Edafe Okporo, who will deliver the keynote address at the Idaho Conference on Refugees, shared some meaningful insights with the Boise Weekly in a Q&A published this week.

Edafe is the author of Asylum: A Memoir & Manifesto and founder of Refuge America, which helps LGBTQ people who are fleeing persecution. Edafe himself fled this same type of persecution in Nigeria before seeking asylum in New York in 2016. 

"The U.S. has allowed me to rebuild my life from the scratch," Edafe told the Boise Weekly. "It would be a miss if the book was only about pain. It was mostly about the joy of finding community, and the welcoming messages of Americans who gave me their space, offered me hope and an optimistic end to a tragic beginning."

The 14th annual Idaho Conference on Refugees is moving to a hybrid model this year, offering both in-person and virtual options.

You're invited to the two-day event on Feb. 28 and March 1, either in person at Boise State University's Student Union Building or online through Zoom. Registration is open through Feb. 18.

The goal of the conference is to connect community members from diverse backgrounds and provide training for professionals and volunteers who work with refugee and immigrant populations.