Nevada: From State Office to Statewide Action with SIIP 

Immigrants and refugees make up nearly 20% of Nevada’s population, and a full quarter of the state’s workforce. Yet of the state’s 87,200 immigrant and refugee workers with a four-year degree or higher, nearly 40% are unemployed or underemployed – the result of systemic barriers like limited credential recognition and uneven access to career navigation services.  

Like many other states, Nevada also faces acute employment shortages in essential sectors like health care and manufacturing. Recognizing that full workforce inclusion of immigrants and refugees would be vital to the state’s economic health, Nevada established the Governor’s Office for New Americans (ONA) in 2019. ONA then joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) in 2020, seeking support in its efforts to raise awareness of the need for better pathways to professional practice for internationally educated individuals. 

Convening Stakeholders Statewide  

With support from SIIP, ONA launched the Immigrant Workforce Development Group (IWDG), convening a multisector coalition of representatives from refugee resettlement agencies, community colleges, state agencies, workforce boards, and workforce development providers across Nevada. Through the IWDG, key stakeholders learned about each other’s services and developed plans for greater coordination. With the assistance of SIIP partner National Skills Coalition, ONA hosted two training webinars for community-based organizations in the IWDG, discussing the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and how the funding it offers can support workforce inclusion for internationally trained immigrants and refugees. The IWDG also developed a foundational document: A two-year strategic plan to coordinate funding, programming, and services to open new career pathways for internationally educated immigrants and refugees across the state.   

In November 2021, ONA deepened its engagement with both WES and local stakeholders through participation in the ​​SIIP Demonstration Opportunity, which provides technical and financial assistance to promising workforce inclusion initiatives. This enabled ONA to hire Grecia Perez-Rodriguez as its first-ever SIIP Program Officer, to implement the strategies laid out in the IWDG plan. “I want to challenge the commonly held ideas that everyone has about immigrants and refugees in the workforce,” ​​said Perez-Rodriguez. “The hospitality sector is important in Nevada, but immigrants have training and experience to work across multiple industries and professions, as doctors and engineers. I want to make our agencies and partners aware that immigrants can face the same [employment] barriers as others, plus additional ones like language and credentialing.” 

With its new capacity, ONA developed career pathways guides and an immigrant-focused case management system that syncs with Employ NV, Nevada’s online employment portal. Through the SIIP Demonstration Opportunity, ONA also created a second working group in the northern part of the state, complementing the efforts of the original IWDG which focuses on southern Nevada. Each group convenes monthly, and they often hold joint meetings as well. “We really raised awareness in Nevada, especially among stakeholders,” said an ONA representative. “SIIP has really put a spotlight on skilled immigrants… and on the barriers that hold [them] back.”  

Looking Ahead in Nevada  

Since its cohort year ended in 2021, ONA has continued to participate in the SIIP alumni network and to collaborate with fellow SIIP Demonstration Opportunity sites.

“I join the alumni video calls because we hear about the different things that they are doing,” said an ONA representative. “The connections have [shown us] best practices, and new ideas and innovations.” The Office for New Americans now aims to connect more internationally educated immigrants with roles in Nevada’s high demand industries, such as manufacturing and healthcare, and to create a coordinated case management system built on the existing Employ NV platform. 

ONA credits SIIP as a major support in its efforts to raise awareness in the potential contributions that Nevada’s internationally educated immigrants and refugees can make to the state economy and of the barriers they face to their full workforce inclusion. Learn how your community can participate in a future SIIP cohort.