Our Vision
Imagine a world where all of the stories we told displayed immigrants with dignity and respect, where their added value is acknowledged, and where acceptance reigns over discrimination.
Our Mission
Love for Immigrants is a social space for immigrants’ support. It aims to connect immigrants to their communities, as respected, loved, and heard individuals by sharing their narrative through art and storytelling.
Salomé Cosmique
Love for Immigrants Curator since 2023
Salomé Cosmique is a Colombian artist, illustrator, educator, curator and mother currently residing in Philadelphia, PA, (USA). She has a degree in Visual Arts from the University of Strasbourg in France. In 2012, she obtained her National Diploma of Plastic Arts, with a concentration in sound arts from the School of Arts of the Rhine (Haut École D’art du Rhin) in Mulhouse, France. In 2017, Salomé moved to the US where she has continued to develop her artistic, curatorial and educational career. She is currently a curator of Dissident Bodies, Dislocada /Dislocated and Love for Immigrants. She has received grants from Bartol and Leeway Foundations. She is also a certified Trauma Informed Teaching Artist.
For Salomé, the arts form a positive vehicle which can bring beneficial changes to society as well as the potential to transform and heal lives, something she promotes in her art. Her work has been inspired by colonialism, immigration, women’s inequality, memories and dissident bodies. She has exhibited in Europe, United States, the Caribbean, South America and India.
Mulenzi Tonny
Uganda Love for Immigrants Chapter leader
Mulenzi is based in Uganda he is a sign language instructor and volunteer special needs unit teacher for deaf kids in primary school. He holds a bachelor’s degree in procurement and logistics management, with some programming skills Mulenzi is passionate about charity technology and inclusion having spent most of the years with the Deaf Community he has gained most experience about them, his love for immigrants and refugees became more of something after he became a caretaker of refugee orphan kids from South Sudan one of whom is deaf.
Wendy Buendia
Philanthropy Strategist
Wendy is a social change advocate and college student. She loves to read (currently re-reading the Percy Jackson series), watch Marvel movies, write articles, and eat a lot of Bolivian food! She loves her Bolivian roots and visits family whenever she can. She is studying Political Science at Virginia Tech and currently lives in Northern Virginia.
Ifunanya Enezuagu
Trustee
Ifunanya is a social entrepreneur, educator and innovation specialist with experience managing innovation projects, design sprints, and advising businesses on social impact. Her experience includes work inside and outside the classroom.
She most recently taught courses on leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship for programs based at Stanford and Columbia University, respectively. As a first generation immigrant who also spent her formative years in her home country of Nigeria, she understands the importance of identity, culture and healing. She received her M.A in social enterprise with a concentration in innovation and project management from American University.
Maribel Rodriguez
Founder
Maribel Rodriguez loves her roots and her parents’ countries, Colombia and Puerto Rico. Having been to both countries and growing up in Brooklyn, NY a melting pot of many cultures, she has a love for people of diverse cultures and walks of life. She studied photography at The Rochester of Technology and Social Enterprise at American University This is where Love 4 Immigrants was founded as a graduate capstone project out of the frustration of seeing immigrants being depicted in the media in untruthful and inhumane ways. In addition to creating Love 4 Immigrants, she is an educator with LearnServe International.
Want to Get Involved?
We asked our community what Love 4 Immigrants means to them…here’s what they said:
It means that we are all humans before anything and that we need to look past nationalities, country of residences, and not only understand our shared values, but appreciate what makes us different. – Florence from Washington, DC, USA
Remembering and restoring dignity of those who live both inside and outside of our country’s borders. – Shivani from Chicago, IL, USA
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