This week, Upwardly Global launched a Communications Committee, chaired by Adam Edwards, co-author of Surmountable: How Citizens from Selma to Seoul Changed the World, prior Upwardly Global board member, and digital marketing leader with two decades of experience in owned and earned media. The Committee, which includes experts in a range of communications fields offering pro-bono support, will advise and increase marketing capacity to support Upwardly Global staff. Together they will ensure that we reach key audiences, including immigrant and refugee communities that need Upwardly Global’s free services, individual and corporate volunteers who can give time to share industry knowledge and connections, corporate partners who have the ability to open doors for talent partnerships including training-to-hiring and paid internships and apprenticeships, donors and new friends who can build understanding and fuel the work, and policy makers who can shift federal, state and local regulations to scale opportunity.
We thank Daniel Lawrence Abrams, Lee Anderson, Elizabeth Beresford, Bob Bissen, Kim Howell, Karen Kaminsky, Yvonnie Phan, Alanna Stang, Anuz Thapa, and Tori Travers for being a part of this initiative and for their service to our community and country.
For more information about the Upwardly Global Communications Committee, contact Rebecca Neuwirth at rebeccan@upwardlyglobal.org
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Two million immigrant and refugee professionals are severely underemployed or unemployed in the US — many with skills that we need to restore our economy. Upwardly Global is the first organization to focus on this population with a direct service program that helps thousands of immigrants and refugees each year to get the tools and build the pathways to restart their careers. Our work has never been more important than at this moment as our country recovers from the pandemic since there are 5.5 million jobs in industries in which our community works, from healthcare to high tech to engineering and more in the four regions that our offices serve. In addition, 75% of Upwardly Global’s job seekers come from communities of color with mid- and high-level skill sets. They are the perfect match for companies that have recently renewed their interest in welcoming diverse talent.
In order to realize the opportunity at this crucial moment for our country and the population we serve, we need to magnify our efforts by making the case apparent for why and how these job seekers must be included in our economy.