Jina Krause-Vilmar, President and CEO of Upwardly Global, participated in an interview on Michigan Public’s “Stateside” podcast, discussing the organization’s latest report in collaboration with the American Immigration Council. She was joined by Steve Tobocman, Executive Director of Global Detroit.
In the episode, they explored the significant role of immigration in Michigan’s economic development, emphasizing its contributions to workforce participation and entrepreneurship. They also highlighted immigrants’ often-overlooked contributions beyond the workforce, including civic engagement, revitalization of rural areas, efforts to combat population decline, and investments in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
They also discussed the increased focus on immigration in the current election cycle, emphasizing facts about immigrants that are often overshadowed by polarizing narratives.
“I’d say we seem to put immigrants into one bucket. And the reality is this is a diverse group of people who bring diverse skill sets, which, frankly, our economy needs,” Jina shared with Stateside. “We’re seeing about 40% of immigrants that are now living in the Great Lakes having a bachelor’s degree or higher, and [we’re] thinking about ‘How do we also enable these individuals to get skill-aligned work so they don’t have to start from scratch and they don’t have to start from the bottom?’ And we have a real healthcare crisis, and we’re not going to generate the kind of talent we need to sustain that unless we recognize that there are people who are living in our communities who have those skills, who are wanting to contribute.”
She adds, “I think the question for us now is: How do we set them up for success to thrive? Because this report shows us [that] when these individuals thrive, it creates shared prosperity for all of us.”
Listen to the full interview on Michigan Public, beginning at 31:07.