As the year commences, the KBI continues its education and advocacy work—hosting its annual youth summit and numerous immersions, visiting partner schools, presenting at conferences, and setting goals and planning strategy at a recent board meeting and a staff retreat. If you are in the area, please consider supporting these efforts by attending the Phoenix Dinner in March.
- Second Annual Walking in Mercy Youth Summit: Sponsored by the KBI and the Kino Teens, this year’s summit is scheduled for Saturday, February 4, with about 70 students (three times last year’s attendance) from six Southern Arizona high schools—Lourdes Catholic School, San Miguel High, Salpointe Catholic High School, Notre Dame Preparatory, St. Augustine Catholic High School, and Brophy College Preparatory.
- Immersion Experiences: The KBI hosted six immersion experiences in January with groups from around the country. One school, Salesianum School, is the site of a Kino Teens chapter.
Immersion Group | # of participants | # of days at the KBI |
Boston College School of Social Work, Boston, MA | 16 participants | 1 day (as part of a longer immersion) |
Ignatian Colleagues Program, USA | 12 participants (faculty and administrators from U.S. Jesuit universities) |
6 days |
Gonzaga University Justice in January Student Program, Spokane, WA |
12 participants | 3 days |
Salesianum School Wilmington, DE |
12 participants | 4 days |
University of Scranton Scranton, PA |
10 participants (faculty) |
3 days |
Saint James Parish Chicago, IL |
7 participants | 3 day |
- The KBI on the Road: Director of Education and Advocacy Joanna Williams will spend the first week in February meeting with students, parents and faculty at KBI partner universities and high schools in St. Louis, Chicago, and Cincinnati. At the end of the month, Assistant Director of Education Pete Neeley, S.J. will attend and conduct workshops (one in English, one in Spanish) at the Los Angeles Religious Education Conference where the theme will be “Embrace Trust.”
- Phoenix Dinner: Please join us for the Seventh Annual Kino Border Initiative Dinner in Phoenix on Saturday, March 25, 2017. More information about the event and purchasing tickets is available by calling Darci Haydukovich at 602-467-8825 or at: https://www.kinoborderinitiative.org.
- KBI Board Meeting: At the January 19 meeting, the KBI Board of Directors approved the 2017 budget, and voted in favor of the KBI’s updated advocacy policy. They also voted in favor of Francisco Lujan becoming an emeritus member of the Board of Directors.
- KBI Team Retreat: The staff of the KBI spent a few dedicated days to plan for the coming year at a team retreat in St. David, Arizona from January 30–February 1.

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