Chamber of Commerce Leadership

Chambers of commerce often have an innate understanding of the relationship between economic growth and immigration, and have a crucial role to play in articulating the business case for attracting, welcoming, and integrating immigrants in their region. Local and state chambers across the country are increasingly seeing immigration as a key part of their regional economic development strategy and taking leadership on this issue both in their local communities and in the national immigration reform conversation.

There are a number of ways that chambers can engage on immigration and promote economic growth:

Join the NAE Global Talent Chamber Network
Over 40 chambers have joined the Global Talent Chamber Network since it launched in the fall of 2017. As members, chambers have access to tailored economic research highlighting the contributions of immigrants in their region; communications and messaging guidance; policy analysis of federal, state and local legislation; plug-and-play advocacy opportunities; and more.

Publish Research on Immigrants’ Contributions
Research that quantifies the economic and demographic contributions of immigrants to a metro area, congressional district, or state helps change the narrative around immigration and spur communitywide conversations about its importance. Chambers can use data to inform its membership and board, as well as partner with other stakeholders to advocate for economic imperative for inclusive policies. See examples from San Diego, Lancaster, Kansas City, and Tulsa. NAE’s Map the Impact has data on immigrant contributions for all 50 states, 435 congressional districts and the top 100 metro areas.

Develop a Multi-Sector Strategic Plan for Economic Development
Chambers can work with partners in local government and civil society to set a vision and economic development agenda for their community by becoming more welcoming and accessible to all residents. Chambers can also invite other members of the business community to participate in the planning and help inform recommendations around workforce development, talent attraction and retention, and entrepreneurship. Chambers in Des Moines, Lancaster, Salt Lake, San Diego, and Tulsa have led such planning processes.

Advocate for Immigration Reform
Chambers are well-positioned to advocate for policy issues that are important to their members and immigration and workforce are no exception. Chambers can use data on the contributions of immigrants in their region or state as part of their Washington DC fly-ins and participate in days of action around local, state or federal reforms.

G4G Challenge Communities

Common among localities seeking to attract, welcome, and integrate international newcomers are multi-sector strategic plans that engage a range of key stakeholders from government, business, and civil society to set a vision and agenda for the community. Recommendations emanating from these plans span a variety of priority areas, including education and economic opportunity, civic engagement, public safety, and others. In many communities, such plans also lead to the creation of formal institutions within or in partnership with local government, such as a mayoral office to oversee immigrant integration or a non-profit organization or public-private partnership effort to coordinate efforts.

Goals:

Create a shared, community-wide vision for change
Launch, deepen, or scale a place-based immigrant integration effort
Bring together multiple sectors—business, community organizations, philanthropy, residents, and local government—to achieve collective impact that reflects a shared vision
Build relationships across sectors that serve to leverage the unique resources and assets of diverse partners
Expand from a single policy focus to a more comprehensive package of policies and programs
Maximize the economic, civic, and social opportunities available to all residents, both immigrants and receiving communities alike.

Getting Started

A successful planning process engages multiple sectors and includes the immigrant community in a central way. Such efforts may be led by the local government, city council, chamber of commerce, or another entity that can serve as a convener. The following steps offer a roadmap for this process:

Establish the Convener and Core Partners

Successful planning processes bring many partners to the table, yet a smaller group of core partners and one or two organizations that convene and support the work behind the scenes is needed to give direction to the effort. In addition, identifying a skilled facilitator who can help design a strong process and ensure that participants contribute is key to a successful outcome.

Lay the Groundwork

Begin by connecting with key government, community, business, and philanthropic partners and establishing an initial vision for the process. Use this time to identify resources for staffing and running the process, and to map and assess other, existing community efforts.

Design the Process

At this phase, the core partners and facilitator create a design for the planning process, answering questions such as: Who are the necessary stakeholders? Who makes final decisions and how? How long will the process last? How will the results be shared with the community? What information is needed to make sound decisions? Will there be pre-determined categories or issue areas to structure the process around policy and practice areas?

Identify and Engage the Planning Participants

At this phase, key participants are identified and recruited. This may result in the creation of a formal body, such as a taskforce or steering committee, as well as sub-committees that breakout to plan around issue areas, such as economic development or public safety. Many plans also place a strong emphasis on engaging broader community or resident input, both within the larger structure, and through the use of surveys, focus groups, town halls, and other forms of dialogue.

Gather and Assess Data on Community Needs and Assets

Many local governments start by working with their community partners to ask the animating question: What is the area currently doing to attract, welcome, and integrate immigrants, and where are the gaps? Research partners can be great collaborators in providing additional data, particularly around business or economic case to both inform and strengthen support for efforts.

Conduct the Process

Timing for planning processes has ranged from ten weeks up to a year and involve regular and well-facilitated interactions among participants. Communications are critical to framing the purpose of the process and to ensuring that participants are heard throughout the process and understand what is expected of them. The process typically culminates in the creation of a written plan that identifies a community vision, goals, strategies, and tactics, as well as the resources that exist or are needed to achieve them. Many plans also incorporate the creation of new infrastructure – such as establishing an Office of New Americans or the creation of an intermediary organization – to ensure long-term implementation.

Publish and Disseminate the Plan

Transparency and communication are hallmarks of a successful effort, and once completed, it is important to share the plan not only with participants, but with the wider community to highlight the expected impact and benefits for all community members, both recent arrivals to and long-term residents of the community.

Implement, Monitor and Adjust the Plan

Well-designed plans involve many partners in implementation, which means there may be significant coordination and often a staggered approach to implementation because some activities may be easily carried out, while others require resource development or further design. At this stage, the convener or backbone organization(s) should continue to convene a core group to monitor efforts and ensure that the plan is carried out, meets established goals and metrics, and is refined as needed. Plans should be viewed as living documents that can be revisited, and from time to time, updated in consultation with the community.

Key Areas of Focus

Working groups or advisory committees will often focus the work of planning processes into themes, and subcommittees will reflect those themes. Members of the working group or task force will break into smaller groups according to their expertise and interest area, and lead more in-depth, often community-focused conversations around the following broad areas:

Equitable Access to Services: Ensuring that all residents have access to city services and opportunities by reducing barriers and encouraging participation. Many cities work towards this goal by establishing broad language access policies that require that all city documents and activities are accessible in multiple languages; hosting town halls in immigrant communities that bring information directly to residents on various services and initiatives offered by the city; and having outreach coordinators whose job is to be present in the community to share information on what the city is doing.
Economic Opportunity and Education: Harnessing the full potential of all residents by working to ensure that newcomers have the skills, training, and education to thrive, and that workforce, education, and economic development systems are prepared to serve and leverage the talents of all residents. This can often include programs to support small business owners, workforce development initiatives, programs that connect newcomers with other business leaders in their field, and efforts to attract and retain international students and companies.
Civic Engagement: Working to ensure that newcomers fully participate in civic life, including increasing access to leadership, citizenship, and civic participation. This can include initiatives that promote citizenship and leadership development opportunities such as Los Angeles’ Citizenship Corners in public libraries and Nashville’s MyCity Academy.
Safe and Connected Communities: Working to foster trust and build relationships between immigrants and receiving communities, as well as focus on building connections with specific institutions, such as local law enforcement.

CASE STUDY: ATLANTA

In October 2013 city officials, business leaders and community representatives gathered at a convening hosted by Americas Society/Council of the Americas to discuss the state of play of immigration in the city of Atlanta and how the city could become a more global, welcoming place for international communities. As a result of this conversation, Mayor Kasim Reed announced that Atlanta would join Welcoming America’s Welcoming Cities and Counties Initiative, and in May 2013 he appointed the Mayoral Welcoming Atlanta Working Group. The group was tasked with developing a set of recommendations to ensure that Atlanta’s newly arrived communities are being integrated and supported.

The working group, made up of 21 leaders representing the city government, business, immigrant serving organizations, philanthropy, consulates and other non-profits engaged nearly 100 individuals in the planning process over the course of three months. National organizations including Welcoming America, Partnership for a New American Economy, and Americas Society/Council of the Americas offered expertise to help guide the process. The working group focused its effort around five pillars: Ensuring Equitable Access to Basic Services; Expanding Educational Opportunities; Facilitating Economic Empowerment; Enhancing Public Safety and Fostering a Connected Community; and Building Immigrant Civic Engagement and Leadership. Subcommittees were formed to develop recommendations in each of these areas.

On September 17, 2014, Mayor Reed joined members of the Welcoming Atlanta Working Group to announce the city’s commitment to a number of initiatives—including 20 recommendations from the Working Group—to make Atlanta a more global and welcoming city to immigrants. With this he announced the creation of an Office of Immigrant Affairs, which was formally established in June 2015.

