Getting to Know Our New Afghan Neighbors: A Live Stream Event

On Tuesday, October 19th, 2021, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Viterbo University, and Western Technical College hosted a second discussion to help our community understand and support our new Afghan neighbors. The topics covered during this event include U.S. refugee resettlement program basics, special immigrant visas and humanitarian parolees, and cultural knowledge for community members when interacting with our new Afghan neighbors. Meet our panelists below.

Genevieve Levy has a background in International Relations with a focus on peoples and nationalities and has worked in direct social services since 2005. Her experience working with the Afghan communities in Sacramento, CA began in 2015 after starting and overseeing a refugee resettlement program from 2015-2021. Sacramento is now home to the largest Afghan community in the United States. Levy now works in the CA State Assembly as a District Director and has continued to support the local Afghan community in Sacramento. Levy and her colleagues have provided this presentation on over 30 occasions over the last 5 years to medical professionals, educational institutions, direct social service providers, and the general public for educational (and appreciation) purposes.

Nemat Sadat worked as translator/cultural advisor for US Armed Forces in Afghanistan from 2010-2014. He graduated from law school in Afghanistan and continued his education here at Mcgeorge School of law. Nemat finished his LLM degree in 2019 and start his new/current job with Sacramento District Attorney's Office in late 2019. He worked from May 2015-Dec 2019 as Refugee Resettlement Coordinator.