Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees - GCIR

As the push for comprehensive immigration reform stalls at the nation’s capital, communities large and small are experiencing an alarming growth of anti-immigrant sentiment and policy. This environment of fear and unwarranted attacks impacts all members of the community—and threaten to undermine immigrant integration efforts supported by many foundations. The philanthropic community can play a leadership role to support programs and strategies that promote effective integration and strengthen the community at large.

The integration of immigrants presents challenges and opportunities for communities across the US. Learn about model state and local policies and programs that promote integration and explore the practical roles funders can play to build service, organizing, and advocacy capacity at the state and local levels.

Registration:

To register, please visit the Council on Foundation's 2010 Annual Conference website.

As many as 200,000 Haitian immigrants already in the United States could apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) as a result of the devastating January 12 earthquake in Haiti. Securing TPS would allow them to work and remain in the United States for 18 months and send home remittances that are critical for relief and rebuilding efforts. Indeed, remittances to the island nation before the earthquake totaled nearly $2 billion annually. Haitian immigrants have a 180-day window to file for TPS, but accessing affordable legal services and accurate information is a challenge.

Join GCIR members and other funding colleagues for a teleconference with experienced advocates, funders, and legal services providers to learn about the short- and long-term needs for legal services, fraud prevention, and policy advocacy for the Haitian community. Understand the role that funders could play stateside to support the relief and rebuilding effort.

To register click here.

Please note registration for this program is open for staff and trustees of grantmaking organizations only.

Sometime over the next few months, Congress will begin debating legislation for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). As part of its commitment to protect and advance the rights of immigrant workers, labor unions are playing a central organizing and advocacy role in the CIR campaign. Learn about how labor unions are strengthening and complementing the CIR efforts of immigrants rights organizations, religious groups, community organizations, business groups, and others. Hear about how the campaign has built off of unions’ commitment to organizing low-wage immigrant workers. Examine the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the campaign during this hour-long webinar.

Report:

A More Perfect Union, traces the historic shift in the position of organized labor to its current aggressive support for immigration reform. It also highlights labor's role in supporting and protecting the rights of all immigrant workers, regardless of their immigration status.

Registration:

Please visit our registration page.

 Presented Jointly by Grantmakers for Education, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, and Philanthropy New York

One in ten K-12 students is an English Language Learner (ELL), and limited English proficient students are the most rapidly growing population in U.S. elementary schools. While states like New York, California and Texas continue to serve the largest numbers of ELL students, the fastest increases in ELL populations-growing at rates over 250%-are occurring in states such as South Carolina, Kentucky, and Delaware, where school systems have not previously served many ELL students. How can education grantmakers ensure that all schools and communities implement successful strategies to promote the success of these young people?

Framed with an understanding that engaging the families of ELL learners is critical to driving school success, this member briefing will address a range of issues related to early learning, K-12 systems, and out-of-school time. Sessions will explore strategies for making ELL a priority for local and national funders and for policy makers, as well as showcasing innovative approaches to address the opportunities and challenges facing ELL learners.

Presenters include Andrés Henríquez of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Pedro Noguera of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education at New York University, Laurie Olsen of the Sobrato Family Foundation and Delia Pompa of the National Council of La Raza, along with a range of experienced ELL grantmakers. The member briefing begins with an optional site visit on the morning of the 22nd, and it coincicdes with GCIR's national convening, also in New York City.

This briefing is free to members of GFE, GCIR and Philanthropy New York. The cost is $200 for eligible non-members. GFE appreciates the generous support for this briefing provided by The Annie E. Casey Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Advance registration is required; registration closes on June 4.

Visit GFE's event page to register today!

