Staff
Rodolfo Estrada , Esq. - Executive Director
Rodolfo joined NMCIR in August of 2011 as its Executive Director. Before then, he was a Senior Program Associate at the Vera Institute of Justice where he worked on national immigration, police-immigrant relations, and language access training and technical assistance projects. Before Vera, Rodolfo was a Policy Analyst and Staff Attorney at Advocates For Children where he did policy work, education advocacy, and representation of immigrant families and English Language Learners. Rodolfo has a B.A. from Stanford University, a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and a MA in bilingual/bicultural studies from Columbia University’s Teachers College. Rodolfo speaks Spanish and is actively learning Portuguese.
Betty Vasquez - Director of Fiscal Operations
Betty is currently the Director of Finances at NMCIR and joined the organization in August of 2007. Before then, she worked for several years at another local non profit as a Bookkeeper where she obtained strong experience in accounting skills. Betty was also an Accounting Assistant at Cashpoint Network Services where she specialized in account payables and bank reconciliations. She has Associates Degree in Computerized Accounting from “Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre Y Maestra” in the Dominican Republic and is fluent in both English and Spanish.
Almirca Santiago - Director of Programs & Development
Almirca is currently the Director of Programs and Development and has been with the NMCIR since August of 2006. She began her tenure with NMCIR shortly after graduating from Syracuse University where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and began her social activism with Latino organizations such as Sigma Lambda Upsilon/Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority, Inc. Since then, she has managed special projects, coordinated fundraising events and activities, managed contracts, written grants and initiated efforts to improve organizational development. Almirca speaks Spanish and French.
Julia Magalys Torres - Paralegal
Julia, more commonly known as Magalys, began working with NMCIR as a volunteer in July 1990, after recently arriving from the Dominican Republic, and officially became a staff member in May 1992. In 1981, she obtained her law degree in the Dominican Republic, served as a contract lawyer for the company “Seguros Pepin S.A.” and was the Fiscal Assistant to the District Attorney in the capital city of Santo Domingo. Her experience and educational background facilitated her grasp of immigration law while working with NMCIR. Now a Paralegal since 2005, she provides participants with guidance and immigration application assistance on a daily basis. She is fluent in Spanish and English.
Candida Rivera - Paralegal
Candida began as an Administrative Assistant for NMCIR in May of 2006. After receiving her Paralegal certificate from Hostos Community College in 2010, she was promoted to the Paralegal position at NMCIR. Prior to joining NMCIR, she worked for four years at a licensing company (4Kids) as a freelancer creating style guides. While at Bronx Community College, she became a certified Translator and enrolled in their Ornamental Horticulture program in collaboration with the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG). She is fluent in Spanish and English and is still interested in horticulture as a member of the NYBG and the Horticultural Society of New York.
Maria Alonso - Administrative Assistant
Maria has been with NMCIR since January of 2010. While completing her last semester at Hostos Community College where she received her Associates Degree in Public Administration, she was working with NMCIR as a volunteer and four months later was offered the Administrative Assistant position. She was born in Mexico and also studied two years at “Normal Carrillo Cardenas” (a school for teachers) in Guerrero, Mexico. While teaching, she decided to start a new career as a bilingual secretary which she successfully achieved in 1985. Maria has also worked at Las Hamacas Hotel in Mexico and Optima Beauty Supply in the United States where she was assistant manager and sharpened her customer service skills.
Lili Salmeron - Community Liaison
Lili is an anti-deportation community organizer with the NMCIR. Ms. Salmeron works with the immigrant community of Washington Heights to stop the increasing collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE, and to end the detention and deportation system. She is a graduate of CUNY City College of New York, where she received her BA in Political Science and Economics. Before joining NMCIR she interned with the labor organizing department at Make The Road New York, as well as with the Brookings Institution, collecting data on the immigrant populations of the top 100 metro areas in the US. She conducts Know Your Rights workshops for the immigrant community throughout NYC and New York State, and is fluent in Spanish.