Timeline in Brief:

October 2013: Atlanta joins Welcoming Cities and Counties Initiative at AS/COA convening| Press
February 2014: Atlanta city staff conducts stakeholder meetings with leaders across sectors to inform the development of the Welcoming Atlanta Working Group
May 2014: Atlanta Mayor appoints Welcoming Atlanta Working Group to develop recommendations | Press
Summer 2014: Working Group engages community members to develop recommendations
September 2014: Mayor Reed announces 20 new recommendations to make Atlanta more welcoming, including the creation of an Office of Immigrant Affairs | Press Release; Media Coverage; PNAE Fact Sheet
June 2015: The Atlanta Office of Immigrant Affairs is formally launched, along with its website WelcomingAtlanta.com.

Best Practices

Convene the Right Partners: The selection process for working group or taskforce members is very important. It’s critical to get a diverse group that includes all of the sectors that will be involved, as well as leaders with connections to the immigrant community who understand both challenges and assets. Often task force members include representatives from several government agencies, community-serving organizations, consulates, foundations, and the private sector, including local chambers of commerce. Equally important is selecting a chair (or co-chairs) who have the commitment to see the plan through, as well as the cache to bring attention to the effort and its implementation.
Be inclusive. This process should be framed as a community initiative for the community and by the community. Whether through listening sessions, townhall meetings, surveys, or community events, there should be easily accessible and open venues to engage members of the community to give input and participate in the planning process.
Public-Private Partnerships Maximize Impact. In addition to ensuring that membership of the working group, taskforce, or steering committee is representative across sectors, it’s important for the private sector to be a partner in releasing and endorsing the plan. Not only does this broaden the message, it helps increase institutional buy-in for the plan’s implementation and success.
Learn from the Experience of Other Cities: Several cities, including Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dayton, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh have completed or are in the process of completing strategic planning processes. These cities can be a resource to others interested in undertaking this process, from offering language for community surveys to community outreach strategies to the structure and timeline for the process itself.

Municipal Offices

Municipal Offices for Immigrant Integration

Increasingly, cities across the country are creating municipal offices to house their efforts to welcome international communities, facilitate their integration, and make local government more accessible, equitable, and responsive to the needs of all residents. Traditional gateway cities like New York and Boston have had such offices (commonly referred to as an “Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs” or an “Office of New Americans”) for decades, while cities like Atlanta and Nashville—communities that have seen significant demographic change just in recent years—have established them more recently. Although each office prioritizes issues based on its unique local context, common areas of focus include improving access to city information and services; supporting immigrant entrepreneurs, attracting and retaining a talented workforce; promoting naturalization and civic engagement; and enhancing public safety. Cities interested in elevating their international profile through the creation of such an office within municipal government can draw upon a variety of existing models and best practices.

Getting Started

Institutional Process for Establishing an Office

Formally creating an office within city government to oversee immigrant integration has been accomplished through a variety of different measures, from a mayoral announcement creating the office to establishing the office within the city’s charter—one of the most formal mechanisms to ensure continuity across administrations. Many offices have been created through mayoral announcement, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, and Houston. In New York City, where the office has existed for more than three decades, the mandate for the office was eventually written into the City’s charter through popular referendum. Other cities have established their offices through executive order (Nashville and Philadelphia), by passing a city council resolution (Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle); or by issuing a city ordinance (Denver).

Advisory Bodies

Many offices were created at the recommendation of an advisory body or taskforce, or have an advisory body that serves to inform their priorities and work. These advisory bodies can range from 15 to up to 40 or 50 people and often include representatives from the business community, non-profit and community-based organizations, and other local officials. Cities that have engaged an advisory body to inform their work include Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Nashville and Seattle.

Staff

Staffing models for these offices vary depending on the size of the city and its foreign-born population, the placement of the office within local government, and the city’s budget for this work. Newer offices often start with a small full-time staff of one to two people and grow over time as they demonstrate value and/or shift priorities. Most offices have around two to three full time staff members. Often these offices also employ the skills of college and graduate student interns, fellows (in particular AmeriCorps and VISTA fellows) and volunteers to support their work. Staff functions typically include external affairs and community engagement, program management, research and policy analysis, and legal expertise.

