Tiziana Chiappelli is a researcher at the Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Educazione e dei Processi Culturali e Formativi at the Education Sciences Faculty of Florence. She has carried out intercultural research on migration and the processes of inclusion and exclusion of women immigrants in the workplace and first and second generation immigrant children in the education system, as well as the sociology of religion, in particular inter-religious dialogue and cultural pluralism. Ms. Chiappelli is also part of the Interculture, Migrations and Inter-ethnic Relations research team coordinated by Professor Giovanna Campani, specialized in themes related to processes of social and labor inclusion and exclusion of immigrants and linguistic and cultural minorities, non-accompanied minors, intercultural education and the educational inclusion of disadvantaged groups, as well as policies for asylum seekers, refugees and victims of human trafficking. The team has carried out research on European Union projects, including: RomEco - Roma integration in the Economy (2005); Leonardo - Intercultural Communication (2008); FeMiPol - The Integration of Female Immigrants in the Labor Market and Society: Policy Assessment and Policy Recommendations (2008); INCLUDE-ED - Strategies for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe from Education (2006-2011); and PRIMTS - Prospects for Integration of Migrants from ‘Third Countries’ and their Labor Market Situations: Towards Policies and Action (2009).

Muzaffar A. Chishti, a lawyer, is Director of the Migration Policy Institute’s (MPI) office at New York University School of Law. His work focuses on US immigration policy, the intersection of labor and immigration law, and the devolution of immigration policy to states and localities. Prior to joining MPI, Mr. Chishti was Director of the Immigration Project of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial & Textile Employees (UNITE). Mr. Chishti currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the National Immigration Law Center, the New York Immigration Coalition, and the Asian American Federation of New York. He has served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Immigration Forum, and as a member of the Coordinating Committee on Immigration of the American Bar Association. Mr. Chishti has testified extensively on immigration policy issues before various congressional committees and is frequently interviewed by the media. In 1992, as part of a U.S. team, he assisted the Russian Parliament in drafting its legislation on forced migrants and refugees. He is a 1994 recipient of the New York State Governor’s Award for Outstanding Asian Americans and a 1995 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. His authored or co-authored publications include: Through the Prism of National Security: Major Immigration Policy and Program Changes in the Decade since 9/11; Delegation and Divergence: A Study of 287(g) State and Local Immigration Enforcement; A Program in Flux: New Priorities and Implementation Challenges for 287(g); Testing the Limits: A Framework for Assessing the Legality of State and Local Immigration Measures; America’s Challenge: Domestic Security, Civil Liberties, and National Unity After September 11; “Guest Workers in the House of Labor” in the New Labor Forum; “The Role of States in US Immigration Policy” in the The Third Annual Transatlantic Dialogue on Immigration NYU Annual Survey of American Law (2002); “Enforcing Immigration Rules: Making the Right Choices” in NYU Journal of Legislation and Public Policy (2006-07); “A Redesigned Immigration Selection System” in Cornell International Law Journal (Winter 2008); “Employer Sanctions Against Immigrant Workers” in WorkingUSA; and “Rights or Privileges,” in the special issue on the Promise of Immigration in The Boston Review. Mr. Chishti was educated at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi; the University of Delhi; Cornell Law School; and the Columbia School of International Affairs.

Izzedin Elzir is Imam of Florence and President of the Union of Islam Communities of Italy. He is originally from Hebron, Palestine. He came to Florence to study fashion design at the Italian Academy of Fashion and Design in 1991 and started a leather goods stand in Piazza San Lorenzo. He is one of the founding members of the Islamic community in Tuscany and has been Imam of Florence since 1991. He served as President of the Islamic Community of Tuscany beginning in 1992 and was elected President of the Islamic Communities of Italy in 2010.

