“Power Mapping in the OC”

Workshop Description

New Leaders Council, Orange County, is a new chapter that was recently chartered at the NLC national leadership retreat in New Orleans this year. The chapter’s founders and co-directors, Angelica Ramos and Adel Syed, will present an interactive workshop on power mapping here in Orange County. This is geared towards people who are interested and involved in promoting positive social changes, through service, advocacy and other vehicles, often needs to think about context and relationships within the spheres she/he works.

Power Mapping is a conceptual strategy of determining whom you need to influence, exactly who can influence your target, and whom you can actually influence to start the dominoes in motion. We will use the issue of “Islamaphobia” (prejudice against, hatred or fear of Islam or Muslims) and apply a valuable tool for individuals actively working with communities, providing a simple framework and a set of tools to better understand and leverage relationships and networks.

Presenter Background

Adel Syed
Adel is the Government Relations Coordinator for the Los Angeles Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA). CAIR is a leading American Muslim civil-rights organization. In his role Adel is responsible for strengthening working relationships between the LA area Muslim community and government officials and organizations. Prior to this, Adel was the Civil Rights Coordinator for the Sacramento office CAIR where he evaluated civil-rights discrimination complaints and served as an advocate for complainants in need. He also worked with California state officials to address concerns of Muslims as well as underrepresented ethnic and minority communities. Additionally, Adel served on the Sacramento County Hate Crimes Task Force and facilitated the start of Project Feed Sacramento, an initiative to motivate students and young professionals to help curb homelessness in the city.  

Adel is a graduate of the University of California at Davis with a degree in political science with an emphasis in public service. He completed a senior thesis on the impact of law enforcement measures on the American Muslim community post 9/11 and was accepted to present to students and faculty at the UC Davis undergraduate research conference. He resides in Fullerton, California and is a recent 2011 Fellow graduate for the New Leaders Council, Los Angeles Chapter. He is currently a founding co-director of NLC Orange County.

Angelica Ramos
Angelica is a recent graduate of Whittier Law School (WLS), where she earned a Juris Doctorate with concentrations in Children’s Rights and Criminal Law. She is an alumna of the American University, Washington, D.C., where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Law & Society with a minor in Communications. Angelica’s passion is advocating for abused and neglected children. During law school, she served as a law clerk for the Orange County Juvenile Court’s Presiding Judge, (ret.) Carolyn Kirkwood, the Sexual Assault Unit of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Family Violence Clinic at WLS and the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles. She also served as the Associate Editor of the Whittier Law Journal of Child and Family Advocacy, an honors organization, and as the Director of “On Common Ground”, a program that promotes dialogue about how minority groups experience oppression. She volunteers on the National Women’s Political Caucus as the board’s secretary, is a member of the Editorial Board of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Children’s Rights Litigation Committee and is certified as a sexual assault counselor in both California and Washington, D.C.
 
Most recently, she served as Campaign Coordinator for Melissa Fox, candidate for the 70th California Assembly District. Angelica continues to work with Melissa Fox and is a 2011 Fellow graduate for the New Leaders Council, Los Angeles Chapter. Angelica is from Fremont, California, loves spending time with her rescue dog, Josie, and is currently a founding co-director of NLC Orange County.

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