Refugees and immigrants are critical to the success of the U.S. economy. The Institute invests training and resources in New Americans who are driven to build a better life for themselves and their families. The return on this investment for the community is significant; New Americans trained by the Institute are addressing Minnesota’s skills gap, filling shortages in the medical field. Institute graduates reduce their dependence on public assistance, pay taxes, and spend money in our community.
The Institute’s Workforce Development Programming has been featured in numerous national publications as well as federal briefings:
- The Aspen Institute gathers diverse, nonpartisan thought leaders, creatives, scholars and members of the public to address some of the world’s most complex problems. You can read their full report: Working Together to Strengthen America’s Immigrant Workforce.
- The Institute’s work was featured in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Training and Employment Notice (TEN). TEN shares workforce system examples, best practices, and partnership models with state and national agencies in order to improve services for English Language Leaners with cultural and language barriers to employment. Training and Employment Notice.
- The National Skills Coalition, which informs national policy on workforce issues, cites the Institute’s innovative partnership with Saint Paul College, and the academic and personal supports implemented there, as a promising practice to foster immigrant worker success. You can read their full report: Upskilling the New American Workforce: Demand-Driven Programs that Foster Immigrant Worker Success & Policies that Can Take Them to Scale.
- The National Council on Workforce Education provides a national forum for administrators and faculty in workforce education and basic skills, as well as representatives of business, labor, military, and government, to affect and direct the future role of two-year and other post-secondary institutions in workforce education and economic development. You can read their full report: Building Community Partnerships to Serve Immigrant Workers.
