Spotlight May 2025

IIB would not be able to make WNY a better place for, and because of, immigrants and refugees were it not for our team, the community, and those we serve.

Natalie Karmazyn
Volunteer

A special thank you to Natalie Karmazyn, who volunteered in the Communications and Philanthropy departments. She excelled in writing blogs and social media posts, digging through our archives, and organizing information for our strategic planning process.  

She also helped our International Education and Exchanges department organize our latest Model United Nations and Community World Trivia competition. We appreciate her extraordinary work.     

Click here to learn how to give the gift of time by volunteering for IIB.     

Eunice Alvarado
Employment Intern 

Eunice Alvarado, also known as Yuni, worked as an Employment Services department intern for two months. Soon, she will graduate from Buffalo State with a degree in political science. Yuni will take a gap year to work as a paralegal. After that, she plans on attending law school!

She is fluent in Spanish and became a critical member of the team, helping our clients search for jobs and jumping in whenever help was needed. She fit in easily and was always eager to help with whatever was needed. She attended job fairs, open interviews, and even did a tabling event to recruit more interns! We will miss her, and we wish her nothing but the best!

Click here if you want to intern with us!

Jeronimo Silva Lugo
Spanish/French Interpreter

Jeronimo was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and came to Buffalo with his family as asylum seekers when he was four. In fact, his parents learned English at IIB.

He attended a bilingual Spanish-English program in elementary school, and his parents strictly enforced a "Spanish only at home" policy, which allowed him to learn Spanish and English as dominant languages.

He was motivated to become an interpreter and translator after his high school French teacher strongly encouraged him to use his language skills in his career.

"I considered that giving back and helping people in similar situations to that of my parents all those years ago was very worthwhile," says Jeronimo.

He is completing a joint bachelor's degree in Global Affairs and French at UB. Non-professionally, he also speaks Italian, Portuguese, German, and basic Mandarin Chinese. He hopes to eventually pursue a conference interpreting and translation degree to work for the European Union or the United Nations.

Besides languages, his interests include soccer, playing guitar, and traveling.

Click here to learn more about our expert language services.

Employment Buddies

As part of the Employment Buddies program, which helps both recently arrived refugees and previously resettled clients who need an extra hand, our Employment Services team and former Job Club clients joined IIB volunteers and interns for a trip to Canalside. This trip was a fun way to promote social integration while providing an educational experience, with clients learning how to use the bus system and finding community resources, which are essential to a job hunt.

 Click here to learn more about how we can help augment your organization's workforce with highly motivated employees.     

Community Benefactors 

A special thank you to the dentists, staff, and management at Inspire Dental and The Smilist in Amherst for providing essential dental care to a four-year-old refugee named Elham.

The young Syrian girl has severe heart problems and was unable to receive a life-saving cardiac procedure until she completed extensive dental work. Unfortunately, her family's insurance would not cover it.

These dental professionals stepped in and provided this crucial care, and now Elham can have her heart surgery. It is not an exaggeration to say that their act of charity saved the girl's life.

Click here to learn more about how you or your organization can give back to the community.

Community Partners in Language Access

Thank you to Buffalo Sewer Authority for entrusting IIB to translate public notices and provide interpreters for the Queen City Clean Waters Initiative public meetings. The initiative will reduce overflows from the Buffalo sewers by helping the flow reach the Bird Island Wastewater Treatment Facility during wet weather. This way, the overflow won’t enter the area waterways. This 15-year initiative will invest about $1 billion in the project, including upgrades to more than 50 sites. 

Click here to learn more about the importance of language access in Western New York. 

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"The International Institute of Buffalo makes Western New York a better place for, and because of, immigrants and refugees."