U.S. Funding Opportunity: Employer Practices

This opportunity sought to identify promising new ideas from organizations working with employers to advance more inclusive practices that improve economic mobility for immigrant and refugee workers.

This funding opportunity is now closed.

Background

Immigrant workers in the U.S. represent 17 percent of the labor force and yet are also 21.3 percent of low-wage workers, despite their wide range of skills, education, and experience. Better career pathways and training programs for workers in low-wage jobs are essential in helping immigrants and refugees achieve economic mobility and security; however, they alone are not enough.

Research supports the business rationale for investing in workers and creating good jobs. Beyond the benefits to individual employers, immigrant workers are critical to future economic growth in the U.S. more broadly. With declining U.S. birth rates and an aging workforce, immigrants and refugees are key to a vibrant economy.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted immigrant and refugee workers, it has also highlighted the experiences of workers whose voices have not previously been heard. Looking ahead, we have a unique opportunity to harness this moment and build back an economy centered on workers’ success and an economy that addresses the structural barriers individuals may experience due to race and ethnicity, gender, immigrant, refugee, or other identities.

Since the Fund launched in 2019, we’ve been learning from our grantee partners working to improve employer practices, including through high-road partnerships and demand-driven training programs. We are now building on this work and are looking for additional partners to learn alongside us who are committed to creating a more inclusive economy for all.

The Opportunity

This funding opportunity is now closed. Letters of intent (LOIs) were accepted through November 15, 2021.

Following the review of LOIs, selected organizations were invited to submit a full proposal.  Awardees received grants  up to two years in length and ranged up to $150,000. Selected applicants became grantee partners of the WES Mariam Assefa Fund as part of the Fund’s partner community and had access to peer learning, capacity building, and other programming.

The WES Mariam Assefa Fund looked to fund ideas from organizations to engage employers to directly:

  • Shift internal talent practices to reduce bias in recruitment and hiring, build more inclusive workplaces, and invest in advancing incumbent immigrant and refugee talent. 
  • Pilot demand-driven training and education programs that connect immigrant and refugee job seekers to quality jobs, particularly in high-growth sectors. 
  • Build coalitions within or across sectors to advance commitments and facilitate knowledge sharing and collective action among employers. 
  • Assess the impact of existing employer initiatives focused on immigrant and refugee workers to identify the path forward for those solutions.

Beyond the WES Mariam Assefa Fund team, external individuals reviewed LOIs and selected applicants to move to the full proposal stage. We worked with the following leaders who shared their perspectives and experiences that helped with the selection process.

Reviewers

VP of Development Upwardly Global

Audra Brown

VP of Development Upwardly Global

Director of Corporate Philanthropy Walmart.org

Patti Constantakis

Director of Corporate Philanthropy Walmart.org

Director of Employer Engagement
The ‎Welcoming Center

Rochelle Cooks

Director of Employer Engagement
The ‎Welcoming Center

Executive Director JFF Labs

Kristina Francis

Executive Director JFF Labs

Managing Director
Amplio Ventures

Apoorv Karmakar

Managing Director
Amplio Ventures

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be reviewed using the following seven criteria areas:

Does the initiative put forth a compelling vision for the advancement of immigrants and refugees that is informed by and responsive to community needs?

To what extent is the initiative informed by and responsive to the needs of immigrant and refugee workers, as well as employers?

What impact is it striving to achieve and how timely is the solution? To what extent could this initiative contribute to systemic change?

Does your team authentically and intelligently collaborate with partners, when appropriate, to increase the project’s capacity?

Do the project’s leaders understand the key considerations and resources required to successfully execute the envisioned project?

Would the project result in lessons useful for the field, including models for replicability and scale?

Does the initiative propose a new or improved approach to addressing the challenge identified?