Metropolis International 2025 Summit

Maruja Milagros B. Asis is a sociologist who has been researching international migration and social change in Asia for more than 30 years. She has been affiliated with the Scalabrini Migration Center in the Philippines for many years serving as Director of Research and Publications and Director. She continues to be part of the Center as Senior Researcher working on selected projects.

Harald Bauder is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, former director of the Graduate Program for Immigration and Settlement Studies (ISS), and the founding former director of TMCIS. He received a PhD in Geography in 1998 from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada, and MA and BA degrees in Geography and Urban Studies from Wayne State University, Detroit, USA. In 2016, Dr. Bauder received the Sarwan Sahota Distinguished Scholar Award, 2016, which is Toronto Metropolitan University’s highest annual research award, and in 2015, he received the Konrad Adenauer Research Award, recognizing his life-time contribution to the academic and cultural exchange between the Federal Republic of Germany and Canada. Dr. Bauder currently leads the international partnership project Urban Sanctuary, Migrant Solidarity and Hospitality in Global Perspective.

Meghan Benton is Director of Global Programs at the Migration Policy Institute, where she oversees the institute’s global work including its flagship Transatlantic Council on Migration and Latin America and Caribbean Initiative. She is also on the board of MPI Europe. She regularly advises governments on policy areas including labour mobility, integration, and protection. She convenes MPI Europe’s Integration Futures Working Group, which was established in 2016 to develop a forward-looking agenda for integration policy in Europe. She has a PhD in political science from University College London. See her work here (external link) .

Pablo Ceriani Cernadas is Professor of Migration & Human Rights and Director of the Specialization on Migration, Asylum and Human Rights (Universidad Nacional de Lanús, Argentina). He also teaches at the University of Buenos Aires, National University of San Martin in Argentina, and University Simón Bolivar. He is the Vice-chairperson of the United Nations Committee for the protection of the rights of migrants and their families (CMW), and co-leads the CMW initiative along the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on a joint general comment on guidelines for eradicating xenophobia. He has served as consultant for UNICEF, UNHCR, IOM and ILO offices in Latin America and Spain on migrants’ human rights. He is co-editor of the IOM 2026. World Migration Report.

Els de Graauw is Professor of Political Science, Public Policy, and International Migration Studies at Baruch College and the Graduate Center, both at CUNY, as well as Director of the International Migration Studies MA Program at the CUNY Graduate Center. Els has expertise in immigration, civil society organizations, urban politics, government bureaucracies, public policy, and qualitative research methods, with a focus on understanding how governmental and nongovernmental organizations build institutional capacity for immigrant integration and representation notably in the context of the United States.

Jean-Christophe Dumont has been the Head of the International Migration Division in the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD since 2011. He joined the OECD Secretariat in 2000 to work on international migration issues. He oversees the OECD annual flagship publication on migration; International Migration Outlook and numerous publications on the economic impact of international migration, as well as on migration management and the labour market integration of immigrants and their children in OECD countries. He has also worked on migration and development issues and on the international mobility of health workers.

Naika Foroutan is Professor of Social Sciences at the Humboldt-University in Berlin where she heads the department of integration studies and social policy at the Berlin Institute on Integration and Migration (BIM). Foroutan is Director of the German Center for Integration and Migration (DeZIM) a Ministry-funded research institute that provides empirical analysis on migration and integration and monitors ‘Racist Realities’ for the German government.

Stephen Gelb is an independent development economist currently based in London. He worked in South Africa for thirty years, researching macroeconomics and growth, foreign investment, and political economy and inequality, and advising the Presidency, the Treasury and public sector organisations. He was Principal Research Fellow and Lead, Private Sector Development, at ODI Global in London from 2016-22. He has taught graduate economics, political science and development studies in South Africa, Canada, the US and Switzerland, and has extensive research experience across Africa and Asia. He has written on foreign direct investment and value chains in Asia and Africa, on social and governance policies of multinational corporations, and on migration, remittances and diaspora finance.

Chantal Goyette is the Senior Director for Research and Knowledge Mobilization at IRCC, where she leads the development and delivery of policy-relevant research to inform departmental priorities. She also oversees the mobilization of research insights through a range of activities—such as the Research Matters event—to make evidence more accessible and impactful for diverse audiences. Chantal has built and sustained a wide network of research partnerships with academic institutions, think tanks, and other organizations to strengthen IRCC’s evidence base. Previously, she served as Director of Data Development, Reporting and Analytics, advancing the strategic use and accessibility of immigration data. With over 19 years of experience in program evaluation, she led major studies including Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee Program, and the Rapid Impact Evaluation of the Syrian Refugee Initiative. Chantal holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Saskatchewan.