Function

City offices serve multiple functions that make them critical to ensuring the city is accessible and responsive to all of its residents. These include:

As an institutional home for information, programs and engagement between the city and immigrant communities. Offices serve a virtual, physical, and structural role as a central, one-stop location where a range of information is available to all communities in multiple languages. Websites, published documents and community events will often provide information on city policies, how to access specific services, upcoming events and activities, resources available in the community, and news.
As an educator, communicator, and liaison with other city departments. City departments sometimes engage with and serve immigrant communities without communicating their efforts across agencies. Offices help to create communications channels across agencies, as well as to educate departments on how best to provide high-quality customer service to all residents, regardless of their preferred language or country of origin, so they can effectively and efficiently coordinate service delivery.
As a convener of stakeholders across sectors. Offices often provide much-needed space–both physical and conceptual–for stakeholders from the community, immigrant-serving organizations and the private sector to engage with one another, communicate on various projects and initiatives, and form partnerships.
As a symbol of an inclusive, welcoming city. Creating an office at the executive level, housed within the mayor’s office, sends a message that the city values the cultural and ethnic diversity that international communities bring.
As a messenger. In addition to highlighting the importance of being diverse, these offices play a critical role in shaping the narrative around immigrant integration, the critical contributions of immigrant communities, and what it means to be a welcoming city. Offices often make a concerted effort in their messaging and outreach to emphasize that their work benefits all residents—making the city more accessible and accountable to all.
As an advocate for state and national immigration policy. The role and influence of a city office often extends beyond the city limits, and with the support of the mayor, can be an important mouthpiece when it comes to state policies that affect immigrant communities and for federal comprehensive immigration reform.

Key Areas of Focus

The way city offices prioritize their areas of focus vary, often depending on community feedback, available resources, and partnerships. Generally, however, most cities have programming that falls into the following five key areas, which are typically identified during the strategic planning process.

Leadership and Communications: Serving a platform for shaping the narrative of immigration—emphasizing the positive role immigrants play, the value of multiculturalism, and why it’s important for all residents to feel welcome and supported. Within this context the city will often work with local partners to host cultural events that celebrate the diverse communities of that city.
Equitable Access to Services: Ensuring that all residents have access to city services and opportunities by reducing barriers and encouraging participation. Many cities work towards this goal by establishing broad language access policies that require that all city documents and activities are accessible in multiple language; hosting town halls in immigrant communities that bring information directly to residents on various services and initiatives offered by the city; and having outreach coordinators whose job is to be present in the community to share information on what the city is doing.
Economic Opportunity and Education: Harnessing the full potential of all residents by working to ensure that newcomers have the skills, training, and education to thrive, and that workforce, education, and economic development systems are prepared to better serve and leverage the talents of all residents. This can often include programs to support small business owners, workforce development initiatives, and efforts to attract and retain international students and companies.
Civic Engagement: Working to ensure that newcomers fully participate in civic life, including increasing access to leadership, citizenship, and civic participation. This can include initiatives that promote citizenship and leadership development opportunities./li>
Safe and Connected Communities: Working to foster trust and build relationships between immigrants and receiving communities, as well as focus on building connections with specific institutions, such as local law enforcement.

CASE STUDY: NASHVILLE

In 2009 a coalition of community leaders, business, and faith groups worked together to beat back a city referendum that would have required all city business to be conducted only in English, a development that would have significantly impaired the efforts of new Americans to integrate into the economic and social fabric of the Nashville community. In the years following this achievement, Nashville has quickly risen as a national leader in innovative strategies to welcome, include, and integrate its international communities. In 2009 the city government established the Mayor’s New Americans Advisory Council made up of representatives from diverse immigrant communities to meet with city staff monthly and discuss issues of importance to Nashville’s international population. In 2012 the city launched MyCity Academy, a seven month educational and training program that gives new Nashvillians direct access to city government to learn about how the city works and empowers them to participate and engage with the government that serves them. So far 110 people from 33 countries have graduated from this program.

Building on this momentum, in September 2014 former Mayor Dean announced the creation of Nashville’s Office of New Americans, whose mission is centered around four primary objectives: engaging and empowering immigrants to participate in their local government and in their communities; fostering a knowledgeable, safe, and connected community; expanding economic and educational opportunities for New Americans to the benefit of all Nashvillians; and working with community organizations and other Metro departments to empower and support New Americans. The office continues to be advised by the New Americans Advisory Committee, and since its creation launched a new program: MyCity Connect. This new program builds on the success of MyCity Academy, offering new Nashvillians the opportunity to engage with the civic organizations that make Nashville the vibrant city that it is.

