From lived experience to lasting change

Building stronger organizations and communities for immigrant families

Welcome

I'm Rosa J. Bello.

I am an immigration advocate, the founder of Stories of Immigrants, and a consultant and trainer for organizations that serve immigrant families. My work is grounded in personal experience and 25 years in the fight for immigration reform. I help organizations strengthen how they serve, so that immigrant families are met with the welcome, care and trust they deserve.

How I can help

Speaking

Keynotes and talks

Keynotes, panels and workshops that move audiences from awareness to action.

View talks

Trainings

Staff trainings

Practical training for teams who work closely with immigrant families.

View trainings

Consulting

Hourly and project-based support for immigrant-serving organizations.

Learn more

Rosa J. Bello presenting to a full conference room

Invite Rosa to speak at your event

Talks that move audiences from awareness to action, each closing with practical next steps.

Request Rosa to speak

Featured talk

Talks inform and move a room. For hands-on skill building with your staff, see trainings.

Rosa J. Bello speaking with a microphone at a conference workshop

From Story to Change

Equipping Immigrants and Allies to Advocate for Immigration Policy

Policies are built on stories, not statistics. This talk gives immigrants and allies a practical framework for turning their stories into policy change: what their representatives can do on immigration, and how to reach them through office visits, town halls, calls and testimony.

A faith-rooted version is available for congregations and faith-based organizations.

Best for audiences of: Immigrants, allies, advocates and faith communities
Formats: Keynote, panel, workshop or series, in person or virtual

Request this talk

Additional talks

For health, school and social service leaders

The People Who Stopped Showing Up

Why immigrant families are disappearing from services, what it costs, and three things to do Monday morning.

Request this talk

For universities, churches and civic groups

From Caring to Doing

Real actions anyone can take in 15 minutes, an hour or a weekend.

Request this talk

For executive directors and founders

Built to Run Without You

How to connect more people to your mission, internally and externally, especially in social justice work during today’s immigration climate.

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For students, early career and Latino professionals

The Map Nobody Gave Me

How to build a career and lead when no one before you had the map.

Request this talk

Rosa J. Bello speaking on a panel — Rosa speaking on a panel.

Formats

Each talk can be adapted to your event, in person or virtually.

Keynote30–60 minutes
Panelist or moderator
Workshop2–3 hours
Workshop series3 sessions over 2–3 months

Recent engagements

2026

CCDA National ConferenceRichmond, VA
Rehumanize InternationalChicago, IL
MCAEL Adult ESOL Professional Development ConferenceRockville, MD

Before you request

Because Rosa leads Stories of Immigrants, the work of the nonprofit comes first, and she accepts a limited number of speaking engagements as her calendar allows. She speaks from lived experience as an immigrant, and from more than a decade of work alongside immigrant communities and the organizations that serve them.

Travel (new for 2027): Rosa is based in the Washington, DC metro area. Given the current immigration enforcement climate, in 2027 she is not flying and is accepting in-person engagements within about an eight-hour drive of Washington, DC, from Boston to South Carolina and west to Ohio. Events farther away are warmly welcomed as virtual sessions.
Honorarium: Rosa does not have a set fee. Her schedule and your location are the determining factors in what she can commit to.

If you would like Rosa to speak to your group, please fill out the form below, and be as specific as you can in your request. Thank you.

Speaking request form

Name

Organization

Email

Event name

Event date or dates

Event location

Format

In person Virtual Either

Talk of interest

Type of engagement

Budgeted honorarium (USD)Please specify an amount rather than leaving an open-ended comment or question.

Audience and expected size

Tell me about your eventYour goals for the session, what your audience is facing, and anything else that would help me prepare a thoughtful reply.

Work with me

Consulting and trainings

I work with organizations that serve immigrant families: trainings that strengthen how your staff serves families, and consulting that strengthens how your organization runs.

Trainings

Rosa leading a workshop beside a slide of workshop objectives

Featured training

Serving Immigrant Families

Earning Trust When Families Are Afraid

This training helps staff understand the barriers that keep immigrant families from seeking services, including fear of immigration enforcement, and provides practical tools for building trust at every point of contact.

Designed for: Front desk staff, nurses, teachers, case managers and community health workers
Formats: A 2–3 hour workshop, or a series of 3 sessions over 2–3 months, in person or virtual

Request this training

For leaders of immigrant-serving organizations

Sustainable Leadership

Strategies for sharing decision-making, finances and responsibilities across your team, so that your organization’s work does not depend on a single leader.

For leaders and boards of immigrant-serving organizations

Leading Through Funding Cuts

Guidance for leaders and boards on protecting programs, staff and the families you serve when funding is reduced.

Consulting

I partner with immigrant-serving and social justice organizations to strengthen their operations, programs and services, so they can better serve the families who rely on them. Consulting is available hourly or by project.

Hourly

Guidance when you need it

Advice on a specific challenge, a review of a plan or process, or ongoing support for your leadership team, billed by the hour.

Project-based

Focused projects with a clear scope

Reviewing how immigrant families experience your services, with recommendations
Designing intake, referral and follow-up processes that build trust
Building systems for finance, hiring and HR as you grow
Guiding your organization through a funding or leadership transition

Something else

Facing a different challenge?

If your organization is facing a challenge not listed here, I would be glad to talk it through and explore how I can help.

Schedule a conversation

About

Meet Rosa

Rosa came to the United States from Peru at the age of seven and was raised, together with her sister, by a single mother. Growing up, she learned a new language and a new system, often without a map, and saw firsthand how difficult and unjust the immigration system can be for families like hers.

For more than a decade, Rosa has worked in nonprofit operations, adult English education and community leadership, with a focus on immigrant communities.

While managing an adult ESOL program, she heard the stories of hundreds of immigrants and witnessed the injustice of our immigration laws. Those stories eventually led her to found Stories of Immigrants in 2025.

Today, Rosa helps mission-driven organizations run well and reach the immigrant families they serve, and works to advance narrative change and a fair, just immigration system.

Rosa is currently pursuing a master’s degree in theology at Biola University.

Rosa J. Bello with immigrant advocates holding an Our Home Is Here banner at the U.S. Capitol — Advocating for immigrant families at the U.S. Capitol. Photo: United We Dream.

Stories of Immigrants

A national nonprofit founded in 2025 to help people move from hearing immigrant stories to taking action.

2,000+

people have attended our trainings

Program

Story Library

Real stories from immigrants and the people who work alongside them.

Program

Ally Network

A free online community with trainings and ways to act.

Visit storiesofimmigrants.org

Contact

Let's start a conversation

Thank you for your interest. Please share a few details about your organization and what you need, whether a staff training or consulting support, and I will be in touch with next steps.

Planning an event? Please use the speaking request form instead, which asks for the details needed for speaking engagements.

Inquiry form

Email

hello@rosajbello.com

Location

Washington, DC

Speaking requests

Speaking request form

From lived experience to lasting change

I'm Rosa J. Bello.

How I can help

Keynotes and talks

Staff trainings

Consulting

Invite Rosa to speak at your event

Featured talk

From Story to Change

Additional talks

The People Who Stopped Showing Up

From Caring to Doing

Built to Run Without You

The Map Nobody Gave Me

Formats

Recent engagements

Before you request

Speaking request form

Consulting and trainings

Trainings

Serving Immigrant Families

Sustainable Leadership

Leading Through Funding Cuts

Consulting

Guidance when you need it

Focused projects with a clear scope

Facing a different challenge?

Meet Rosa

Stories of Immigrants

Story Library

Ally Network

Let's start a conversation

Inquiry form

If your organization works closely with immigrant families, I would love to support your work.