Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees - GCIR

New immigrants and their children need to be integrated into our economy and civic society, especially in New York State, with more than 3.5 million immigrants. With a new administration and reconstituted Congress on the horizon, passage of comprehensive immigration reform is possible. However, previous efforts to revamp our immigration system have been torpedoed by well organized anti-immigrant nativist groups, like the Federation for American Immigration Reform whose reach has become frighteningly pervasive in mainstream American culture. Grantmakers are now more than ever uniquely poised to be part of the solution by finding practical, humane ways to combat anti-immigrant rhetoric. This briefing will explore:

• What are the origins of the anti-immigrant movement?
• How has FAIR contributed to the rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies and what are its ties to white supremacist groups?
• How has the Klu Klux Klan joined the anti-immigrant bandwagon?
• How can funders and advocacy organizations respond strategically to the anti-immigrant challenge and foster strong, more integrated communities?

Speakers:
Eric Ward, National Field Director, Center for New Community, Chicago, Illinois
Henry Fernández, Fellow, Center for American Progress in .D.C.
Marilyn Mayo, Director, Right Wing Center, New York Anti-Defamation League
Darren Sandow, Executive Director, Hagedorn Foundation

Moderator:
Elizabeth R. OuYang, Coordinator, Fund for New Citizens

A NYRAG Members Briefing presented by The Fund for New Citizens, Hagedorn Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, J.M. Kaplan Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The New York Community Trust, UJA Federation of New York.

Please register by Tuesday, October 14, 2008 by sending an e-mail to register@nyrag.org.

Open Society Institute, Four Freedoms Fund and Border Network for Human Rights invite you to participate in a fundersʼ site visit to El Paso, Texas, on October 6-8 to learn about border conditions as they relate to immigrants, enforcement and the immigration reform debate. The site visit will include dialogue with the U.S. Border Patrol, immigrant community (colonias) members, community service providers on both sides of the border, advocates and researchers. Please let us know by Friday, September 19 if you will be able to join us on what will be an illuminating site visit to El Paso and Juarez. For more information, contact Henry Der at hder@publicinterestprojects.org.

How does the intersection of faith, race, and immigration in Minnesota redefine place-based development, regional equity, and civic participation? Strategize with local and national colleagues on how to integrate these factors into effective grantmaking strategies. Through interactive sessions and site visits in key Twin Cities communities undergoing change, the critical relationships that allow collaboration between different constituencies will come into focus. In addition, featured speaker Minnesota State Senator Mee Moua will provide unique perspective on creating Minnesota's progressive future. Expect diverse networking, as several funder affinity groups, in partnership with key local organizations, have collaborated on this event: Interfaith Funders, Minnesota Council on Foundations, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, Funders' Committee for Civic Participation, and the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. For additional information or to register, please contact Kathy Partridge by October 6th at Kathy@interfaithfunders.org, or by phone 720.494.9011.

On Friday, May 2, Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) and the Alabama Community AIDS Fund (a new partnership of the National AIDS Fund) will convene a spectrum of national and local funders in Birmingham, Alabama, to mark the release of their first Spotlight report, a unique, data-driven examination of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and recent philanthropic response in Alabama.

Funders outside of Alabama may participate via teleconference for the morning portion of the gathering.  Topics include:

• Discussion of FCAA'S Spotlight: Alabama report with its co-authors
• Presentations from "Voices of Alabama," a select group of local leaders and advocates about HIV/AIDS in Alabama
• Facilitated dialogue among national and local funders about funding HIV/AIDS in the South and in Alabama in particular

RSVP today for the teleconference by calling 212-573-5533 ext 203 or emailing rsvp@fcaaids.org.  More information on accessing the teleconference will be emailed to you upon receipt of RSVP.

As part of GCIR's California Immigrant Integration Initiative, GCIR announces the release of a new report, Integration Potential of California's Immigrants and Their Children: New Estimates of Potential New Voters at the State, County, and Legislative District Level. 

GCIR will be hosting two funder briefings, one in San Francisco and one in Silicon Valley, to examine the implications of the report's findings on the Bay Area.  To join Northern California Grantmakers and GCIR at the briefing in San Francisco, learn more here.  To join the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and GCIR at the briefing in Silicon Valley, learn more here.

Building Civic Engagement: Promising Nonpartisan Voter Education and Political Empowerment Strategies within New York's Asian Pacific American Community.

With Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) now comprising 10% of the region's population - and growing rapidly - the potential political power of the APA community is enormous. Join your colleagues for what promises to be a lively discussion on how funders can support nonpartisan strategies that draw APAs to become more involved in the political process.

This session will cover a wide range of issues, from the current status of voter education and outreach in the region to longer term civic engagement practices. The discussion will highlight successful strategies for better educating and informing our communities, and ways that funders can support nonpartisan, election-related efforts. Panelists will also discuss the challenges and obstacles to community participation.

Ultimately, the aim of this discussion is to lead funders and community activists to more effectively work together in building the infrastructure necessary to ensure sustained, vibrant civic engagement that will empower the APA community and bring about positive change.

Speakers include John Choe from the Office of NYC Council Member John C. Liu and Glenn Magpantay with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

RSVP by April 17 to Vanessa A. Llana at vllana@gmail.com or 201.889.6825.

Please join Southern California Grantmakers for a special screening of At Issue: Immigration, a documentary film that presents a factual and comprehensive snapshot of immigration in the United States, including the history of immigration, current demographic trends, the affects of immigration on our communities and how immigrants fit into the United States economy. The film will be shown in short segments.  Discussion with experts will follow each segment.
 
The United States benefits greatly from immigration. It helps shape our culture and spur economic growth. Today, immigrants are a significant, increasing part of the U.S. labor force at both the high and low ends of the labor market. As the Baby-Boom generation ages, and the demand for younger workers grows, immigrants will become increasingly important to the U.S. economy as workers, taxpayers and homebuyers. Still, immigrants face major challenges and uncertainty in their daily lives-inadequate access to healthcare and education, lack of employment opportunities and poverty. This session will explore the most reliable facts concerning immigration, the demands of an aging population, current immigration law and why immigration is an important issue for foundations.  

The failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level has generated much debate as to where we should move in terms of a new iteration of legislation for Congress. At the same time, those who care about immigrant communities - and understand that better incorporating immigrants into mainstream institutions and society can lead to their economic and social success, and help to revitalize local and regional economies - recognize that this challenge has shifted to a new regional and community scale. The California Community Foundation (CCF) is proposing that we take on this challenge together, finding innovative ways to ensure our regions’ economic and social health and improve conditions for immigrant newcomers, settled immigrants, and their children in Los Angeles County. In order to move toward a collaborative solutions-based approach to this challenge, and to inform its own future giving agenda, CCF will convene several small groups of selected stakeholders, including immigrant rights activists, business and workforce development leaders, labor representatives, planners and public sector leaders, and philanthropy, to delve deeply into the various issues that need to be addressed for true integration to benefit our region. The California Community Foundation, in conjunction with GCIR, invites the philanthropic sector to be participate in a grantmaker discussion. If you are interested in participating, please call Alison De Lucca at 323.251.6505 or click here to send her an email. This program is organized by the California Community Foundation in conjunction with University of Southern California’s Program for Regional and Environmental Equity and co-sponsored by GCIR.