The Office of New Americans serves as a point of contact, convener, and coordinator between city government, community-based organizations, the private sector and Nashville’s immigrant community. It works with partners across sectors, from the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce to Casa Azafrán. In September 2015 the Office of New Americans hosted a forum with the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce to support immigrant entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Timeline in Brief:

October 2013: Nashville becomes a Welcoming City | Welcoming Cities & Counties
May 2014: AS/COA hosts a convening on the contributions of immigrants to Nashville’s economic success | AS/COA Convening
Summer 2014: National partners provide technical assistance to Mayor Dean’s senior advisor to develop plans for creating a Mayor’s Office of New Americans
September 2014: Mayor Dean signs executive order establishing Mayor’s Office of New Americans | Press Release; PNAE Fact Sheet

Best Practices

I. Getting Started

Making the economic case. A large and growing body of research demonstrates that immigrants play a critical role in a city’s economic success, repopulating and revitalizing neighborhoods, stabilizing and growing the tax base, and spurring entrepreneurship and innovation everywhere from Main Street to the halls of major colleges and universities. Cities can use this research—and the narrative that being inclusive has an economic impact—to bring key stakeholders to the table and generate buy-in.

Get multi-sectoral buy-in early on through strategic planning and community outreach. Essential to the successful creation of an office is obtaining support and engagement from business, the community, and other city agencies for the initiative. Engaging stakeholders in the initial conversations that develop the mandate and areas of focus of the office help ensure the focus reflects the needs of the community, as well as identifies existing resources and areas for collaboration and partnership early on. This is often done through a strategic planning process, which can incorporate different elements of community engagement such as a listening tour, surveys, or interviews.

Mayoral leadership counts. The mayor’s leadership and commitment to supporting immigrant integration is critical both in elevating the stature of the office to the public, and in ensuring that its work is taken seriously and implemented fully. In many cities, designating a chief or head of the office at the executive level, reporting directly to the mayor, is an essential piece of making immigrant integration a priority.

Defining the narrative. Cities that embrace diversity and inclusion are more attractive to international newcomers as well as long-term residents, making them more competitive on the global stage. More directly, cities have a responsibility to provide quality customer service to all of their residents, and it is advantageous to ensure that everyone have access to information about public health and safety, emergency preparedness, education and economic opportunity, and other key priorities. Additionally, offices dedicated to facilitating immigrant integration can create efficiencies and reduce duplication across agencies and help front-line city staff carry out their responsibilities more effectively and uniformly, improving equity and access for everyone.

II. Maximizing Resources

Integration offices are designed to enhance collaboration across agencies, saving time and resources. Despite the up-front investment, cities are likely to save money in the long run by leveraging resources across agencies and maximizing their impact through collaboration. The role of the office as a convener and communications hub can be accomplished with a lean staff and a greater focus on partnerships with other agencies, community organizations, foundations, and the private sector.

Mapping existing assets in the community helps identify opportunities to increase impact without creating entirely new programs and initiatives. Assessing what the city and community based organization partners are already doing that can be immediately leveraged in support of immigrant integration efforts can help maximize impact with minimal investment. Often the first step is communicating and reaching populations with information about existing programs and services that they may not know are available.

Don’t re-invent the wheel. With the number of offices and models that already exist, there is no need to start from scratch when thinking through how to start a new office or initiative. Cities have launched programs across a variety of areas, including citizenship, entrepreneurship, language access, workforce development, and other key local priorities, that can serve as models for replication in new communities.

Partnerships make the most of limited resources. Many offices have limited staff and budgets, and rely heavily on partnering with other organizations, as well as other city agencies, to maximize resources as well as reach.

III. Maintaining Accountability and Transparency

Ongoing community engagement is key. Creating open lines of communication with organizations serving immigrant and refugee communities is central to ensuring that the work of the office is effective and reflects community needs. For example, holding standing community engagement forums allowing residents to provide feedback on local priorities or establishing an advisory committee representative of the community to meet with office staff on a regular basis.

Office staff should have connections to and build relationships with immigrant community leaders and target constituencies. Building trust with immigrant communities is key to the success of offices dedicated to facilitating immigrant integration. Staff that represent or have connections to the communities they serve, who know community leaders, and who understand cultural norms and languages are likely to be the most effective.