For many immigrant communities, the hefty fees attached to the citizenship process are a key obstacle and deterrent. Today over 8 million legal permanent residents (LPRs) run the risk of being excluded from healthcare and other public benefits if citizenship is not pursued. And an additional 12 million will be eligible for citizenship in the near future if comprehensive immigration reform is adopted. Given fiscal constraints at the state and federal levels, finding alternative sources to public monies is needed to address a key barrier faced by all immigrants - the high costs of achieving citizenship.
Join grantmaking colleagues for a 90-minute webinar to explore practical approaches to overcoming financial barriers to citizenship. Learn about new research and proven practices for using loans to cover the full range of costs. Explore the roles philanthropy can play to assist immigrants in overcoming this hurdle.
The webinar will highlight the cutting-edge work of the following organizations:

• Texas Appleseed and the Silverton Family Foundation will talk about the Family Unification Program which supported members of mixed legal status families to get loans to pay for citizenship costs and also helped these members receive up to three years of unclaimed Earned Income Tax Credits once citizenship was achieved. Thirteen loans ranging from $900-$5,000 were administered by a micro-lender with 70 percent paid back in full.

• United Neighborhood Centers of America and Ways to Work will talk about findings from their research on the costs of Pathways to Citizenship and their emerging business plan to create an alternative to predatory loans for immigrants tied to citizenship costs. Currently, Ways to Work has successfully helped over 27,000 poor and working poor families receive loans for automobiles and other work supports.

Co-sponsored by:  Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR); Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG); and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

To register for this program, please click here.

Given the challenges of moving health care reform forward, implementing a strong and broad-based field strategy has become vital for immigration reform. Immigrant rights advocates, lawmakers, and other key stakeholders have been meeting around the country to discuss the principles that will guide the drafting of immigration reform legislation this fall. Hear about this series of policy meetings, what questions are being raised, and what strategies and tactics are being debated. How can your grantees become involved in this nationally coordinated field strategy? What makes sense for local funders to support at this point in the debate and in the next six to eight months?

Registration:

To register, please click here.

Program Description

From the hallways of Congress to community centers across the country, momentum is building for immigration reform. Gain an insider’s perspective on current and forthcoming immigration legislation. Hear about the latest poll findings that can be used to move reform actions forward and get updated on the recently launched campaign, Reform Immigration For America.  Participants will walk away with concrete ways in which the philanthropic sector can help advance reform efforts.

To Register: To register for this webinar please email vanessa @ gcir.org.

Speakers:

• Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director, Center for Community Change
• Frank Sharry, Director, America’s Voice
• Rich Stolz, Reform Immigration for America

Moderator:

• Rebecca Rittgers, Atlantic Philanthropies, GCIR Board Member

Resource People on Recent Polls:

• Sandy Close, Executive Director, New American Media  (Invited)
• Karen Narasaki, Executive Director, Asian America Justice Center (Invited)
• Ali Noorani, Executive Director, National Immigration Forum

Survey

Your comments help evaluate our work and inform future GCIR programming! We invite you to take a short survey after the call.  Click here to complete the one-minute evaluation.

Call-in Information

June 30, 2009: 10:00AM Pacific; 11:00AM Mountain; 12:00PM Central; 1:00PM Eastern.

Dial-in Number: 1.270.400.1500
Access Code: 598153#

Webinar Information

To view the webinar portion of this call, please click on the following link: http://www.freeconference.com/SharePlusConnect.aspx?E=a9a8ae08db8d911483818156f3126cde&B=7338282&AC=1.

Participants are welcome to log-on 5 minutes prior to the call.

Program Description

From the hallways of Congress to community centers across the country, momentum is building for immigration reform. Gain an insider’s perspective on current and forthcoming immigration legislation. Hear about the latest poll findings that can be used to move reform actions forward and get updated on the recently launched campaign, Reform Immigration For America.  Participants will walk away with concrete ways in which the philanthropic sector can help advance reform efforts.

To Register: To register for this webinar please email vanessa @ gcir.org.

Speakers:

• Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director, Center for Community Change
• Frank Sharry, Director, America’s Voice
• Rich Stolz, Reform Immigration for America

Moderator:

• Rebecca Rittgers, Atlantic Philanthropies, GCIR Board Member

Resource People on Recent Polls:

• Ali Noorani, Executive Director, National Immigration Forum

Agenda and Participants

• Welcome Tony Tapia, Western Union Foundation, GCIR Program Committee Chair - 5 Minutes
• Setting the Stage for Today's Discussion Rebecca Rittgers - 5 Minutes
• Update on Reform Immigration for America Rich Stolz - 10 Minutes
• Update on the White House Meeting Deepak Bhargava - 10 Minutes
• Winning Public Support for CIR:  A Summary of Recent Polling Frank Sharry - 10 Minutes
• Recommendations for Funders and Dialogue Among Funding Colleagues Rebecca Rittgers - 15 Minutes

