Roger McCrummen, Managing Attorney and founder of the McCrummen Immigration Law Group first registered Asylum Clinic Kansas City ("ACKC") as a nonprofit organization in the state of Missouri in 2015 after years of struggling with how best to respond to the vast unmet legal needs of asylum seekers in the area.

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With over 30 years legal experience, including over 20 years as an immigration attorney, Roger K. McCrummen is the managing partner of the McCrummen Immigration Law Group. Although he has experience in family and humanitarian based immigration law, his primary focus is on employment based immigration law, including temporary work visas; employment based permanent residence; and employer compliance issues.

Laura Bond has practiced law in the Kansas City area for more than thirty years—primarily representing hospitals, physicians, and other healthcare-related entities in contracting, corporate, regulatory, and compliance issues. However, she has focused much of her volunteer time on issues facing immigrants and refugees. 

 

As a board member for the REACH Healthcare Foundation, Laura served as a Health Care Advisor for Communities Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees and participated on the Steering Committee that developed the Welcoming Plan for the Greater Kansas City Chamber’s Welcoming KC initiative to enhance Kansas City’s workforce by making it a welcoming place for immigrants. She has worked at the pro bono legal clinic for asylum-seeking women and children detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, TX and volunteered with Interfaith Welcome Coalition in San Antonio, TX. 

 

Laura also coordinates an immigration ministry through St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church that has provided support (including donations and accompaniment) to asylum seekers and financial support and mentoring for Afghan refugee families.

Brice has a nationwide practice defending clients in product liability, construction, insurance, commercial and general liability disputes in state and federal courts. He drafts motions and defends clients in related hearings involving a wide variety of issues, including dispositive and non-dispositive motions. He researches complex legal issues, conducts depositions, including lay and expert witnesses, and participates in mediations and arbitrations. Brice represents a broad range of clients, including pharmaceutical companies, component manufacturers, senior living facilities, health and wellness companies and insurance companies. 

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Before attending law school, Brice played NCAA Division I basketball for Creighton University and later for professional leagues in Europe and the Middle East. He now channels the dedication and discipline that helped him succeed in basketball toward serving his clients’ needs effectively and efficiently. 

Michael is a Law Clerk to Judge Gary Witt. After graduating from Rockhurst University in 2017, Michael served as a Jesuit Volunteer at the Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance in Houston.  At Cabrini, Michael assisted families attempting to navigate the difficult process of family-based immigration. 

 

After his first year of law school, Michael joined McCrummen Immigration Law Group and worked primarily with Unaccompanied Alien Children applying for asylum.  At UMKC School of Law, Michael was the Managing Editor of the UMKC Law Review and participated on the National Moot Court Team.  He is a fluent Spanish speaker.  He joined the ACKC Board in 2020 as Treasurer and is excited to continue serving the immigrant population in Kansas City.

Josh Sweeden is Professor of Church and Society at Nazarene Theological Seminary (Kansas City), a graduate school committed to preparing students for service as clergy, community leaders, and agents of reconciliation in the world. Prior to his current role, Josh served as CAO/Dean of the Faculty at Nazarene Theological Seminary, Assistant Professor of Theology and Richard B. Parker Co-chair in Wesleyan Theology at Portland Seminary, and Instructor of Religion at Eastern Nazarene College. 

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Josh brings to the ACKC board professional expertise and engagement with theological education and faith-based nonprofit organizations. He has taught theology for 20 years and served in education administrative roles for 8. His work with faith-based nonprofits has most directly engaged urban community development and includes additional experiences in church-based international relief and development. His theological formation and personal/professional experiences undergird his commitment to marginalized, dispossessed, and displaced persons.

Patricia Perez Bellew- M.H.S. CCC-SLP is an ASHA certified Speech Language Pathologist with a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from The University of Missouri- Columbia. Patricia immigrated from Colombia as a young child. Her experiences as a minority and multilingual immigrant have driven her passion for advocacy for children from diverse and multilingual backgrounds. She uses her expertise to support these young students in getting the proper services and help young, underrepresented families navigate the educational system.

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Patricia is bilingual Spanish speaking pediatric speech-language pathologist with nearly 20 years of experience in school, rehabilitation, and early intervention settings. Currently she maintains her own practice serving and evaluating young children, with a focus on culturally and linguistically diverse populations and second language acquisition, serving children and families in the natural environments of their homes or schools. Patricia divides her time between her practice and working for the Olathe Public Schools in Kansas, serving the education and communication needs of culturally and linguistically diverse preschool students in the Head Start program.

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Patricia invests in her local and school communities by mentoring, training, and supervising Spanish speaking and bilingual clinical students to educate the next generation of clinically competent speech-language pathologists on best practices in the field. She also currently serves on her children’s school’s Parent Teacher Organization and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.

Valerie is an experienced immigration attorney who has devoted her legal career to helping immigrants and their families. Since 2011, Valerie has helped hundreds of people from all over the world obtain legal status in the United States. Her practice is dedicated to representing individuals and their families at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of State, Executive Office of Immigration Review (Immigration Court), as well as at the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). She is the owner of The Law Office of Valerie K. Sprout, LLC which was established in 2021.

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Valerie is involved in advocacy efforts through the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and pro-bono volunteering opportunities such as providing legal services to refugees at the South Texas Family Residential Facility in Dilley, Texas.

Ramón Valdez grew up in Los Angeles in a mixed-status family from Mexico and El Salvador. He is an advocate, communicator, and full-stack developer who is passionate about community self-determination, storytelling, and closing the digital divide. Through his work as an immigrant rights advocate, Ramón helped to design, launch, and manage some of the largest and most forward-thinking humanitarian, pro bono legal representation, and disaster relief initiatives along the US-Mexico border in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.

 

Ramón currently works as the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Seeding Justice, a foundation focused on resourcing emerging grassroots organizations in Oregon. In this role, Ramón oversees the design, planning, and implementation of a diverse portfolio of efforts that aim to build up and are accountable to racial, social, gender, disability, economic, and environmental justice movements across the Pacific Northwest. He is also proud to serve as a board member of the ACLU of Oregon and Pueblo Unido PDX.