Dallas and Detroit to host 2024 and 2025 Welcoming Interactive conference

Welcoming America is pleased to announce Dallas, Texas, and Detroit, Michigan as the sites for the 2024 and 2025 Welcoming Interactive conference, respectively. The formal announcement was made at the recent Welcoming Interactive conference in San José, California, in which 600 participants from across the globe attended. The City of Dallas will spearhead the conference…

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Immigrant inclusion network convenes in Silicon Valley for annual conference

High angle image of San Jose, California skyline. Welcoming Interactive logo, mostly comprised of colorful circles and the words "Welcoming Interactive" is included in the graphic. Other words include: learn, grow, connect. Join welcomers from everywhere.

Welcoming America and the City of San José are set to host the annual Welcoming Interactive conference this Wednesday in San José, California, the heart of Silicon Valley, with over 600 attendees and special guests including San José Mayor Matt Mahan.  “We are excited to welcome people from around the world to experience our vibrant,…

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Farewell, Isha: Parting words from our deputy director

Group photo taken inside the White House, including Rachel Perić (second from the left) and Isha Lee (middle)

Editor’s note: Isha Lee, deputy director of Welcoming America, is departing the organization after eight years of service. During her tenure, Americans faced some of the most momentous challenges to our well-being and democracy and witnessed profound transformations within the fields of immigration and belonging. Isha came to Welcoming America in 2015 as the first…

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#WomenOfWelcoming: Celebrating history and inclusion for Women’s History Month

In the United States, Women’s History Month takes place during March to celebrate the contributions and achievements of women in a variety of fields, from the past to the present. At Welcoming America, we are proud to lead a membership network of 300+ nonprofits and local government organizations that work to help communities become more…

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U.S., Australian participants selected for exchange program between rural communities

As part of Welcoming America’s continued work in fostering rural leadership in welcoming and inclusion, we are thrilled to announce the 16 participants selected for the forthcoming Rural Welcoming Communities Exchange program (RWCE): U.S. participants: Celeste Koppe of the West Central Initiative (Fergus Falls, MN) Fatima Said of Project FINE (Winona, MN) David Kramer of…

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Twelve nonprofits, local governments receive funding for projects to foster, deepen belonging in local communities

Fund to Foster Belonging

Welcoming America is pleased to announce the 12 nonprofit and local government recipients of the second round of funding from the Fund to Foster Belonging, which will continue supporting and expanding the work of local leaders and projects that build meaningful connections between immigrants and non-immigrants: Level 1 recipients: Centro Multicultural (Pontiac, MI) City of…

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City of Philadelphia becomes largest U.S. city to gain Certified Welcoming designation by Welcoming America

City of Philadelphia is in the background of an image with text overset displaying the Certified Welcoming logo and tagline

Welcoming America, a national nonprofit organization, announces today the City of Philadelphia – the largest city and the fourth place in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – to achieve the Certified Welcoming designation. Rachel Perić, Executive Director of Welcoming America, said: “Philadelphia’s leadership as a Certified Welcoming city shows how a principled response to migration, driven…

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Yes, welcoming is hard, but not impossible: a response to the crisis narrative of the migrant situation in the U.S.

When someone chooses to make our community home, flattery — not indignation — should be our response. If they, like my own family, have traveled thousands of miles, fled an oppressive regime, and want to work so they can feed their family, consider yourself doubly flattered, because it means you’ve done great work creating a…

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White House Announces the Restart of the Task Force on New Americans during the National Immigration Inclusion Conference

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Partnership for New Americans and Welcoming America issues the following statement in response to the announcement today from the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC) on reestablishing the Task Force on New Americans during the National Immigrant Inclusion Conference (NIIC): “We are encouraged by the Domestic Policy Council’s announcement about restarting the…

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The time is now for communities to put welcoming values into action

As we move on from the midterm elections, we are dismayed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott continuing to send people from the Texas border to so-called “liberal havens” — most recently, to Philadelphia — without their knowledge, and with the misguided notion that this will somehow turn public opinion against them. But as the midterms…

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