Strategic Plans

Multi-Sector Strategic Plans

Common among localities seeking to attract, welcome, and integrate international newcomers are multi-sector strategic plans that engage a range of key stakeholders from government, business, and civil society to set a vision and agenda for the community. Recommendations emanating from these plans span a variety of priority areas, including education and economic opportunity, civic engagement, public safety, and others. In many communities, such plans also lead to the creation of formal institutions within or in partnership with local government, such as a mayoral office to oversee immigrant integration or a non-profit organization or public-private partnership effort to coordinate efforts.

Goals:

Create a shared, community-wide vision for change
Launch, deepen, or scale a place-based immigrant integration effort
Bring together multiple sectors—business, community organizations, philanthropy, residents, and local government—to achieve collective impact that reflects a shared vision
Build relationships across sectors that serve to leverage the unique resources and assets of diverse partners
Expand from a single policy focus to a more comprehensive package of policies and programs
Maximize the economic, civic, and social opportunities available to all residents, both immigrants and receiving communities alike.

Getting Started

A successful planning process engages multiple sectors and includes the immigrant community in a central way. Such efforts may be led by the local government, city council, chamber of commerce, or another entity that can serve as a convener. The following steps offer a roadmap for this process:

Establish the Convener and Core Partners

Successful planning processes bring many partners to the table, yet a smaller group of core partners and one or two organizations that convene and support the work behind the scenes is needed to give direction to the effort. In addition, identifying a skilled facilitator who can help design a strong process and ensure that participants contribute is key to a successful outcome.

Lay the Groundwork

Begin by connecting with key government, community, business, and philanthropic partners and establishing an initial vision for the process. Use this time to identify resources for staffing and running the process, and to map and assess other, existing community efforts.

Design the Process

At this phase, the core partners and facilitator create a design for the planning process, answering questions such as: Who are the necessary stakeholders? Who makes final decisions and how? How long will the process last? How will the results be shared with the community? What information is needed to make sound decisions? Will there be pre-determined categories or issue areas to structure the process around policy and practice areas?

Identify and Engage the Planning Participants

At this phase, key participants are identified and recruited. This may result in the creation of a formal body, such as a taskforce or steering committee, as well as sub-committees that breakout to plan around issue areas, such as economic development or public safety. Many plans also place a strong emphasis on engaging broader community or resident input, both within the larger structure, and through the use of surveys, focus groups, town halls, and other forms of dialogue.

Gather and Assess Data on Community Needs and Assets

Many local governments start by working with their community partners to ask the animating question: What is the area currently doing to attract, welcome, and integrate immigrants, and where are the gaps? Research partners can be great collaborators in providing additional data, particularly around business or economic case to both inform and strengthen support for efforts.

Conduct the Process

Timing for planning processes has ranged from ten weeks up to a year and involve regular and well-facilitated interactions among participants. Communications are critical to framing the purpose of the process and to ensuring that participants are heard throughout the process and understand what is expected of them. The process typically culminates in the creation of a written plan that identifies a community vision, goals, strategies, and tactics, as well as the resources that exist or are needed to achieve them. Many plans also incorporate the creation of new infrastructure – such as establishing an Office of New Americans or the creation of an intermediary organization – to ensure long-term implementation.

Publish and Disseminate the Plan

Transparency and communication are hallmarks of a successful effort, and once completed, it is important to share the plan not only with participants, but with the wider community to highlight the expected impact and benefits for all community members, both recent arrivals to and long-term residents of the community.

Implement, Monitor and Adjust the Plan

Well-designed plans involve many partners in implementation, which means there may be significant coordination and often a staggered approach to implementation because some activities may be easily carried out, while others require resource development or further design. At this stage, the convener or backbone organization(s) should continue to convene a core group to monitor efforts and ensure that the plan is carried out, meets established goals and metrics, and is refined as needed. Plans should be viewed as living documents that can be revisited, and from time to time, updated in consultation with the community.

Key Areas of Focus

Working groups or advisory committees will often focus the work of planning processes into themes, and subcommittees will reflect those themes. Members of the working group or task force will break into smaller groups according to their expertise and interest area, and lead more in-depth, often community-focused conversations around the following broad areas:

