Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees - GCIR

In the United States, an estimated 8.2 million immigrants are currently eligible for citizenship. More than half live in California (2.5 million), New York (950,000), and Texas (900,000). And in over a dozen other states—including Florida, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, Arizona, Washington, and North Carolina—there are at least 100,000 naturalization-eligible persons.

Naturalization brings significant social, economic, and civic benefits not only to newcomers and their families but also to local communities, individual states, and the country as a whole. However, in order to help large numbers of immigrants become U.S. citizens, national, state, and local funders must work together to build a stronger immigrant integration infrastructure that expands access to immigration legal services, citizenship application assistance, and English language instruction.

Grantmaking colleagues from around the country joined GCIR’s first webinar of 2012 to learn about GCIR’s national citizenship initiative as well as:

• Never-before-released federal data (from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service) on naturalization-eligible immigrants by county and metropolitan area in the United States.

• The economic impact of citizenship, using preliminary methods to gauge potential gains in immigrant income.

• Opportunities to partner with funding colleagues and leverage philanthropic investments.

• New technology to help promote citizenship, including a demonstration of CitizenshipWorks, which provides online tools and resources for applicants and the nonprofit providers that assist them.

Speakers

• Manuel Pastor, Professor of American Studies & Ethnicity, Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration at the University of Southern California.
• Leslie Dorosin, Chief Financial Officer and Immigrant Program Director, Grove Foundation, Geri Mannion, Program Director, U.S. Democracy and Special Opportunities Fund, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Manuel Santamaria, Grantmaking Director, Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
• Matthew Burnett, Director, Immigration Advocates Network (IAN is a co-creator of CitizenshipWorks, with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Pro Bono Net).

For more information about this program, please contact GCIR’s Director of Special Projects, Felecia Bartow.

ABOUT THE CONVENING

GCIR's 2012 National Convening, Global Trends, National Implications, Local Innovations, June 13-15 in Portland, Oregon, will bring together a community of grantmakers who share a commitment to helping immigrants become full and active members of our society.  It will offer funders an opportunity to learn from one another’s experiences and expertise. And it will uplift a range of perspectives, strategies, and innovations from some of the field’s most inspiring leaders, thinkers, activists, and advocates.

• Understand the latest demographic trends and policy issues and what funders can do to improve the well-being of immigrant workers and families.
   
• Explore cutting-edge innovations that advance the social, economic, and civic integration of immigrants.
   
• Sharpen grantmaking skills in the areas such as capacity building and evaluation.
   
• Deepen knowledge on wide-ranging issues from ESL to civic participation—and wide-ranging strategies from direct services to leadership development. 

"What really struck me was how many different kinds of funders from different parts of the country are involved in immigration…this was an opportunity for me to meet people who have more expertise, making the experience really valuable."

REGISTRATION

Open registration for GCIR members and non-members is now open. GCIR members can register at a special discounted rate! If you’re not a member, join now and receive this exclusive discount!

Co-Sponsored by: Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA), the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP), Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR), Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG), and the Women Donors Network (WDN).

Immigrants and refugees working with native-born Americans play a vital role in building secure, vibrant and cohesive communities. The power of immigrants and refugees is growing, and communities are proactively organizing a political voice that demands to be heard. Though first- and second-generation Americans make up 54% of newly registered voters, immigrant voters continue to face barriers to full participation in the democratic process and are the targets of new state immigration reform laws that would hinder their ability to contribute to and participate in their communities.

With the 2012 elections just a year away, what can we learn from past strategies for mobilizing immigrant communities and their allies, and how will immigrant communities become engaged in shaping policy decisions on the local and national level? Join us for a webinar and discussion on the future of immigrant civic engagement and learn how statewide immigrant organizing campaigns are encouraging leadership development, engaging non-eligible voters, and working across multiple issues to make a difference in 2012 and beyond.
 
Moderator:

• Geri Mannion, Director, U.S. Democracy Program and of the Special Opportunties Fund, Carnegie Corporation of New York [bio]

Presenters:

• Aparna Shah, Executive Director, Mobilize the Immigrant Vote [bio]
• Stephen Fotopulos, Executive Director, Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition [bio]
• Kimberley Propeack, Political Action and Communications Director, CASA de Maryland

This will be a timely and engaging event. We hope you can join us!
 
Registration:
 
To register for this webinar here by Monday, November 7th.
 
Please note that the subject matter of these funder-only calls is strictly limited to discussion of nonpartisan civic participation work as set forth in the agenda.

Co-Sponsored by: Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families and Grantmakers in Health.

The passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March of 2010 moved us one-step closer to ensuring that everyone in America has access to affordable health care coverage, with an estimated 32 million people gaining access by 2019. The implications of health care reform for immigrant communities now have become clearer. Join us for a funders’ briefing to discuss who will benefit from reform, what challenges we will face in enrolling hard to reach communities, what gaps in coverage will continue to exist, and who are likely to remain uninsured. Learn from our speakers and fellow participants about how funders can help strategically address these issues.

