Welcoming Our Coro Fellow
Strengthening Data, Story, and Community Through Partnership
This spring the Ashrei Foundation is excited to welcome Aubrey Lay as a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs through the University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL).
Coro is a nine-month experiential learning fellowship housed at UMSL’s Community Innovation and Action Center. Through placements with nonprofit, business, and government organizations across the region, Coro Fellows engage deeply with public affairs, civic life, and the communities that shape St. Louis.
For six weeks, Aubrey will be working with theSt. Louis Rapid Response Coalition, a partnership between Ashrei, the MICA Project, and Abide in Love (AiL), to strengthen how we collect, analyze, and share data from the Rapid Response Hotline.
Why This Work Matters Now
After a year of operating the hotline, the coalition has gathered a significant body of information about immigration enforcement in the St. Louis region. Each call reflects a real moment in someone’s life, often during a time of fear or uncertainty.
We are at a point where it is not enough to simply collect information. We need to understand it, learn from it, and use it to respond more effectively.
Aubrey will help build strong, easy to use systems for data collection and analysis so we can:
Better support individuals and families reaching out for help
Identify patterns in local immigration enforcement
Make sure these experiences are not going unnoticed
Inform advocacy efforts aimed at reducing harm
From Data to Story to Action
This work builds on what we learned during our Foundations of Justice weekend with Dr. Austin Kocher. Data on its own can show patterns, but it does not fully capture what people are experiencing.
When paired with storytelling, data can help communities better understand the realities facing immigrant and mixed-status families. It can also shift how people think about immigration enforcement and what needs to change.
Aubrey will help us explore how to share this information in ways that are clear, accurate, and grounded in lived experience. The goal is to use data not just as information, but as a tool for visibility, connection, and change.
About our Coro Fellow
Aubrey Lay (he/him) is a graduate of the College of William & Mary, where he studied Government and Linguistics. Before joining Coro, he spent two years teaching English at Vabaduse Kool/Школа Свободи, a bilingual school in Tallinn, Estonia founded for Ukrainian refugee students.
His work in immigration justice began during college, where he supported LGBTQ Ukrainians in America. What began as research on Russian disinformation evolved into direct mutual aid and advocacy following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Aubrey also co-directed the Exodus Project, a student-led research initiative focused on the humanitarian response to LGBTQI+ Ukrainian refugees’ health needs.
This placement reflects the strength of regional partnership. Aubrey’s work will be shared across Ashrei, the MICA Project, and Abide in Love, with additional opportunity for sharing through the Rapid Response Coalition network.
Aubrey was connected to this work through a partner who saw a strong fit.
He joins at a time when the coalition has both a clearer picture of what is happening locally and a growing responsibility to respond with care and accuracy.
Aubrey has shared that he is grateful to witness the stories of those affected by detention and the collective effort it takes to support hotline callers. He is especially interested in how the coalition can better highlight these experiences while identifying broader patterns that shape people’s lives.
Looking Ahead
This six-week project is about ensuring that truth is visible, strengthening how we understand what is happening in our community, and that no one faces harm in isolation.
By improving how we collect and share information, we can help ensure that people have what they need to make informed decisions and that our broader community is better equipped to respond with care.
To learn about our immigration justice work, visit www.ashreifoundation.org/immigrationjustice