Participant List

Teleconference Materials and Resources

Visuals for Teleconference Briefing:

 PowerPoint Presentation

Recommended Reading:

• America's Voice Polling Page.  Full summaries of polls. 
• White House Press Release.  Background on meeting with members of Congress to discuss immigration reform.
• White House Press Release.  Remarks by the President after meeting with members of Congress to discuss immigration.
• Working Together for Immigration Reform.  Video from the WhiteHouse.gov blog that spells out some key elements of the plan.
• Editorial: A Way Forward on Immigration.  A New York Times Editorial published on June 27, 2009.

Across the country, millions of workers are routinely paid less than the minimum wage, denied overtime pay, and retaliated against for speaking up or trying to organize. This illegal practice, commonly known as wage theft, has reached epidemic proportions during the last decade and has had devastating impact on those workers who are least able to afford the theft of their hard earned wages.

For the first time in many, many years, a worker friendly White House and Labor Department provides the opportunity to address this problem at its roots. At the same time, innovative local, regional and national alliances are emerging, bringing together a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including immigrant worker centers, faith and community-based organizations, labor unions, government enforcement agencies, legal advocates, funder allies, and, when possible, employers to address this increasing problem. These efforts have the potential to develop replicable and far reaching models for wage enforcement across our country and economy, from construction and food manufacturing to restaurants, domestic work and janitorial services, to name just a few.

Panelists:

• Kim Bobo, Executive Director, Interfaith Worker Justice
• Ana Avendano, Associate General Counsel of the AFL-CIO
• Andrew Friedman, Co-Director of Make the Road New York

Please join us for a lively discussion about this important issue affecting our economy and communities, and the groundbreaking work being done. Please email Sherita Jackson at NFG to register for the June 2009 Teleconference Series at nfg@nfg.org. This call is for funders only. There is no charge to participate.

Sponsored by NFG’s Working Group on Labor and Community and Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees.

ABOUT THE CONVENING

Mark your calendars now for the kick-off event of GCIR's 20th Anniversary Commemoration!  As the founding place of GCIR, New York City provides a historic backdrop to reflect on the progress made on immigrant rights and integration over the past 20 years, the role that foundations have played over time, and what funders can do to address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

The convening will highlight the work of GCIR members, uplift the accomplishments of the field, and hone in on the most critical immigrant-related issues facing communities across the United States.  Hear differing perspectives and engage in strategic discussions with fellow colleagues on the immigration and integration issues that are most important to you, including:

• The new economic, political and policy realities in which we operate and the creative, cutting-edge, and inspiring work that is taking place across the country.
• The latest in comprehensive immigration reform and the implementation challenges if that legislation were it to pass.
• The most effective approaches to building a strong immigrant integratio infrastructure, whether in a new or pre-emerging gateway, a rural setting, or a traditional urban immigrant destination. 
• The cross-issue, cross-community, and cross-sector alliances that have become so crucial to organizing and advocacy campaigns, whether to win immigration reform, combat anti-immigrant forces, or foster an environment that welcomes immigrants.

The convening will offer a dynamic combination of sessions, including:

• Plenary sessions that provide a "big picture" perspective, connecting national trends to local implications.
• Workshops that will showcase promising models and best practices on specific issues defined by our members - from workforce development to movement building to the role of art and culture in immigrant integration.
• Walking tours that provide a historical and contemporary view of immigrants in New York City and insights on how philanthropy has facilitated - and continues to facilitate - their integration and contribution to the city's uniquely vibrant diversity and prosperity.
• Film, art, and live performances that put a human face on the complex immigrant and refugee issues facing our nation today.

Look for electronic updates of GCIR 2010 Convening, commemoration events, and online registration soon!

Online Registration is Now Open!

The member registration rate is $450 through May 21st, and the non-member registration is $595.   Late registration (after May 21, 2010) will be $595 for members and $750 for non-members.

To register, visit our 2010 convening registration site.