With schools closed and playdates canceled, many children and families are looking for ways to connect with neighbors, their community and the world at large. Moreover, the concerning rise in COVID-19-related xenophobia and anti-Asian incidents can leave children feeling worried for their family’s safety or the safety of others around them. Activities related to immigration, from learning about other cultures to showing support for immigrant essential workers, can be a catalyst for growing connections, promoting empathy and creating a sense of empowerment among children of all ages.

Providing children with media that positively portrays a diverse range of people is a simple and effective way of promoting equity. Research shows when children see diverse characters in a variety of roles they are less prone to stereotyping, and children who see themselves and their lives accurately represented have higher self-esteem. As one quarter of children in the United States have at least one immigrant parent, positive representations of immigrants are crucially important today.

Many schools and libraries are providing free access to extensive collections of ebooks and audiobooks, but how do you find content your children will enjoy that promotes equity? The Anti-Defamation League’s “Books Matter” collection offers 801 suggestions covering topics from gender to race to religion and more, and each comes with a discussion guide. Online bookseller Alibris has a collection of more than 500 nonfiction children’s books about immigration. There is even a collection of award-winning young adult novels with protagonists from a variety of cultures, from Asian to Latinx to Middle-Eastern, curated by California State University Long Beach.

With many children turning to screens to fill their time, you can help them prioritize shows and games that reinforce compassion. Common Sense Media’s collection of TV shows, games, apps and websites is an excellent resource for preschoolers to teens. Their list of TV shows that inspire empathy helps kids learn the value of putting themselves in someone else’s shoes. The games that support kindness and compassion list helps kids see other viewpoints, celebrate others’ traditions and learn how tough it is to be bullied or discriminated against, and the empathy games, apps and websites list is full of options that teach kids to think about how other people feel and to emphasize the value of human relationships.

Above all, you are the secret ingredient. Engage children and teens in discussions about the importance of diversity and visibility. Encourage them to ask questions about who gets represented and why.

Whether it’s across an ocean, across the country or across town, every family has stories of moving in their history. Hearing family stories about being a newcomer somewhere connects children with their past and can spark compassion for others. To help guide you, Scholastic offers Exploring Family Heritage, a collection of articles and lesson plans for children in grades pre-K through eight. Teaching Tolerance offers a lesson plan for children in grades K through five called Understanding My Family’s History.

For inspiration, your family can explore Meet Young Immigrants, a collection of stories from Scholastic about children recently arrived in the U.S. The University of Minnesota has collected more than 250 first, second and third generation Immigrant Stories representing more than 50 different communities. If you are feeling ambitious, you can even add your own.

Discussing their own heritage can spark children’s interest in other cultures. You might start with your own family’s heritage, or the home countries of your children’s immigrant friends and classmates. Maybe they’d like to start with learning where your immigrant neighbors are from using this interactive map from the Migration Policy Institute. Once you’ve settled on your destination, you can take your children on virtual tours of many museums and cultural sites around the world. These “field trips” will help make other countries and cultures come alive.

Even when homebound, children can actively show support for their immigrant neighbors. Younger children will enjoy decorating our coloring pages about immigrant neighbors and essential workers and proudly displaying them in windows, perhaps next to their “bear hunt” teddy bear.  

Older children and teens can learn more about addressing stereotyping and scapegoating. The Anti-Defamation League’s guide to discussing coronavirus and prejudice is a good place to start, and this article from Vox, Why pandemics activate xenophobia, gives the historical and cultural context for a bigger, in-depth discussion.

In addition to the historical context, Facing History’s Coronavirus: protect yourself and stand against racism also offers the scientific perspective. Offering what is currently known by the scientific community, it encourages reflection about the consequences of discrimination. Providing young adults with factually correct information and opportunities to reflect on the consequences of discrimination makes them less likely to pass on false information and encourages them to challenge coronavirus-inspired racism if, or when, they encounter it. Facing History provides techniques for standing up to racist and hateful speech, both online and in person. They also offer tips and best practices that teens can use when participating in online activism. These activities can give your children agency and empower them to create a safer and more welcoming world.  

As the pandemic underscores the interconnected and interdependent nature of our global community, it is even more important to instill in our children an understanding and appreciation of the diverse cultures that make up our country and the world. By highlighting immigration, we can cultivate a global mindset, empathetic understanding and, above all, kindness. 

