News & Resources
Connecting Indigenous storytelling to build bridges in Charlotte
A story’s ability to bring people together is boundless. Ramona Moore Big Eagle knows this because storytelling is in her blood. Based in the newly Certified Welcoming city of Charlotte, North Carolina, Ramona is an educator, legend keeper, enrolled member of the Tuscarora nation, and recently, a gardener. Through her work with the Universal Institute…
#WhereWeBelong: A Look Back at Welcoming Week 2022
Each year, Welcoming Week provides a time and space for communities to come together and celebrate the things that make it welcoming and inclusive places for all who live there. This year was no exception: after two years of living through a pandemic, welcomers around the world came together in-person and virtually to celebrate the…
Resetting our vision for America
As the nation approaches the 4th of July, we do so while reeling from some of the biggest challenges to American democracy faced in generations – perhaps, ever. This period is more than turbulent – it shakes our grounding in a social contract that promises safety, equality, and protection under the law. As the January…
Ways to be welcoming for World Refugee Day 2022
Today marks the 21st anniversary of World Refugee Day. Internationally designated by the United Nations, World Refugee Day serves as a commemoration of the brave journey made by millions of individuals forced to flee their homes and a reminder of the importance of providing welcoming spaces to help them rebuild their lives in safety. This…
#Interactive2022 Recap
Over 450 people joined us in Charlotte, NC for the first in-person Welcoming Interactive since 2019. Local government leaders and nonprofit luminaries spent three days exchanging inclusion practices and ideas while connecting with both old and new colleagues and friends. Be sure to check out the event photos (more coming soon…) in our conference Flickr…
Celebrating 10 years of Welcoming Week with a new identity, announcing 2022 theme
This September, Welcoming America and its network of 300+ nonprofit and local government members – as well as a broader coalition of partner organizations – will ring in the 10th anniversary of Welcoming Week. For the past decade, the annual celebration has taken place in communities through events, ceremonies, and other actions to commemorate the…
School boards in focus: sustaining democracy and pluralism by taking a step back
Through the pandemic, schools became one of the toughest places to navigate for students, parents, educators, and school board members. Over time, school board meetings became tense spaces where people released their frustrations on issues ranging from mask mandates to the role of race in student curricula, sometimes ending in school board members being removed…
Meet the #WomenOfWelcoming 2022
For Women’s History Month, we are highlighting some individuals that have dedicated their lives to building more inclusive and equitable communities where all people can feel as though they belong, including immigrants. They come from diverse backgrounds and work in fields ranging from inclusion experts to local government work. These women represent what it means…
Tulsa makes long-term plans to include immigrants in economic development through the Welcoming Economies program
In 2021, the Welcoming Economies program entered its second phase with five participating organizations. We sat down with one of the participants, Diane Eason Contreras, Director of Immigrant and Refugee Services for the YWCA Tulsa – East Community Center, to dig into their experience in the cohort on creating a more welcoming business environment in…
What we hope to hear on immigration in Biden’s first State of the Union address
A year ago, I wrote this celebratory post, commending the Biden Administration’s announcement that it would stand up the Task Force on New Americans, a mechanism for the federal government to advance a vision of full belonging for immigrant Americans and one that has existed since the Bush administration. A year later, the Administration faces…