In August of 2014, ISIS started a campaign of genocide against the Yezidi people, a religious minority in Northern Iraq. In towns across the U.S., including Lincoln, Yezidis started getting calls for help from friends and relatives trapped in ISIS’ line of fire. Hadi Pir, Laila Khoudeida, Haider Elias, and Murad Ismael got these calls, and sprang into action. They went to Washington, DC, and their calls for the U.S. government to act led them to consulting with the Department of Defense on the coordination of airstrikes against ISIS. After the airstrikes stopped, they founded Yazda, a global organization that advocates for protection and justice for Yezidis. They will share their stories in a panel discussion and a question and answer session moderated by UNL’s Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs.