Welcoming Communities in Action
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New Maryland Legislation Promises Reform for Health Care Workforce
Jacki Esposito |
Over the past several decades, staffing shortfalls have imposed dramatic negative effects on Maryland’s health care system, including increased hospital readmission and higher mortality rates among patients. But new legislation in Maryland may offer some hope. States Face Critical Health Care Shortages Statistics confirm Maryland’s current health care shortages: In 2020, the state had only […]
Advancing Efforts to Create a More Inclusive Workforce Through Mentoring
Isabel Schroeder |
The Global Talent Leadership Network (GTLN) of WES Global Talent Bridge is teaming up with JVS Toronto to connect internationally trained immigrants and refugees with mentors who share the same occupation. In communities across the United States, the GTLN Group Mentoring Program will build on a proven model that leverages the networking power of immigrant- […]
IMPRINT Welcomes Ten New Members
Natalie Torres |
The IMPRINT Coalition launched in 2011 with five members and an ambitious goal: to advance policies and promising models that support the economic inclusion of internationally trained immigrants and refugees. A decade later, IMPRINT is nearly 30 members strong and includes service providers, advocacy organizations, and higher education institutions from across the United States. All […]
Increasing Access to Higher Education for Refugees: State Policy Solutions
Fatima Sanz |
In May of 2022, the number of people forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations, and persecution surpassed 100 million for the first time. Approximately 40% of these individuals are refugees. Data from the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) shows that in 2020 around half of refugees worldwide were under the age […]
Promoting Equitable Opportunity for Immigrant and Refugee Women in the U.S.
Sara McElmurry |
The 12.3 million immigrant and refugee women in the United States workforce represent 15 percent of all women employed in food and agriculture, health care and public health, education, and manufacturing. Yet even with increasing demand for workers in these critical sectors, systemic barriers have continued to limit equitable workforce opportunity. Of all workers, immigrant […]
Envisioning System-Level Strategies for Integrating Internationally Educated Health Professionals and Rebuilding Ontario’s Healthcare Workforce
Caroline Ewen |
The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented pressures on health systems globally: the WHO is estimating a projected shortfall of 18 million health workers by 2030. Health authorities in Canada are anticipating a continuation of serious shortages of health care professionals in medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, and respiratory therapy, to name just a few. Public concern […]
How an Ohio Network is Advancing the Social Capital of Local Immigrant and Refugee Communities
Sara McElmurry |
Immigrants and refugees in the United States have high levels of post-secondary education, sought-after multilingual skills, and experience in high-demand STEM sectors, including health care—yet at least two million are unemployed or underemployed. A significant barrier to accessing employment opportunities is linked to the prevalence of networking in the U.S., and the fact that immigrants […]
Immigrant and Refugee Youth Are the Future of Work
Monina Febria |
Although youth (ages 17-30) in Canada make up only 12 percent of the nation’s labour force, in the early days of the pandemic they accounted for a quarter of the country’s job losses. With immigrant youth already facing other barriers to employment, World Education Services (WES) and the Canadian Council for Youth Prosperity (CCYP) have […]
New Virginia Law Will Foster Inclusion in Teacher Workforce
Sara McElmurry |
Over the past decade, more than 300,000 new students have been added to Virginia’s K-12 schools. However, during that same period, only 3,000 new employees were hired. The number of unfilled teaching positions across the commonwealth jumped 62 percent in just two years, from the school year 2018-2019 to 2020-2021. Last August, 76 of Virginia’s […]
How WES Is Helping a Team of Immigrant Youth Launch Their Careers
WES Global Talent Bridge |
A new cohort of youth has entered the workforce since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Graduating into a turbulent and uncertain labour market rocked by large-scale layoffs, this cohort includes immigrant youth—immigrants, refugees, and international students—in significant numbers. Immigrant youth face compounded challenges: the current economic climate as well as their backgrounds and cultures […]
Advancing an Inclusive Economic Recovery: Top Five Policy Priorities for 2022
Sara McElmurry and Fatima Sanz |
The year 2022 brings a renewed call for policy reforms that ensure an inclusive workforce and equal opportunity for all so that immigrants, refugees, and international students no longer face barriers to advancing in their careers in the United States. Immigrants and refugees make up 17 percent of the U.S. labor force, and nearly half […]
Renewed Call to Action on “Bridging the Gap” Legislation
Jacki Esposito |
A physician with 25 years’ experience as head of a government clinic in Afghanistan’s Herat province came to the United States in 2019. He holds a degree from an Afghan medical college along with nearly 30 health-related trainings and certifications. However, to support his family, he has taken a job stocking shelves at a big-box […]