Tau Chapter where he has served as philanthropy chairman. With a life-long determination to aid his community in whatever way he can (thanks to Fred Rogers), he is excited to engage in policy at the national level as a member of the FCNL Advocacy Corps 2025-2026 in service to the dignity and welfare of the American dream and its seekers.

Jimmy Guity

Jimmy Guity is a Garifuna advocate, community organizer, and current FCNL Advocacy Corps Organizer in New York’s 8th Congressional District. He serves on Brooklyn’s Community Board 5, where he focuses on expanding civic access and housing justice. Jimmy brings a bilingual lens and lived experience to his organizing work, connecting community needs to broader policy conversations. He has led outreach and engagement campaigns in the private sector and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from John Jay College.

Kimberly Barros

Kimberly is a first-generation student from Ecuador and a rising sophomore at Middlebury College studying International Politics and Economics. She is passionate about law, healthcare, and immigrant justice. A National Table Tennis Champion, Kimberly is also a public speaking coach with Oratory Now and a member of a Language Access Cohort supporting immigrant communities in healthcare. She founded Smile Factory, a nonprofit delivering school supplies in Morona Santiago, Ecuador. In the future, she aspires to become a lawyer, social justice activist, and advocate for immigrant rights.

Lilly Austin

Lilly Austin is an organizer and engaged member of the Philadelphia community. She attended Haverford College, from which she graduated in 2024 with a B.A. in history and currently works as a researcher in the nonprofit sector. A lifelong Quaker, she has been recognized by AFSC, two separate yearly meetings, and now FCNL through grants awarded for her research and leadership skills. Her religious values inform her social activism, and she is dedicated to constraining state violence, especially in relation to mass incarceration and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Martha (Cati) Pudner

Martha (Cati) Pudner recently completed her grant as a Fulbright Scholar in South Korea, where she designed media literacy courses in partnership with US Embassy Seoul. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with majors in international studies and foreign languages. She is a member of the Milwaukee Friends Meeting and its corresponding local FCNL chapter, where she assists in community organizing and media outreach. She began working with FCNL as an Advocacy Corps Organizer in 2025.

Savannah Averitt

Savannah Averitt is a recent graduate of College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine where she got her undergraduate degree in human ecology, focusing on environmental and immigration law and social justice. She was a part of her school’s delegation to two UN Conferences, as well as a founding member of a student group focusing on Palestinian liberation. Her senior project focused on understanding and identifying areas for reform in the U.S. asylum system, as well as educating the community about immigration.

Swetha Manivannan

Swetha Manivannan is a Georgetown MiM graduate passionate about cross-cultural engagement, social impact, and community building. As a graduate assistant, she fostered well-being programming. A University of Mississippi Hall of Fame inductee, she earned Bachelor of Arts in international studies and Spanish, championing multicultural interconnectivity, including founding the Honors College Minority Engagement Council and serving as student government Director of Inclusion. A Tamil Hindu Indian-American, she advocates for equity, youth empowerment, and interfaith understanding.

Zoe Tuyishime

Zoe Tuyishime is a senior at Western Carolina University, double majoring in international studies and communication in public relations, with a minor in Spanish. Zoe is a global citizen, enthusiastic about education and global awareness, she was born and raised in Kigali, Rwanda, and through her family was able to appreciate other cultures and languages through global awareness and travel. Zoe served as a delegation leader from North Carolina during the 2025 Spring Lobby Weekend, and she lobbied Congress in opposition to budget cuts to Medicaid and SNAP programs.