Looking Back at IMPRINT Coalition Achievements
WES launched The IMPRINT Coalition (IMmigrant PRofessional INTegration) in 2011 to address the persistent challenge of immigrants with international training being excluded from opportunities. This persisted despite workforce shortages and employers’ demands for talent. To address this gap, the coalition convened service providers, advocates, and educational institutions to share best practices, coordinate advocacy efforts, and advance policy and program changes that support the integration of immigrants into the U.S. economy.
Building on lessons from IMPRINT and other initiatives, in 2025, WES developed a new strategy that focuses on good work and advancing economic inclusion for immigrants. This is especially true for health care career pathways. The shared lessons and model practices developed through IMPRINT position WES to expand on this work within the newly launched WES Policy and Practice Network, which incorporates IMPRINT partners.
Foundations of IMPRINT
IMPRINT began as a small convening focused on practical solutions and grew over time into a national network. Across its work, IMPRINT emphasized opportunity, inclusion, collaboration, equity, and recognition of credentials and lived experience. Its mission included advancing policies and programs that expanded equitable access to education and good work for immigrants. It consistently upheld a long-term vision of the U.S. as a nation that fully values education, experience, and expertise attained internationally.
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic intensified health care labor shortages, IMPRINT, in partnership with the International Rescue Committee and Refugee Advocacy Lab, produced a report highlighting the six states that issued executive orders enabling internationally trained immigrant health professionals to obtain temporary licensure and practice. Building on the report’s momentum and broader advocacy discussions, WES began serving in a convening role in this space and fostering deeper cross-sector dialogue on alternative pathways.
Coalition members convened to share policy updates, highlight members’ work, and provide practical, capacity-building sessions. These sessions offered tools and strategies for impact—covering topics like storytelling, depoliticizing narratives, measuring advocacy outcomes in complex policy environments, and applying research to real-world practice. IMPRINT also facilitated engagement on alternative licensure pathways for internationally trained physicians, offering members technical assistance, peer learning, and strategic planning beyond the broader coalition agenda. In subsequent years, IMPRINT prioritized membership growth, expanding from six founding organizations to 43 member organizations across 19 states and reaching 63 individual members nationwide.
Building on This Work: The WES Policy and Practice Network
As IMPRINT concludes its work as a standalone program, its legacy is evident in the many initiatives and activities led or supported by its members, as well as policy changes at both the federal and state levels.
This foundation launches WES’s next chapter, bringing IMPRINT and other partners together in the WES Policy and Practice Network to align efforts and advance immigrant economic inclusion. Lasting change in narratives, policy, and practice requires collective effort. IMPRINT partners contribute to the perspectives, relationships, and experience needed to drive meaningful impact together.
IMPRINT’s founding partners and steering committee members include the Community College Consortium for Immigrant Education (now merged with the Presidents’ Alliance), Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition, Upwardly Global, the Welcome Back Initiative, the Welcoming Center, and the International Medical Graduates Academy (formerly the Washington Academy for International Medical Graduates).
Key IMPRINT Accomplishments
IMPRINT was designed to offer members space to drive and develop activities that would strengthen their advocacy infrastructure, expand state-level policy impact, and deepen peer learning. As a result, members led and contributed to several initiatives and activities that resulted in policy changes at both the federal and state level:
2015
Released Steps to Success with the Institute for Immigration Research, identifying economic and employment barriers facing immigrant professionals
2021
Launched the #UntappedTalent national awareness campaign to support the Bridging the Gap for New Americans Act, gaining support from 200+ organizations
2022
Played a pivotal role in the bipartisan passage of the Bridging the Gap for New Americans Act, mobilizing IMPRINT members and key stakeholders to advance federal policy change
2023
Coordinated coalition-wide advocacy to build support for three federal health care workforce bills:
- PATH Act
- IMG Assistance Act
- Immigrants in Nursing and Allied Health Act
2024
Released Amplifying the Impact: Bridging the Gap for New Americans, offering the Department of Labor policy recommendations in response to the earlier federal report
2025
Expanded IMPRINT to 43 member organizations across 19 states
Engaged over 100 practitioners and advocates through training, monthly convenings, and technical assistance
Helped elevate the National Office of New Americans Act (2021) and amplify the launch of 22 new ONA offices nationwide
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