Meet our Team
Staff
Cindy Eigler, A.M.
Executive Director of CIMH
Cindy Eigler is the Executive Director of the Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health. As a first-generation Venezuelan, Cindy brings to the role over twenty years of experience working on issues of state violence and trauma. Through her work with Generative Somatics, Cindy recognizes the many impacts of individual and systemic trauma and believes that centering people's healing and transformation is integral for our movements to succeed. As the previous Co-Executive Director for the Chicago Torture Justice Center, Cindy helped develop a politicized healing framework recognizing the many intersecting ways our systems of oppression cause complex and compounded trauma in vulnerable communities. Cindy has her Master's in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice.
Partners
Z! Haukeness
Communications Consultant
Z! Haukeness (They/Them) has been a community organizer and organization builder for over 25 years. They have always used graphic design and communications for movement building and sparking people's imagination to create better ways of living on the planet. Z! is a somatics practitioner, leadership coach, akashic records reader, and writer. Intersectionality, healing, and building a world without borders where we can all be free are central to any work they do.
Read more: https://zforbeauty.org/
Dawn Matlak
Finance Consultant
Board of Directors
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Aimee Hilado, Ph.D., LCSW
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Ané Maríñez-Lora, PhD
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Maria Cabello
Treasurer
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Hilesh Patel
Board Member
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Malena Luzuriaga, B.S.
Board Member
Affiliation: APOYAS | SAFEty-Heartland Human Care Services
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Emerson Wells
Board Member
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Helina Haile, JD
Board Member
Advisory Committee
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Rebecca Ford-Paz, Ph.D.
Co-Chair, CIMH Migrant Mental Health Response
Affiliation: Lurie Children’s Hospital
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Dana Rusch, Ph.D.
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Daysi Diaz-Strong, Ph.D.
Co-Chair, Research & Data
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Maya Oyarbide-Sanchez, LCPC
Co-Chair, Mental Health Practice & Training
Affiliation: RefugeeOne
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Stephanie Torres, Ph.D.
Co-Chair, Mental Health Practice & Training
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Rooshey Hasnain, Ed.D., MA
Co-Chair, Research & Data
Affiliation: UIC Department of Disability and Human Development
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Nina Sedeño, MPP
Co-Chair, Policy & Advocacy Workgroup
Affiliation: Latino Policy Forum
Working Groups
Outreach & Engagement
This working group will work to develop a strategy to support CIMH’s goal, outlined in the recent strategic plan, to adopt a more inclusive approach, expanding beyond binary and systemic definitions of immigrants as documented or undocumented, and instead embracing more inclusive terminology that reflects the diverse communities we serve.
Policy & Advocacy
This working group will contribute a mental health lens to immigrant and refugee policy advocacy and organizing, and help to keep our members informed on actions they can take regarding policy change. The working group will support any relevant community-driven policy campaigns on issues relevant to immigrant and refugee mental health and will monitor, track, and provide guidance to the Executive Director regarding recommendations to cosign legislation or submit witness slips.
CIMH Annual Convening
This working group will utilize the convening brief provided by the CIMH Board of Directors to plan for the 2026 annual convening. This will include identifying/securing a date and location, developing programming for the convening, identification/outreach to speakers/presenters, outreach to community members, caterer, etc.