Christian (top, at right) is a Visiting Professor of Justice and Policy Studies at Guilford; Sonalini (bottom, at right) is the Associate Director of the Center for Principled Problem Solving and Excellence in Teaching. This is the third appointment for both.

CNNC, which is located at UNC Greensboro, aims to promote access and integration for immigrants and refugees in North Carolina. Christian and Sonalini are two of more than 100 fellows who network and advocate for the Center. CNNC Fellows are community-based academics, professionals and practitioners who undertake community-based research, advocacy, education, outreach and practice related to refugees and immigrants. Fellows meet monthly during the academic year to share and network with each other around immigrant research, teaching, policy and practice interests.

Sonalini says she’s grateful to continue working with CNNC. She says she wants to collaborate with CNNC staff and continue to engage in public education, and disseminate information about best practices for working with immigrant and refugee communities in both academic and non-academic venues.

“Ultimately, I hope that the fellows' group can help further CNNC's vision for increasing the capacity of refugees and immigrants to chart their own future,” she says.

Christian wants to help connect CNNC with public sector groups that can assist refugees and immigrants.

“Who can we bring in from Guilford County Schools?” asks Christian. “Who in public transportation in the city and county can we bring in? I want to see (CNNC) branch out into the public sector and possibly the private, for-profit sector, and build corporate partnerships so that we have those basic relationships that we can act on later.”