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…
Read More#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…
Read MoreWays 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…
Read More#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…
Read MoreCelebrating 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…
Read MoreSchool 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…
Read MoreMeet 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…
Read MoreTulsa 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…
Read MoreWhat 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…
Read MoreNonprofit empowers Black immigrant community in St. Louis, Missouri
Did you know that one in 10 Black people in the U.S. is an immigrant and that Africa has accounted for the fastest growth in the U.S. Black immigrant population? (Pew Research Center) For Black History Month, we chatted with Geoffrey Soyiantet, President and CEO of the St. Louis-based nonprofit and Welcoming Network member Vitendo…
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