Anne Güller-Frey has been coordinating the “Integration through Qualification” (IQ) network and its international activities since 2005. For many years, she has been participating in and managing EU and International Programs including EQUAL, INTI, ESF and Horizon. She is a member of the Expert-Council on Integration of the Bavarian Government, with prior work experience in the Enquete Commission on Integration of the Bavarian Parliament. One of her professional interests is Intercultural Competence Development and Diversity, and she holds the degree of Intercultural Trainer and Consultant.

Maegan Hendow is a Senior Researcher at ICMPD with 15 years of experience conducting and coordinating research on migration, with focus on trends and policies related to irregular migration. This has encompassed research on crisis-induced migration and displacement, migrant smuggling, border control, and use of new technologies in this regard. Geographically, her work has focused on Europe, the MENA region, and Pakistan. See her work at:  (PDF file) MIrreM typology of responses to the presence of irregular migrants (external link) , and a recent  (PDF file) working paper on advances in border management (external link) .

Gioconda Herrera is Director of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences in Quito-Ecuador and Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies. Formerly, she was President of the Latin American Studies Association. Over the past twenty years, she has studied the changing dynamics of South American migrations with a special focus on women, transnational families and indigenous groups in the South-North corridors to the USA and Europe as well as within South America. Her most recent books include  Migration in South America (Springer-IMISCOE, 2022) and Movilidades, Control Migratorio y Luchas Migrantes (Editorial Siglo XXI & CLACSO, 2022).

Claudia Masferrer is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Demographic, Urban, and Environmental Studies, and the Coordinator of the Seminar Migration, Inequality and Public Policies at El Colegio de México. Claudia holds a PhD in Sociology (McGill University) and an MSc in Statistics (UTAustin). Her research focuses on international migration, return migration, migrant integration, demographic dynamics, and policy. Listen to their podcast “Destino México” here (external link) .

Eva Millona is a Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Previously she served as Assistant Secretary for Partnership and Engagement in the Department of US Homeland Security and as Chief of the Office of Citizenship, Partnership and Engagement at USCIS. Formerly, she was CEO and President of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. She co-founded and co-chaired the Massachusetts Business Immigration Coalition the National Partnership for New Americans, co-chaired the Governor’s Advisory Council on Immigrants and Refugees under 4 Governors, and chaired the 2020 U.S. Census Statewide Complete Count Committee in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. An outstanding lawyer (former judge) and a migrant rights activist, she has received numerous awards, including the USCIS Outstanding American by Choice Award.

Silvia Núñez García is a tenured professor at the Center for Research on North America and its former Director, at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Her research focus is migration, social inequality and women. She was the Chair for the Metropolis International Conference in Mexico City 2015. Link to her work: New Migration’s Gordian Knot: Mexico and the Caravans of the Northern Triangle of Central America (external link) .

Mireille Paquet, a political scientist and professor in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University (external link) , holds the University Research Chair in Immigration Policies and serves as Director of the Institute for Research on Migration and Society (IRMS). As Co-Director of the Quebec Immigration, Integration, and InterculturalRelations Research Network (RQ3I) (external link) , she actively engages in interdisciplinary collaborations and is a member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada. A recipient of honors such as the 2018 Best French-Language Book Award from the Canadian Political Science Association (external link) , she also contributes to numerous projects within the Apogée research program: Bridging Divides: Immigrant Integration in the 21st Century. 

Alejandro Portes is Howard Harrison and Gabrielle Snyder Beck Professor of Sociology at Princeton University.  He is the author of 250 articles and chapters on national development, international migration, Latin American and Caribbean urbanization, and economic sociology. He has published 30 books and special issues. His books include City on the Edge – the Transformation of Miami(California 1993), co-authored with Alex Stepick and winner of the Robert Park Award for best book in urban sociology and the Anthony Leeds Award for best book in urban anthropology in 1995; and Immigrant America: A Portrait, 3rd edition, (California 2006), designated as a Centennial Publication by the University of California Press in 1996. His current research is on the adaptation process of the immigrant second generation in comparative perspective, the role of institutions on national development, and immigration and the American health system.

