Our Ambassadors
Our Ambassadors have successfully leveraged our free technology to access safe, verified resources for themselves or their clients.
Our Ambassadors draw on their personal experiences using the free InReach App to serve as spokespeople for our organization at events, media interviews, other relevant speaking engagements, and in their local community.

Jamie Sgarro (He/They)
Boston, MA
When I first began my transition at the age of 26, I did not know where to start. So I turned to InReach. I used the free InReach App to locate trusted trans friendly legal help for my name and gender marker changes, lifesaving gender-affirming medical care, and critical mental health services as I navigated my transition. With the support of InReach, I am proud and grateful to now live openly as a trans man.
Jamie Sgarro is co-founder and executive director at InReach
Jamie Sgarro (He/They)
Jamie Sgarro (he/him or they/them) is the co-founder and executive director of InReach (formerly AsylumConnect). As a trans man who grew up in a conservative environment and who used the InReach App to find safe, verified resources during his own transition, Jamie remains personally motivated to ensure other trans and queer people in need have access to InReach’s free technology.
For his work on InReach, Jamie has earned national and international recognition for outstanding contribution in social impact including as the recipient the Millennium Campus Network’s 2015 Millennium Peace Prize at the United Nations, member of the Clinton Foundation’s 2017 CGI U Alumni Honor Roll of social innovators, 2019 Roddenberry Fellow, 2020 Forbes 30 under 30 honoree in Law & Policy, finalist in Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards, and a Gold Winner in the 2021 Passion Fund by Linktree x Square.
Jamie has been a featured speaker on LGBTQ+ rights and technology for social good, and his work has appeared in national outlets including The HuffPost, Forbes, Teen Vogue, The Clinton Foundation’s “Why Am I Telling You This?” Podcast, The Advocate, The Hill, NowThis, and NBC OUT.
Jamie holds a B.A. cum laude with distinction in Health & Societies from the University of Pennsylvania and a M.S. in Management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Hans How (He/Him)
San Francisco, CA
The LGBTQ+ asylum process can be very isolating for many asylum seekers who continue to face daily challenges in the U.S. Access to legal representation and other basic resources can often make a big difference in their ability to rebuild their lives. I have used the InReach App to find LGBTQ-affirming legal resources that are instrumental in helping me navigate the convoluted immigration process for my long pathway to citizenship.
Hans How is a governing board member & former volunteer vice president at InReach
Hans How (He/Him)
Current Employer & Position Title: Meta, Program Manager of Housing Investments and Strategic Initiatives
Years Served on Governing Board: 2021-2022
Hans How works as the Program Manager of Housing Investments and Strategic Initiatives at Meta, where he manages the company’s $1 billion funding commitment to help address the affordable housing crisis in California. After co-founding Prop C: Commissions For All, a ballot measure that gives all San Franciscans equal rights to serve on city commissions regardless of immigration status, Hans was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to serve on the Housing Stability Fund Oversight Board to develop permanently affordable housing in San Francisco.
Born and raised in Malaysia, Hans is a proud first-generation college graduate from Wesleyan University. For his work on AsylumConnect, Hans has been a featured speaker on LGBTQ+ rights and immigrant rights through national outlets including Forbes, Teen Vogue, The Daily Beast, The Bay Area Reporter, Upswell, and Lavender Law.
Before joining the governing board of directors, Hans previously served as the volunteer Vice President of AsylumConnect from June 2017 – May 2021.

Christina Tong (She/Her)
New York, NY
As a volunteer crisis counselor with The Trevor Project, I talk every week with LGBTQ+ youth across the country who are in crisis. They are facing issues like family discrimination, impending loss of housing, bullying, coming out, loss, self-injury, and exploring gender identity. I use the free InReach App to find safe local service providers for our contacts, for example finding trans-affirming emergency housing for trans youth facing homelessness.
Christina Tong is a governing board member & former junior board member at InReach
Christina Tong (She/Her)
Current Employer & Position Title: Peloton, Senior Product Manager
Years Served on Governing Board: 2021-2022
Christina is a Senior Product Manager at Peloton. She previously worked as a Product Manager at Google San Francisco, where she led global launches on the Augmented Reality, Lens, and Google My Business teams, including empowering businesses to mark themselves as “women-led” on Google Maps. In her spare time, Christina volunteers at the Trevor Project. She also writes about fitness tech and product management at justchristinatong.com, and has been a certified fitness trainer for over five years. Christina graduated with honors from Pomona College in 2017 with a degree in computer science and a minor in politics, where she fought for students’ rights and resources on campus as Student Body President. Before joining the governing board of directors, Christina previously served on the InReach Junior Board of young professionals. She’s excited to draw on her professional and personal experiences to advance InReach’s mission.

