BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:542@cvt.org DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260722T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260722T130000 DTSTAMP:20260707T165808Z URL:https://www.cvt.org/events/freedom-to-belong-a-virtual-event-with-cvt- and-united-stateless/ SUMMARY:Freedom to Belong: A Virtual Event with CVT and United Stateless DESCRIPTION:\nWhat does it mean to belong nowhere?\nOver 200\,000 people li ving in the U.S. are estimated to be stateless or at risk of statelessness – not having nationality or citizenship to any country in the world.\n\n As the United States commemorates its 250th anniversary\, questions of cit izenship\, belonging\, and who is fully included in the American story hav e taken on renewed urgency. For stateless people\, whose lack of nationali ty leaves them in a legal limbo\, these challenges are especially profound . For survivors of torture and trauma\, the absence of legal protections t hreatens the very stability that healing depends on.\n\nJoin the Center fo r Victims of Torture (CVT) and United Stateless (USL) for Freedom to Belon g: A Conversation on Citizenship and the Path to Healing\, a free virtual conversation on Tuesday\, July 22\, exploring what it means to live withou t a recognized nationality and the impact statelessness has on healing\, i dentity\, and belonging. At a moment when the nation is debating citizensh ip\, belonging\, and who counts as American\, this conversation offers a p erspective too often missing from the public discourse. Hear directly from members of the United Stateless community and gain insights from CVT clin icians on the human toll of statelessness and why the right to belong is\, at its core\, the right to have rights. Together\, we’ll also explore t he solutions already within reach– from policy reforms to community-base d support– and why lasting social change has always been rooted not only in justice\, but in care. Healing\, belonging\, and legal recognition are deeply interconnected\, and each has a role to play in building a future where everyone has the right to nationality and a place to belong.\n\n&nbs p\;\nRegister today for this free event!\nSpeakers:\n\nKarina Ambartsoumia n-Clough | Executive Director\, United Stateless\n\nKarina Ambartsoumian-C lough is a founding member and Executive Director of United Stateless. Bor n of Armenian and Ukrainian heritage\, became stateless following the diss olution of the U.S.S.R. She has been stateless in the United States since childhood and has transformed her personal experience into an advocacy pla tform\, raising awareness of statelessness and the barriers faced by those without nationality. A speaker\, writer\, and community organizer\, Karin a has worked to elevate stateless voices and advance solutions for statele ss people in the United States and globally. Her contributions have been r ecognized with the 2020 Women’s Refugee Commission Voices of Courage Awa rd\, the 2021 Women Leading the 175th Award by PA Congresswoman Mary Isaac son\, the 2024 We Are All America's Women's Community Catalyst Award\, and the 2025 J.M. Kaplan Innovation Prize.\n\n \;\n\nLeora Hudak | Migrat ion Partnerships Program Manager\, The Center for Victims of Torture\n\nLe ora Hudak\, LCSW\, is the program manager for migration partnerships at CV T. She oversees mental health and psychosocial support programming at the U.S.-Mexico border and in Latin America. In this role\, she provides super vision\, oversight and training to CVT staff and partners on best practice s working with torture survivors and people in migration in the Americas. Leora also leads CVT’s work on statelessness and provides training to ex ternal partners on staff wellbeing and trauma-informed practice. Leora has worked with CVT since 2014 in various roles\, including as a psychotherap ist\, supervisor and trainer. Leora holds a Master’s Degree in social wo rk from the University of Chicago Crown School of Social Work\, Policy and Practice.\n\n \;\n\nModerated by Martine Kalaw | Stateless advocate a nd author\n\nMartine Kalaw is a speaker\, author\, advocate\, and stateles s survivor whose life and work bridge the lived experience of statelessnes s with global leadership development. Her memoir\, Illegal Among Us\, chro nicles her journey from statelessness and undocumented status to U.S. citi zenship and executive leadership.\n\n \;\n\nAs Global Ambassador for U nited Stateless (USL)\, Martine curates and facilitates conversations on s tatelessness in the United States for a global audience\, raising internat ional awareness of an issue that affects millions of people worldwide and ensuring stateless voices are heard on the world stage.\n\nMartine brings over 15 years of talent development expertise to her work\, and at the cen ter of everything she does is a single throughline: humans and humanity. S he runs a boutique consulting firm specializing in leadership\, talent dev elopment\, and inclusion\, partnering with organizations including The Ad Council\, Wheels Up\, Tiffany &\; Co.\, Howard Hughes\, and The Riversi de Company. A core focus of her consulting practice is helping organizatio ns integrate AI into their workforce without losing the human element\, en suring that technology adoption strengthens rather than erodes connection\ , judgment\, and care among employees. She currently serves as VP of Learn ing &\; Development at Salesloft\, where she leads enablement strategy for a global workforce. Martine has spoken at organizations including Tedx \, Sandler Training\, LinkedIn\, Bank of America\, and Cornell University\ , and is the author of two books.\n\n \;\n\n \;\n\nAbout CVT\n\nAt the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT)\, we focus on healing the wounds of torture and putting an end to it everywhere. We do this by offering men tal health and psychosocial care to survivors\, as well as supporting peer treatment centers\, human rights activists\, and other organizations in t heir efforts to promote healing and justice. We also work to prevent tortu re and human rights abuses through advocacy\, and by promoting accountabil ity for past abuses.\n\nAbout USL\n\nUnited Stateless (USL) is the only U. S. organization dedicated exclusively to addressing statelessness. Founded and led by people with lived experience\, USL provides legal services\, m ental health and psychosocial support\, community-building programs\, and advocacy to advance durable solutions for stateless people. Through its wo rk\, USL is helping build a future where everyone in the United States has the right to a nationality\, a place to belong\, and the opportunity to f ully realize the promise of America. LOCATION:https://cvt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ny9ktCngRSS6CQEXdjSONA#/re gistration END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Chicago X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Chicago BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260308T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR