Funding and Financing for Impact
Learn how the innovative use of financial tools—including participatory grantmaking, investments, and more—creates access to opportunity for immigrants, refugees, and the communities they join.
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Meet Rosemarie Powell, Executive Director of Toronto Community Benefits Network
Rosemarie Powell, who leads the Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN), has been at the forefront of pivotal community development and organizing throughout her 32 years in Canada. Rosemarie first arrived in Montreal from Jamaica at age 16 with her siblings to reunite with her mother. Ever since, she has worked to provide immigrants, youth, and racialized communities […]
Our 2021 Funding Priorities
The WES Mariam Assefa Fund’s principle of “learning by doing” as a funder is a constant. Every day, we learn from our 35-plus grantee and investee partners about which solutions hold promise, where we can do more, and what it takes to create lasting change to build a more equitable future for immigrants and refugees. […]
Actions for Funders: Strengthening the Advancement of Workers in Low-Wage Jobs
In 2019, the WES Mariam Assefa Fund partnered with the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation to explore how catalytic financing tools could drive more capital toward addressing the needs of immigrant and refugee workers. The impact of the pandemic made this work even more pressing. The Fund and the Beeck Center are now […]
Fund Joins Toronto’s Workforce Funder Collaborative
In 2020, the WES Mariam Assefa Fund joined Toronto’s Workforce Funder Collaborative (TWFC) alongside six other philanthropic funders: The Counselling Foundation of Canada, JPMorgan Chase, Metcalf Foundation, Ontario Trillium Foundation, United Way Greater Toronto, and TD Bank Group. This newly formed collaborative, the first of its kind in Canada, enables funders to combine philanthropic resources […]
How the IRC’s Center for Economic Opportunity Is Making Finance More Inclusive
Charles, a client of IRC’s Center for Economic Opportunity. Photo courtesy of IRC-CEO. Access to banking and financial services enables economic mobility. However, many refugees and immigrants in the United States face barriers to affordable financing, especially when they are new to the country and haven’t yet established their credit history. Improving financial access and […]
Driving Capital into the Immigrant-Serving Sector: 8 Key Takeaways from our Twitter Chat
On December 15, World Education Services (WES) brought immigrant serving-organizations together for a Twitter chat to discuss funding for and investing in organizations and solutions that enable immigrants and refugees to thrive. The conversation focused on how to drive more capital toward creating a more inclusive economy. More than 40 individuals and organizations joined us […]
Storytelling for Social Impact: Tools and Resources
This fall, the WES Mariam Assefa Fund and the Tarsadia Foundation hosted a three-part webinar series, Storytelling for Social Impact. The series was offered to all who applied to the Opportunity Challenge: $1 Million to Uplift Immigrant Communities, a joint, open grantmaking initiative launched last spring to support the success of immigrants and refugees and […]
How Our Partners Inspired Us in 2020
As we wind down the final weeks of the year, the WES Mariam Assefa Fund team is reflecting on all that we’ve learned and holding on to the inspiration and hope that will carry us into the new year. The year 2020 has been unlike any other. Through it all, we have been inspired by […]
The Welcoming Center on Engaging Immigrant Talent: Learning From a Shared Dialogue
This piece originally appeared on the Welcoming Center’s website on November 25, 2020 and is cross posted here with permission. The Welcoming Center is a grantee partner of the WES Mariam Assefa Fund. Our world is collectively experiencing a pandemic as well as social and political upheaval, both globally and locally. This turmoil directly impacts […]
Fund Announces First Impact Investments to Support the Success of Immigrant and Refugee Workers
NEW YORK — (Dec. 15, 2020) — The WES Mariam Assefa Fund today announced impact investments of $750,000 to ensure that immigrants and refugees in the United States have access to the tools and capital they need to acquire digital and other job-related skills, establish credit, increase their earning potential, and start businesses of their […]
What to Look Forward to at the 2020 National Immigrant Integration Conference
Every year, leaders, advocates, and organizations that support immigrants and refugees across the United States gather at the National Immigrant Integration Conference (NIIC). The NIIC is organized by the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), one of the WES Mariam Assefa Fund’s grantee partners, and will be held virtually this year on December 8 and […]
Inclusive Action for the City Discusses Lending in a Pandemic
By Maribel Garcia + Andrea Avila, Inclusive Action for the City This piece originally appeared on Inclusive Action’s website on November 18, 2020 and is cross posted here with permission. Inclusive Action is a grantee partner of the WES Mariam Assefa Fund. It’s hard to lend in a pandemic, especially when lending to entrepreneurs from […]
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