Keynote Speaker
Mayda Del Valle
Mayda del Valle was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. She is the author of The University of Hip Hop and a winner of the 2016 Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize from Northwestern University Press. Her full-length collection, A South Side Girl’s Guide to Love and Sex, was published on Tia Chucha press. She began her artistic career at the Nuyorican Poets Café, where she was the 2001 Grand Slam Champion, and went on to become the National Poetry Slam Champion in the same year. She appeared on six episodes of the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, and was a contributing writer and original cast member of the Tony Award-winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. She has performed at venues across the world, including the White House in May of 2009, by invitation of President Obama and the First Lady. In 2024 Mayda was the recipient of the Letras Boricuas Fellowship, sponsored by Flamboyan Arts Fund and the Mellon Foundation. Most recently, she was selected to be the second Poet Laureate of the City of Chicago beginning in January of 2026.
9:00 AM
To close out our day will be hosting a 10-Year Anniversary Reception that will include a performance by Calpulli Huehuecoyotl (Nahuatl for Old/wise Coyote, group). This Aztec Dance group is 17 years old and based in Chicago, yet deeply rooted in generations of long-standing ceremonial traditions originating in Mexico-Tenochtitlan. The group is made up of over 50 members (2 years of age and up). They are workers, educators, students, healers, artists, artisans, and over all, community builders.
They strive to teach Aztec Indigenous culture and traditions through the arts, music and danza (dance). Our danza, or, prayer in motion, is our way of continuing our heritage, while sowing seeds for current and future generations.
All are welcomed to join their group. They hold free weekly practices, no experience needed, just heart. You can follow them on IG: Huehuecoyotl__
Calpulli Huehuecoyotl
You can view our speaker list HERE, our program for the day HERE, and our full workshop listing on our registration page HERE.
Check out our line up!
Convening Overview
This year’s annual convening marks the Coalition’s 10th anniversary and serves as a space for celebration, learning, reflection, and connection. CIMH has creatively rooted its efforts in promoting wellness and the humane treatment of immigrants by building and bridging alliances with community organizations, advocating for culturally respectful local and state-level responses, as well as implementing and creating culturally responsive trauma-informed trainings.
Reflecting the Coalition’s efforts in the past ten years, this convening will center community-rooted, trauma-informed, and practice-based approaches to wellness and healing through culture, imagination, solidarity, and collective care. We aim to create a gathering that is practical, accessible, inclusive, and grounded in the wisdom and leadership of immigrant and refugee communities.
Convening Goals
The goals of this convening are to:
Celebrate and acknowledge the Coalition’s 10-year anniversary and collective accomplishments
Highlight and uplift the work of community organizations and directly impacted leaders
Foster opportunities for learning, reflection, networking, and collaboration
Share concrete and practical skills, tools, and strategies communities can use immediately
Strengthen collective capacity and mutual support systems
Build connections across sectors, roles, and communities
Provide spaces for visioning a future of well-being
Create accessible and welcoming spaces for directly impacted community members
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