Violet Roumeliotis is CEO of Settlement Services International (SSI), delivering inclusive human services across Australia and the Asia Pacific. SSI supports 67,000 people annually. A former Telstra Business Woman of the Year, Violet also contributes to national and state advisory boards focused on social justice, equality and systemic change. See her research on "Foundations For Belonging" lead by Tadgh here (external link) .

Dane Rowlands teaches at Carleton University at The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. He served as Associate Director of the School (2002-2012) and Director (2012-2017). His research deals with financial flows for developing countries, and specifically with the IMF and other multilateral financial institutions, international debt, official development assistance, migration, and other international aspects of economic development. He has published over sixty refereed articles and book chapters in journals such as Journal of International Economics, World Development, World Economy, Journal of Development Studies, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Review of International Organizations. He teaches courses on international financial institutions and policy, international public economics, quantitative research methods, and the economic analysis of conflict. His most recent book (2016, with Graham Bird) is The International Monetary Fund: Distinguishing Reality from Rhetoric.

Mary Boatemaa Setrana is Associate Professor of Migration and Social Change and Director of the Centre for Migration Studies at the University of Ghana. She is also the IDRC Research Chair on Forced Displacement in Anglophone West Africa. Mary served as the lead facilitator for Botswana’s National Migration Policy. Formerly, she served as consultant for national migration policies in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Mary is a scientific committee member of CODESRIA. She has led international research projects supported by the European Union, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Jon Simmons is the Head of Immigration System Statistics and Refugee Analysis and Insight at the UK Home Office, and the Home Office Chief Statistician.  In a long career overseeing analysis within government, providing advice to Ministers, senior officials and the public, he has worked on migration and borders analysis at the Home Office for over 15 years, and previously led the teams working on crime and policing.  He works closely with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to provide advice on their migration products. His published works include: Indicators of Integration report (Home Office 2019); Review of Crime Statistics (Home Office 2000) and UN Handbook on Crime Victimisation surveys.

Anna Triandafyllidou is the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration at Toronto Metropolitan University. Prior to joining TMU in August 2019, she held a Robert Schuman Chair at the Global Governance Programme, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence, Italy. She is Editor of the Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, Chair of the IMISCOE Editorial Committee and member of the IMISCOE Board of Directors.

Ambassador Amma A. Twum-Amoah from Ghana is the current Commissioner for the Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development (HHS) of the African Union Commission elected during the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly in February 2025. Before joining the Commission, Ambassador Twum-Amoah served as the former Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana to Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and South Sudan and the Permanent Representative to the African Union and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Her Excellency Twum-Amoah previously served as the Director for Economic, Trade and Investment Bureau of Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, and in various positions at the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C., U.S.A as the Minister Plenipotentiary and Special Government Projects, Acting Head of Mission, and Minister Plenipotentiary and Head of Chancery.

Ambassador Twum-Amoah has held several distinguished positions, including Director at the State Protocol Department in Ghana, Minister-Counsellor and Acting High Commissioner at the Ghana High Commission in Canberra, Australia, Deputy Director at the Policy Planning and Research Bureau within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Counsellor and Head of Chancery at the Ghana Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, among other senior roles.

Her Excellency Amma Twum-Amoah is a Chevening Scholar, and holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Canberra, Australia.

Elana Wong is Coordinator of the Civil Society Action Committee and the Global Forum for Migration and Development Civil Society Mechanism, global networks for civil society collective advocacy in international migration governance, housed by the International Catholic Migration Commission. She previously served as Co-Director (2021-2023) and Asia & Pacific Regional Lead (2020) of the Migration Youth & Children Platform.

Brenda S.A. Yeoh FBA is Raffles Professor of Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Research Leader of the Asian Migration Cluster at the Asia Research Institute, NUS. She made important contributions to the field of migration and transnationalism studies and was awarded the Vautrin Lud Prize for outstanding achievements in Geography in 2021. Her work is distinctly Asia-focused while also significant for theory-building more generally. She is widely recognised for her research leadership in three areas: migration-led diversification, cosmopolitanism and spatial politics; human aspiration, care migration and social reproduction among migrant households in Southeast Asia; migration infrastructures and transnational mobility of migrant workers at various skill levels. She has published widely on these topics. See her work here (external link) .