Equitable Access to Services: Ensuring that all residents have access to city services and opportunities by reducing barriers and encouraging participation. Many cities work towards this goal by establishing broad language access policies that require that all city documents and activities are accessible in multiple languages; hosting town halls in immigrant communities that bring information directly to residents on various services and initiatives offered by the city; and having outreach coordinators whose job is to be present in the community to share information on what the city is doing.
Economic Opportunity and Education: Harnessing the full potential of all residents by working to ensure that newcomers have the skills, training, and education to thrive, and that workforce, education, and economic development systems are prepared to serve and leverage the talents of all residents. This can often include programs to support small business owners, workforce development initiatives, programs that connect newcomers with other business leaders in their field, and efforts to attract and retain international students and companies.
Civic Engagement: Working to ensure that newcomers fully participate in civic life, including increasing access to leadership, citizenship, and civic participation. This can include initiatives that promote citizenship and leadership development opportunities such as Los Angeles’ Citizenship Corners in public libraries and Nashville’s MyCity Academy.
Safe and Connected Communities: Working to foster trust and build relationships between immigrants and receiving communities, as well as focus on building connections with specific institutions, such as local law enforcement.

CASE STUDY: ATLANTA

In October 2013 city officials, business leaders and community representatives gathered at a convening hosted by Americas Society/Council of the Americas to discuss the state of play of immigration in the city of Atlanta and how the city could become a more global, welcoming place for international communities. As a result of this conversation, Mayor Kasim Reed announced that Atlanta would join Welcoming America’s Welcoming Cities and Counties Initiative, and in May 2013 he appointed the Mayoral Welcoming Atlanta Working Group. The group was tasked with developing a set of recommendations to ensure that Atlanta’s newly arrived communities are being integrated and supported.

The working group, made up of 21 leaders representing the city government, business, immigrant serving organizations, philanthropy, consulates and other non-profits engaged nearly 100 individuals in the planning process over the course of three months. National organizations including Welcoming America, Partnership for a New American Economy, and Americas Society/Council of the Americas offered expertise to help guide the process. The working group focused its effort around five pillars: Ensuring Equitable Access to Basic Services; Expanding Educational Opportunities; Facilitating Economic Empowerment; Enhancing Public Safety and Fostering a Connected Community; and Building Immigrant Civic Engagement and Leadership. Subcommittees were formed to develop recommendations in each of these areas.

On September 17, 2014, Mayor Reed joined members of the Welcoming Atlanta Working Group to announce the city’s commitment to a number of initiatives—including 20 recommendations from the Working Group—to make Atlanta a more global and welcoming city to immigrants. With this he announced the creation of an Office of Immigrant Affairs, which was formally established in June 2015.

Timeline in Brief:

October 2013: Atlanta joins Welcoming Cities and Counties Initiative at AS/COA convening| Press
February 2014: Atlanta city staff conducts stakeholder meetings with leaders across sectors to inform the development of the Welcoming Atlanta Working Group
May 2014: Atlanta Mayor appoints Welcoming Atlanta Working Group to develop recommendations | Press
Summer 2014: Working Group engages community members to develop recommendations
September 2014: Mayor Reed announces 20 new recommendations to make Atlanta more welcoming, including the creation of an Office of Immigrant Affairs | Press Release; Media Coverage; PNAE Fact Sheet
June 2015: The Atlanta Office of Immigrant Affairs is formally launched, along with its website WelcomingAtlanta.com.

Best Practices

Convene the Right Partners: The selection process for working group or taskforce members is very important. It’s critical to get a diverse group that includes all of the sectors that will be involved, as well as leaders with connections to the immigrant community who understand both challenges and assets. Often task force members include representatives from several government agencies, community-serving organizations, consulates, foundations, and the private sector, including local chambers of commerce. Equally important is selecting a chair (or co-chairs) who have the commitment to see the plan through, as well as the cache to bring attention to the effort and its implementation.
Be inclusive. This process should be framed as a community initiative for the community and by the community. Whether through listening sessions, townhall meetings, surveys, or community events, there should be easily accessible and open venues to engage members of the community to give input and participate in the planning process.
Public-Private Partnerships Maximize Impact. In addition to ensuring that membership of the working group, taskforce, or steering committee is representative across sectors, it’s important for the private sector to be a partner in releasing and endorsing the plan. Not only does this broaden the message, it helps increase institutional buy-in for the plan’s implementation and success.
Learn from the Experience of Other Cities: Several cities, including Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dayton, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh have completed or are in the process of completing strategic planning processes. These cities can be a resource to others interested in undertaking this process, from offering language for community surveys to community outreach strategies to the structure and timeline for the process itself.

