Naomi Leilani Salcedo, Class of 2016
Naomi is the Operations and Program Manager at tho Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment Chicago (AFIRE). She is a 2016 alumna of the University of Illinois at Chicago where she majored in Sociology and minored in Asian American Studies. At UIC. she co-chaired the Asian American Studies Student Advisory Board advocating for Asian American students on campus. As a research assistant, she participated in organizing the first Queer Asian American Archive and Oral History Collection in the Midwest She was also an archivist for former Latino/a/x LGBTQ community organization Amigas Latinas. She participated in two study abroad programs - in India and Japan - experiences which inspired her interest in storytelling, community engagement, and travel. Naomi became involved with AFIRE in 2016 as an intern volunteer. After graduation. she joined AFIRE's team as a Communications VISTA through Americorps. Naomi enjoys cooking, logging her recipes on Facebook, food trips abroad and at home, photography, and doodling But she often just spends her time watching movies and playing with her Maine Coon kitty, Mugi. We are very proud of Naomi for her fearless social justice work for and on behalf of multiple communities in Chicago.