For all: 

• TV that Inspires Empathy, Common Sense Media 
• Games that Support Kindness and Compassion, Common Sense Media 
• Diversity in Media and Why Visibility Matters: Family Conversations About Current Events,the Anti-Defamation League 
• Exploring Family Heritage, Scholastic 
• Immigrant Stories, University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center 
• State Immigration Data Profiles, the Migration Policy Institute 
• Check out these virtual tours of museums around the world, TimeOut 
• Google Arts & Culture Places 

For children: 

• Drawing Support, The Immigrant Learning Center 
• Books Matter, the Anti-Defamation League 
• Children’s Nonfiction Social Issues Emigration Immigration Books, Alibris 
• Understanding My Family’s History, Teaching Tolerance 
• Meet Young Immigrants, Scholastic 

For teens:

• Young Adult Literature: Different Cultures, California State University Long Beach 
• The Coronavirus Surfaces Fear, Stereotypes and Scapegoating, Anti-Defamation League 
• Why pandemics activate xenophobia, Vox 
• Coronavirus: Protect Yourself and Stand Against Racism, Facing History and Ourselves 
• Upstanders: Profound Risks, Incredible Rewards, Facing History and Ourselves 
• The Voices of Millions (modified version), Facing History and Ourselves 

Other Resources:

• Resources for Immigrants, Parents and Educators During COVID-19 Crisis, The Immigrant Learning Center
• Three ways immigrants are fighting COVID-19, The Immigrant Learning Center

Discussion starters:

• How can we show kindness to our neighbors, even when we can’t visit each other?  
• Why is it important to support people who are new to our country and to our community? 
• Do you understand why we must stay apart from other people right now? 

You can help your children continue to absorb the message of building friendships under difficult circumstances by listening to Lotus and Feather, a Chinese tale about a young girl who makes a unique friend after a mysterious illness causes her to lose her voice.  

Discussion starters:

• Why do you think some people have to go to work right now but other people are staying home? 
• What do you think about people who come to the U.S. from other countries so that they can work? 
• How can we say “Thank you” to people when you can’t talk to them face to face? 

Continue the lesson with stories and videos. We recommend Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, a story that shows how a small act of kindness can change a life, and Daniel Tiger: Everyone’s Job is Important in Different Ways to help children understand why some certain workers are especially important at this moment in time.  

We encourage families to display the completed coloring pages in their windows as a sign that your household stands with immigrants and essential workers during this difficult time.  

• We are in this together poster you can print and display to show support for Chinese-American community members
• Cultivate Kindness activities for promoting empathy and creating a sense of empowerment among children of all ages
• Lesson Plan: Why do people migrate?
• Anti-Asian Racism During Coronavirus
• How to respond to Coronavirus Racism by Teaching Tolerance

Immigrants have been a key part of maintaining the health and well being of Americans in good times and bad. Irish immigrants were key supporters of the Union Army during the American Civil War. Bracero workers from Mexico formed the backbone of food production in the United States during World War II, and immigrant entrepreneurs from around the world were a driving force in rebuilding the economy after the Great Recession

As the global epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic shifts to the United States, immigrants in this country are right where they have always been: on the front lines working tirelessly to ensure our communities stay safe, healthy and supported. Immigrants are over-represented in direct health care, life science research and other industries that have been deemed essential, such as food/agriculture and transportation. As such, there are many ways that new Americans are keeping the country going in this life-or-death crisis.

Immigrants are vital to the health care industry. While the foreign-born make up just 13.7 percent of the U.S. population, they are a full 35.2 percent of home health care workers, 28.5 percent of physicians, 18.5 percent of lab technicians and 15 percent of registered nurses. Immigrants are even more critical in rural areas, which depend disproportionately on foreign-born physicians. As the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States increases, immigrants make a convenient target for people who are frightened and looking for someone to blame. It’s important to note that so many immigrants are stepping up and taking on the risk of infection to keep hospitals running and treat patients.

Behind the scenes, foreign-born researchers are leading the charge to find a cure for coronavirus. In fact, the first potential vaccine to enter clinical trials was developed by Moderna, Inc. The company was founded on research by Derrick Rossi, a Canadian immigrant and a 2015 ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur Award nominee, and the current CEO, Stephane Bancel, is from France. They, like so many others, were drawn to Massachusetts to work in one of the life science industry’s most successful global hubs. Without drawing such international talent, this promising vaccine might never have been developed.

Another company that has entered clinical trials with a potential vaccine, Gilead Sciences, is carrying out its research in both the U.S. and Wuhan province, China. Under the leadership of Executive Vice President for Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing Dr. Tiayan Yang, an immigrant from Taiwan, Gilead hopes to adapt medicines that were originally used to treat MERS and SARS outbreaks. Dr. Joseph Kim’s “typical immigrant story” also draws attention to the benefits of immigration in the face of a crisis. Kim’s company, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, is also working on a vaccine, and reportedly gave President Trump the “most optimistic answer in a March 2 meeting.

