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Texas: Catalyzing Statewide Synergies with SIIP
Sara McElmurry and Trevor Shealy |
In 2019, a network of Texas-based adult educators led by the Texas Workforce Commission’s Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) program joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) to ensure that the state’s adult education system was providing optimized support for its 894,000 college-educated immigrants and refugees, an estimated 21% of whom are unemployed or underemployed […]
St. Louis, MO: Creating Career Pathways with SIIP
Sara McElmurry and Trevor Shealy |
St. Louis has one of the country’s fastest-growing immigrant and refugee populations, yet the city misses out on $57 million in taxable earnings each year due to their systemic underemployment and unemployment. In 2018, the International Institute of St. Louis (IISTL) joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) to address the barriers driving this disparity. […]
Portland, ME: Championing a Vibrant, Inclusive State Workforce with SIIP
Sara McElmurry and Trevor Shealy |
Grappling with an aging population and acute labor shortages, the Portland Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) in 2018 with the goal of bolstering the local workforce through immigrant and refugee economic inclusion. For years, business leaders in Portland and throughout Maine had been sounding the alarm on a […]
Nevada: From State Office to Statewide Action with SIIP
Sara McElmurry and Trevor Shealy |
Immigrants and refugees make up nearly 20% of Nevada’s population, and a full quarter of the state’s workforce. Yet of the state’s 87,200 immigrant and refugee workers with a four-year degree or higher, nearly 40% are unemployed or underemployed – the result of systemic barriers like limited credential recognition and uneven access to career navigation […]
Louisville, KY: A Regional Collaboration Positioned for Impact through SIIP
Sara McElmurry and Trevor Shealy |
When a cohort of Louisville-based organizations joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) in 2017, the region had 30,000 open jobs – 9,000 requiring post-secondary training – and not enough workers to fill them. Local leaders from the Louisville Metro Government Office for Globalization (now called the Louisville Metro Government’s Office for Immigrant Affairs), KentuckianaWorks, […]
Lincoln, NE: Creating a “Ladder” for Immigrant & Refugee Inclusion with SIIP
Sara McElmurry and Trevor Shealy |
Nebraska has a long history as a leading refugee resettlement state, and the recent years have been no exception. In 2019, Lincoln’s New Americans Task Force (NATF) and Employ LNK partnered to join the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) with the goal of expanding and building systems to better support the inclusion of individuals with […]
Buffalo, NY: Continuing a Century of Welcoming with SIIP
Sara McElmurry and Trevor Shealy |
Continuing a 100-year legacy of championing local immigrants and refugees, the International Institute of Buffalo (IIB) joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) in 2019 with a goal to better serve a growing yet largely underserved community: immigrants and refugees with education, training, and credentials earned in other countries. As of the 2020 Census, Buffalo’s […]
How Two Immigrant-Led Organizations Are Harnessing an Opportunity to Create a More Inclusive Health Care Workforce
Trevor Shealy |
The United States faces growing health care workforce shortages, which are only expected to increase in the coming decade with projections estimating a national shortfall of over 900,000 nurses and up to 124,000 physicians by the year 2030. To address this issue, analysts and policymakers have begun looking to immigrants and refugees with health […]
Boise, ID & Salt Lake City, UT: Forging an Innovative, Inter-State Collaboration with SIIP
Sara McElmurry and Trevor Shealy |
After decades of welcoming newcomers to their programs, Idaho’s Global Talent and Utah’s One Refugee determined that a collaborative approach to immigrant and refugee workforce inclusion would bolster their efforts in the region. They joined the WES Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) in 2018 as co-leads of a cohort including the Church of Jesus Christ […]
How an Ohio Network is Advancing the Social Capital of Local Immigrant and Refugee Communities
Sara McElmurry |
Immigrants and refugees in the United States have high levels of post-secondary education, sought-after multilingual skills, and experience in high-demand STEM sectors, including health care—yet at least two million are unemployed or underemployed. A significant barrier to accessing employment opportunities is linked to the prevalence of networking in the U.S., and the fact that immigrants […]
Nevada’s Commitment to Welcoming Immigrants and Refugees Drives Growth
Sara McElmurry |
Two decades ago, Nevada was home to just over 100,000 immigrants and refugees, or 8.7 percent of its total population of 1.2 million. Yet as of 2020, the number of people in the state has mushroomed to 3.1 million, with immigration driving much of the growth. Nevada’s population is now 20 percent foreign-born, and the […]
How Buffalo’s Commitment to Immigrant Inclusion Reversed Decades of Decline
Sara McElmurry |
The 2020 census revealed a trend that city leaders in Buffalo, New York, had not seen in seven decades: growth. As of last year, the city was home to 278,349 residents, a 6.5 percent increase since 2010. The growth, the first recorded in Buffalo since the 1950 census, is the result of a dedicated effort […]