WE Global Network

The Welcoming Economies Global Network (WE Network) strengthens, maximizes, and sustains the impact of inclusive economic development initiatives in the
American Rust Belt.

About the Program

The WE Network is a program of Welcoming America in partnership with Global Detroit. It is composed of more than 20 initiatives across the Rust Belt of the United States, tapping into the economic development opportunities created by immigrants.

By joining the WE Network, participants benefit from peer-to-peer learning, access to technical assistance, and other capacity building resources.

The value of the WE Network lies in the unique shared experience of the participating regions, which are characterized by:

  • Declining or slow growth populations with rapidly aging cohorts
  • Local populations with a rate of foreign-born below the national average
  • Economies that were 20th Century industrial economic powerhouses and are no longer growing at the same rate as the nation’s leading areas of growth
  • Foreign-born populations with higher college attainment rate than local native-born populations, as well as the national average for foreign born
  • Foreign-born populations with higher entrepreneurship rates than the local native-born population
  • Proximate to great research universities and institutions, as well as global leading corporations with a historic presence

Originally called the Global Great Lakes Network, the WE Network was formalized in 2013 and became a program of Welcoming America in 2014.

Questions about the program? Contact [email protected].