In the past few weeks, immigrants have shown their inherent social value as essential workers in a variety of fields, including food and grocery services, transportation, sanitation, agriculture and maintenance. Foreign-born workers are again over-represented in all these fields. They make up almost 50 percent of maid services and 25 percent of janitors are immigrants. These professions, which already face health care risks, are even more dangerous as it becomes imperative to clean workplaces, public spaces and health care centers in order to contain an infectious disease.

As many of us maintain social distance and rely on weekly grocery store trips or food deliveries, we are reliant on new Americans who make up 22 percent of food service workers and 17 percent of delivery drivers, as well as a staggering 42.5 percent of all agricultural workers. Even as circumstances become more and more uncertain, immigrants are on the job, day after day, to make sure that their communities stay safe, clean and well fed.

With no clear end in sight for the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s not surprising that many people feel anxious or afraid. Throughout it all, many immigrants are offering messages of hope, unity and a sense of community. Immigrant organizers have been on the frontlines of mutual aid networks in cities like Boston, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles to assist vulnerable neighbors with daily tasks, health care access and financial support. While these groups are first and foremost there to help with material needs, they are also an important way of showing community members that they are cared for and valued. “In times like these, people really do want to help, and it’s so important to push back against the isolation and turning inward and selfishness that can come in times like these if we don’t remind everyone that we have everything we need to support one another,” said Ria Peebles, a Washington D.C. area organizer who is coordinating relief with both U.S.-born and immigrant communities.

As cultural events go online, immigrants are among those finding ways to share art and culture with a public that is staying home. The annual Pittsburgh Irish Festival is leading the charge to put massive, multi-artist events online. Musicians, from Haitian rapper and three-time Grammy winner Wyclef Jean to Chinese-Parisian-American classical cellist YoYo Ma, are making their music available for free. Ma has even dedicated his free performances to the workers who are on the front lines of the crisis as a way to send them encouragement and cheer. His is a powerful example of how everyone can pull together in this time to give each other hope and encouragement.

Even with all that foreign-born workers and community members are doing to address the many impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak, there have been increased incidences of prejudice and violence toward immigrants. Those of Asian heritage are particularly vulnerable, as their ethnicity is erroneously linked to the likelihood of infection. Americans can combat this fear and prejudice by reminding ourselves of all the ways in which our immigrant community members are working hard at this time to keep the whole country moving forward. Whether it’s in health care, essential sevices or providing us with the hope and inspiration we need to keep going, immigrants should be thanked, not threatened.

• Resources for Immigrants, Parents and Educators During COVID-19 Crisis – Please read, bookmark and share our list of resources for the COVID-19 pandemic. We will be adding resources to this page as the crisis continues.
• Quick U.S. Immigration Statistics – Learn more about immigrants in the U.S.
• How Immigrant Entrepreneurs Are Strengthening Massachusetts’ Life Science Ecosystem – Read more about immigrants’ vital role in biotech.

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Hollywood is one of the most iconic symbols of America and, like so much of America, it wouldn’t be what it is today without immigrants. Even in the midst of debates about diversity and representation, it is apparent that immigrants “get the job done” in filmmaking and other performing arts. In fact, one out of every eight workers in the movie industry is an immigrant, including some of Hollywood’s biggest names like Lupita Nyongo, Ryan Reynolds and the Hemsworth brothers.

Immigrants were there from the start

German immigrant Carl Laemmle founded Universal Pictures in 1912. Polish immigrant Samuel Goldwyn got his start at Universal and went on to create Goldwyn Pictures in 1916. In 1924 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) was born when Goldwyn merged with Mayer Pictures, founded by Ukrainian immigrant Louis B. Mayer. Three years later, Mayer spearheaded the creation of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which presented its first Academy Awards in 1929.

German-born Emil Jannings was the first person to receive the award. Over the years, many other immigrants have made their mark. In the 30s, Frank Capra (Italy) won three Oscars for best director. In the 40s and 50s Ingrid Bergman (Sweden) won three Oscars for acting, and Miyoshi Umeki (Japan) became the only Asian woman to date to win an Academy Award for acting. Meanwhile, Sam Spiegel (Austria/Poland) took home three best director Oscars. Immigrants were essential to creating the American film industry, and have continued to contribute to its success ever since.

Why is this important?

The entertainment industry is both beloved and wide-reaching. Film and television content are among the country’s most lucrative exports. By some estimates 70 percent of U.S. studios’ annual revenues come from international sales. The United States presents itself to the world through these works, which both inform and are informed by the rest of the world. International artists bring perspectives and stories that can help American companies capture more of the large, global market.