Dario Nardella was born in Torre del Greco (Napoli) November 20, 1975. Since 1989 he has lived in Florence. Since he was a child he has followed a passion for music. In 1998 he graduated with a specialization in Violin from the L. Cherubini Conservatory in Florence and carried out a professional music career until 2004. He graduated with a degree in Law with honors from the University of Florence, where he completed his Doctorate in Constitutional Law, and is currently a lecturer in Cultural Property Legislation. In the last government of Romano Prodi (2006-2008) Mr. Nardella was a legal advisor to the Minister for Parliamentary Relations and the Vannino Chiti Institutional Reforms. He continued in this capacity with the Vice Presidency of the Italian Senate. He was elected to the Florence City Council in 2004 in the role of President of the V Councilor Commission on Culture, Education and Sports. In 2009 he was reelected to the Florence City Council and then joined the administration of Mayor Matteo Renzi as Vice Mayor with the Economic Development and Sports portfolio. In 2005 he established the Eunomia Foundation with a group of University Professors including Leonardo Morlino, Enzo Cheli, Andrea Simoncini and Pier Francesco Lotito, for which he serves as Director. In 2008 he was selected to participate in the International Leadership Program of the U.S. Department of State as a young Italian leader. He has numerous publications in the field of public, constitutional and cultural property law with UTET, Il Mulino, Passigli Editori and Polistampa. Mr. Nardella continues to perform as a violinist in concert and orchestra groups.

Badara Seck was born on March 5, 1970 in Senegal, a descendent of a family of Griots, who practice the art of the word in Africa. In his youth, his charisma, in addition to his vocal gifts, led him to travel the world using his voice to convey stories, and eventually songs and music composed by him. Starting off in Canada, then travelling throughout Central-Western Africa and across Europe, Switzerland and Italy in particular, Badara Seck punctuated his travels by frequent visits to Senegal where he continued his role as Griot and musician enriched by his international experience. Since 1998 Badara Seck lives primarily in Rome and has been a point of reference for the Senegalese community in Italy for many years. He has participated in numerous international and Italian festivals, notably, he was chosen to substitute the great Miriam Makeba as voice soloist in the famous Messa Luba. In 2000 he participated in the Africa Poesia event in Rome and Florence alongside Francis Bebey, poet, musician, writer and icon of African culture. Badara Seck was also one of the featured performers in the multilingual event Hypertext-Ulisse, of composer Luigi Cinque, commissioned by the European Community as part of the Euro-Mediterranean Project. With his group PEND, Badara Seck performs regularly in Italy, Europe and Africa. He contributed to the realization of the last album of the singer Massimo Ranieri and has accompanied Ranieri in all of his concerts over the last 5 years. Among other notable collaborations:

Ennio Morricone, Mauro Pagani, Paolo Fresu and Pino Daniele. Badara Seck was among the new generation of Griots who have travelled the world but do not intend to abandon their particular identity, or their active role in transforming Africa and Africans. He created the project RungPung for Fabbrica Europa 2004 in Florence, an interdisciplinary, interafrican and multicultural project rooted in the profound African vision of the world and the African tradition that also aims to encourage immigrants, African and non-African, to use the language and resources they have absorbed in Western Europe to enrich their identities. Badara Seck is one of the main performers of the Festival au Desert in Florence in July 2011 and 2012. In October 2011 he was invited to the 60th Anniversay of the FAO. And in January 2012 he was hosted as International Artist by the Festival au Desert in Mali, along with some of the most important artists in the world.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg appointed Fatima A. Shama as Commissioner of the NYC Mayor´s Office of Immigrant Affairs in August, 2009. Commissioner Shama had previously served as Senior Education Policy Advisor at the Mayor´s Office. Prior to joining the Bloomberg Administration in 2006, Ms. Shama served for four years as Executive Director of the Greater Brooklyn Health Coalition. Ms. Shama earned a Bachelor of Arts from Binghamton University and a Masters of Public Administration from Baruch College´s School of Public Affairs Executive Program.

He has been a researcher and activities co-ordinator at the Michelucci Foundation since 1987, and has worked on issues relating to the social habitat, educational and hospital structures, reception and residential projects for Roma and Sinti immigrants. Against this background, he has collaborated in the study and realisation of innovative housing models and gleaned much experience in shared planning, analysing the social impact of interventions and urban integration. He has acted as consultant to the Tuscan Region on the New Law “for the protection of Roma and Sinti peoples” and drafted its more recent modifications as well as collaborating with various Municipal Authorities and working with Reception Centres for Immigrants and Refugees. He is the Michelucci Foundation Co-ordinator for the Observatories on housing hardship, penal institutions, Roma and Sinti settlements, and on reception policies for immigrants as part of the Foundation’s commitments to the Tuscan Region Social Observatory.