Welcoming Cities and Counties

Over 55 cities and counties across the United States have joined the Welcoming Cities and Counties initiative to create more inclusive and immigrant-friendly communities, maximize opportunities for economic growth, and position themselves as competitive in the global economy. Launched by Welcoming America in 2013, the initiative has grown rapidly as cities and counties increasingly recognize the value of opening their doors to international newcomers and businesses and investing in the success of all of their residents, regardless of language or origin. Welcoming Cities and Counties also serves as a platform to share ideas and best practices, develop new tools, and recognize communities for their progress.

Key Stakeholders:

Local Government

Forward-thinking local governments recognize that building communities in which all residents can fully contribute is not just good government, it’s smart economics. Local governments have an important role to play working with their communities to set an agenda, convene partners, and implement local policies and practices that expand immigrant inclusion and engage the broader receiving community. Support from local government is a critical component of network building, assessing community assets and needs, creating a vision and plan, and implementing and communicating new policies, programs, and practices.

Private Sector

Local business leaders, chambers of commerce, and employers all play important roles in shaping the narrative on immigration at the local level and communicating the benefits of diversity and inclusion in their communities. In many communities, private sector partners also play a direct role in facilitating immigrants’ economic integration, through targeted initiatives supporting workforce development, entrepreneurship, and financial empowerment.

Non-Profit Organizations

As front-line service providers and advocates, non-profit and community-based organizations have played a vital role in facilitating immigrants’ participation and integration in the civic, social, and economic life of their communities. Such organizations can lead or support important aspects of welcoming community efforts, including hosting Welcoming Week events, engaging receiving community ambassadors and champions, and helping to enlist the participation of the broader community in a multi-sector strategy.

Receiving Communities

Long-time residents of the communities where immigrants settle are a key constituency in the integration process. Local governments and community organizations have a responsibility to educate the public about the impact of immigration and actively take on bridge-building work to help people from diverse backgrounds overcome language and cultural barriers and find common interests and shared values.

Key Areas of Focus

Leadership and Communications: Welcoming community leaders use their platforms to highlight immigrants’ contributions—as small business owners, taxpayers, community leaders, and new citizens—through positive communications. Local leaders from civic, nonprofit, faith, and the private sector should also partner to develop and implement comprehensive plans that advance and institutionalize immigrant integration.
Equitable Access to Services: Welcoming communities ensure that immigrant residents have access to key information and services they need to successfully participate and integrate in their communities. Policies such as language access ensure that all residents, including speakers of languages other than English, receive key information about public health and safety, emergency preparedness, education, and other local priorities.
Economic Opportunity and Education: Welcoming communities harness the full potential of all residents, ensuring that newcomers have the skills, assets, and education to thrive and that workforce, education, and economic development systems are prepared to better serve and leverage the talents of all residents.
Civic Engagement: Welcoming communities ensure that newcomers fully participate in civic life, including increasing access to leadership, citizenship, and civic participation.
Safe and Connected Communities: Welcoming communities foster trust and build relationships between immigrants and receiving communities, as well as focus on building connections with specific institutions and communities, such as local law enforcement.

Best Practices

Build a Local Network of Partners. Start by bringing together stakeholders from across all sectors, including nonprofit, corporate, faith, and governmental organizations. Representatives from different sectors bring unique perspectives and contributions, and creating a network will help to build community support and identify existing resources, while also leading to better coordination of services and the ability to leverage new ones.
Assess Community Assets and Needs. In many communities, immigrant integration practices are already taking place within individual institutions, such as schools, community-based organizations, and faith institutions. Mapping out the community’s existing assets, programs, and services can help identify opportunities for collective impact and also reduce duplication of resources. Both immigrants and receiving communities should be part of this analysis. Additionally, research partners at local universities may be a source of data—both quantitative and qualitative—on the contributions and needs of immigrant communities.
Create a Vision and Plan.Efforts to create a welcoming community are most effective when there is a vision and collaborative process across sectors that draws on the voice of both immigrant and receiving community members. Many local governments, businesses, and community organizations are successfully coming together to develop comprehensive welcoming plans, which achieve greater results through collective impact, as well as elevate local priorities to attract additional outside investment.
Implement New Policies, Programs and Practices – and Communicate and Evaluate their Success. Once a plan has been created, activities to support the goals and strategies of the plan should take place across the community and across multiple organizations. For example, the Welcome Dayton plan, which was developed and informed by the community and approved by the City of Dayton in 2011, continues to be implemented through the Welcome Dayton Initiative, and is already helping Dayton reverse population decline and infuse millions of dollars into the local economy. A robust communications effort also helps to publicize the work and the value it brings to the community.