Kalpana Balakrishnan, PhD obtained her doctoral degree in biophysics and subsequent post-doctoral training in Environmental Health Engineering both at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Her fields of specialization include occupational and environmental health risk assessment, exposure assessment, industrial hygiene, and industrial toxicology. As Head of the Department Environmental Health Engineering in Chennai, India, her responsibilities include coordination of all activities of the department with special emphasis on management of extramural grants, execution of all major research projects, industrial consultancy, and administration of academic and short-term training. She is a well-recognized international expert in environmental health and serves many reputed organizations including the World Health Organization, World Bank, the Indian Council for Medical Research, and the Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board in multiple technical capacities.

Ali Noorani has more than a decade of successful leadership in public policy advocacy, non-profit management and coalition organizing, across a wide range of issues. As a key figure among a new generation of national leaders, he continues this mission as Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum advocating for the value of immigrants and immigration to the nation.

Under Ali’s leadership since 2008, the Forum is a powerful and key advocate on numerous immigration issues, working closely with business, law enforcement, faith and immigrant leadership across the country to advance much needed reforms to our nation’s immigration system. Ali has led the Forum through a transition process to prepare the organization for the future, focusing on creative alliance building toward a better future for immigrants and America. With a keen eye for accountability and good business practice, Noorani secured for the Forum accreditation from the Better Business Bureau and a four star rating from Charity Navigator.

Ali provides a principled and reasoned voice on immigration policy and politics, and has appeared on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, NBC News, ABC News, and various radio and local news programs. He has been quoted on the pages of most of the nation’s major dailies and is a regular speaker at conferences and campuses across the country. Born in California, Noorani is the son of Pakistani immigrants. He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and received his Master’s in Public Health from Boston University. In 2007, Noorani received the Boston University Young Alumni Award.

Established in 1982, the Forum is one of the nation’s premier pro-immigrant advocacy and policy organizations and has been at the center of every major immigration debate over the past 25 years. The Forum uses its communications, advocacy and policy expertise to create a better, more welcoming America that treats all newcomers fairly and respects the rights of all.