Paulina Leyva (She/Her)
Bronx, NY
Working in the pro bono legal services sector, our clients, who were asylum-seekers and other LGBTQI+ folks in vulnerable situations, would often ask for advice beyond the realm of legal help that we provide. As a paralegal, it was difficult to research this information in an individualized manner, until I found InReach (formerly AsylumConnect). I was then able to use the InReach App to find safe and reliable service providers that would address our clients’ needs and to connect them with relevant and urgently needed social services. This invaluable online resource proved life-saving and life-changing for so many of our clients.
Paulina Leyva is a former staff member at InReach & former Asylum Paralegal at Immigration Equality
Paulina Leyva (She/Her)
Paulina is originally from Mexico, but has had the privilege of living in all three countries in North America. She is passionate about matters of social, racial, and economic justice and the defense of human rights, women’s rights, and immigrant and refugee rights. Her own experiences as an immigrant and Latinx woman inform her trauma-informed approach in her work. She has worked in the domestic and international nonprofit sector advocating for persecuted and other vulnerable populations, including forcibly displaced individuals, LGBTQ+ asylum-seekers, survivors of torture and gender-based violence. Her previous work also inspires her dedication to give back to her community and to amplify the voices of those directly impacted. Paulina received a B.A. from the City University of New York and is currently pursuing a joint law and master’s degree with a focus on International Affairs at the CUNY School of Law.

Mo Swinson, LMSW (She/Her)
BRONX, NY
Social workers often make referrals to other organizations and providers to meet all of our clients’ needs. It is important to connect people with the resources and support they need in a timely manner, and it is imperative that services and service providers are safe and affirming. I share the InReach app not only with clients, but also with other service providers, to ensure that clients who are part of the LGBTQ community are connected with the mental health, medical, legal, and other services to meet all of their needs.
Mo Swinson is a Junior Board member at InReach & social worker
Mo Swinson, LMSW (She/Her)
Mo Swinson, LMSW, is a social worker who lives and works in New York. After earning her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, she served in a school as an AmeriCorps Corps Member in Boston. This year of service led her to enroll in graduate school at Columbia University School of Social Work. During one of her graduate field placements she interned at a drop-in center for LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness where she saw how challenging it can be to locate safe and affirming services. She currently works as a behavioral health provider at an LGBTQ health clinic; in her spare time, she serves on the Junior Board of InReach, runs, and hikes.

Ari Jones (They/Them/Elle)
OAKLAND, CA
While the world is full of many helpful tools and services, it is difficult to recommend unknown providers to our clients. InReach gives providers peace of mind; when we recommend their service, we know that our LGBTQI+ clients will receive affirming and supportive services that have been vetted by the InReach team. I never want to expose my clients to more harm, and InReach helps me feel confident in my recommendations.
Ari Jones is the Residency & Naturalization Program Manager at Oasis Legal Services
Ari Jones (They/Them/Elle)
Ari Jones is a queer and immigrant rights advocate representing individuals living at the intersection of these marginalized identities. Ari is a graduate of UC Berkeley School of Law and was awarded the Tom Steel Fellowship from the Pride Law Fund in 2018. Ari has interned with Catholic Charities of the East Bay, California Rural Legal Assistance, and the USCIS Ombudsman’s Office. As the Residency and Naturalization Program Manager at Oasis, Ari represents clients in their lawful permanent residency, VAWA, and citizenship applications, while collaborating with state and local groups on immigration and public benefits policies. Ari serves on the steering committee of the East Bay Refugee and Immigrant Forum and most recently served as Vice Chair of the State Advisory Council on Refugee Assistance and Services. In their free time, Ari loves to do crafts, experiment with makeup, and dabble in drag.