Speakers:

• Sonal Ambegaokar, Health Policy Attorney, National Immigration Law Center
• Jennifer Cochran, Director of the Refugee and Immigrant Health Program, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Moderator:

• Kelly Laflamme, Program Director, Endowment for Health, New Hampshire

Registration:

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about the implications of health care reform on immigrant communities! To RSVP, please visit the event registration page.

To build upon the momentum of learning and sharing at GCIR’s convening in May, Investing in Newcomers and Our Shared Future in the Pacific Northwest, this webinar -- designed specifically for Northwest funders -- highlights the work of three foundations representing different approaches to grantmaking in immigrant and refugee communities. While they may define and tackle from varying angles the pressing needs of newcomers in the Northwest, their efforts work collectively to improve the lives of residents throughout the region.

Join us and learn how funding colleagues address issues facing immigrant and refugee communities. How does immigrant and refugee funding fit with a foundation’s overall grantmaking strategy? How does this investment advance strategic goals? How do the ongoing and impending cuts at the federal, state, and local levels affect immigrant communities and funding strategies?

Speakers:

• Sharon Gary Smith, Executive Director, McKenzie River Gathering Foundation, Oregon
• Michael Brown, Vice President, Community Leadership, The Seattle Foundation, Washington
• Ruby Lee, Program Director, Northwest Area Foundation, Minnesota

Moderator:

• Daranee Petsod, Executive Director, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees

For more information about this program, please contact GCIR's Program Director, Diana Ip.

Registration:
Don’t miss this opportunity for peer learning! To RSVP, please visit the event registration page.

GCIR, in partnership with OneAmerica and with the generous support of the Northwest Area Foundation, invites you to kick off the 4th Annual National Immigrant Integration Conference with hors d’ oeuvres and dinner at the critically acclaimed Wild Ginger! Meet and network with funders across the country who are funding immigrant and refugee integration, and learn more about GCIR.

An informal reception with the OneAmerica board begins at 6:00pm, and the funders-only dinner begins at 7:00pm. For more information about this event, please contact GCIR Program Director, Diana Ip.

Co-sponsored by the International Migration Initiative of the Open Society Foundations and Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees.

This June, the International Labor Organization (ILO) adopted the Domestic Workers Convention a new landmark treaty that establishes the first set of standards for the estimated 50 to 100 million domestic workers across the globe and marks a milestone in the decades-long struggle for the rights of one of the most vulnerable groups of workers. The vast majority of these workers are women and girls, who are subject to excessive working hours without rest, non-payment of wages, forced confinement, physical and sexual abuse, forced labor, and trafficking.

Experts from across the globe will discuss the provisions of this landmark treaty and how it can protect this vulnerable population; examine its immediate and long-term implications; and explore how it can serve as a platform to initiate collaboration and coordination on advocacy efforts around ratification and meaningful implementation.

As a follow-up to the forum, International Migration Initiative will be screening the documentary Saving Dolma, directed by Kesang Tseten, on September 26th. The film looks at the experiences of women domestic workers in Kuwait and explores how all segments of society responded to Dolma’s situation and influenced officials to consider the plight of migrant workers. 

Moderator:        

·       Elizabeth Frantz, Program Officer, International Migration Initiative

Panelists:             

·       Simel Esim, Senior Regional Technical Specialist, International Labor Organization

·       Priscilla Gonzalez, Executive Director, Domestic Workers United

·       Luna Ranjit, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Adhikaar

·       Nisha Varia, Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch

Registration

To RSVP to this event, please visit the event registration webpage.

This is a public event, so please feel free to circulate to your networks.

Sponsored by the California Community Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Southern California Grantmakers, the Knight Foundation, The California Endowment, the Evelyn & Walter Haas Jr. Fund and Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees.

This briefing will look at why citizenship is important and how local funders can get involved and leverage the national investments being made around citizenship.

For more information on the campaign, contact Virginia Mosqueda.

Registration

To RSVP, please contact Becky Gross.

Additional details, including parking instructions, will be provided in a confirmation email.

Co-sponsored by the International Migration Initiative of the Open Society Foundations and Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees.

The International Migrants Bill of Rights (IMBR) is an initiative of scholars from Georgetown Law’s Global Law Scholars program, the Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and the Migration Studies Unit at the London School of Economics. The IMBR seeks to consolidate international law governing the protection of migrants in a unifying document. While the IMBR puts forward a vision for the protection of international migrants, it is also rooted in the international consensus on human rights, state sovereignty, and the interests of all stakeholders affected by the increasingly complex phenomenon of migration. This forum will provide an overview of the IMBR, which will serve as a backdrop for a conversation about the existing legal framework for protecting migrants and civil society’s activism in the governance of migration.

Moderator

·       Aryeh Neier, President, Open Society Foundations

Panelists

·       Ian Kysel, IMBR Coordinator and recent Georgetown University Law School graduate

·       Bianca Santos, IMBR Coordinator and recent Georgetown University Law School graduate

·       Susan Martin, Executive Director, Institute for the Study of International Migration

Registration

To RSVP to this event, please visit the event registration page.