In addition to the economic impact, the cultural impact of this industry is hard to overestimate. Like it or not, Hollywood influences our cultural identity. Our movies and TV shows are part of our shared experience and help form Americans’ sense of who we are. For many audience members around the world, it is the only frame of reference for what it means to be American. It is a beacon that draws many of the world’s greatest artists to the United States. This country’s strength has always been our ability to welcome talented people and incorporate their diversity of perspectives, regardless of where they were born. The performing arts are simply the most visible way to demonstrate the value that immigrants bring to the U.S. economy and culture.

How teachers can help these highly diverse students make sense of the modern world

Every generation brings a fresh perspective on social and political issues, and educators have to find ways to adjust to these changes. The post-millennial generation of young Americans currently coming of age, known as Generation Z, has already cemented its reputation as politically engaged, highly educated and very diverse. While there are actually fewer foreign-born post-millennials than millennials, they are still highly likely to come from immigrant families. Nearly one-third of “Gen Z” is either an immigrant or the child of immigrants, and almost half is non-white.

While research shows that diversity is beneficial, it can be challenging for students to reap those benefits when anti-immigrant rhetoric and racial tensions dominate the national stage. Professor John Rogers at UCLA notes that 89 percent of high school principals report “incivility and contentiousness in the broader political environment has considerably affected their school community,” and an additional 83 percent see untrustworthy and disputed information fueling inner-school tensions.

Fortunately, there are techniques educators can use to help ensure that young people are getting the culturally competent support they need, even in environments where race and immigration are contentious topics. Some tips are provided in this article. We’ll be diving further into these techniques in our next free webinar Understanding Immigration Today: Current Events in the Classroom on February 12, 2020.

In order to develop these dispositions, students need to feel safe to engage and express themselves. Classrooms can be a place to learn accurate information about current events and hold compassionate, evidence-based discussions.

Gen Zers get their news predominantly from the internet and social media. This means that not only are they vulnerable to seeing false or incomplete information, they are also exposed to confusing opinions and hurtful biases. They need to learn how to tell opinion from fact and fact from fiction. Teachers can help their students by incorporating current events into the classroom and showing students how to evaluate “news.”

There are a number of resources for children and teenagers that explain the headlines in age-appropriate formats, ranging from NBC Learn for ages seven and older to PBS NewsHour Extra for 14 and above. It can also be useful for students to share opinions in the classroom, especially if there are clear guidelines around using respectful language. By exploring these resources and discussions in a classroom, students can form their own opinions with accurate information in a compassionate and calm environment.

It’s not only young people who have something to learn. Educators have great reasons to put faith in their students and give them opportunities to lead. Sometimes called iGen, this generation has grown up in the digital age with a wealth of information at their fingertips, and they are showing themselves to be both well-informed and highly motivated by education and new experiences. They also tend to value diversity and have a more international outlook than previous generations. As this cohort of young people enters universities and workplaces, they are sure to infuse these values into their institutional cultures and society at large. So while teachers can and should take steps to help their students grow, there are times when students can lead the way.

• If you find this topic valuable, sign up for our next free webinar.
• Take advantage of the on-demand resources from our previous Educator Webinars and partners.
• Re-imagining Migration has an incredible stock of resources for educators teaching about immigration.
• Colorín Colorado offers strategies, best practices, books, videos and more to educators and families of English language learners (ELLs).

Some researchers contend that in order to create safe and welcoming classrooms, we must dive into what they call implicit bias. But what is implicit bias, and what lessons can we learn from this concept?  To answer those questions, we look to presenters Stacy Davison, formerly with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and social worker Alaisa Grudzinski, who explained why this is such an important concept in school environments.

Davison gives the ADL definition of implicit bias as “the unconscious attitude, stereotypes and unintentional actions (positive or negative) toward members of a group merely because of their membership in that group.”

How does this happen? The human brain is capable of processing about 11 million pieces of information at a time but can only give conscious attention to a handful of those. To handle the rest, some research suggests your brain categorizes information into groups and assigns an instinctive reaction.  That’s why the word “jelly” automatically comes to mind when you hear someone say “peanut butter.” It may also explain our unconscious reactions to people of different ethnic backgrounds or immigration status. Bias can often overrule rational thought, causing well-meaning and intelligent people to react in ways that are at odds with their conscious intentions. It’s tempting to believe that implicit bias is only a problem for other people, but some research suggests that people often overestimate their own ability to relate to those who don’t share their background.

Watch Davison’s full presentation, “Patterns and Perceptions: Breaking Down Implicit Bias.”

As a group, American teachers are less diverse than the students they teach. As of 2014, about one out of every four, almost 19 million, school-aged children were either first- or second-generation immigrants. This number is increasing every year. Although foreign-born teachers play a crucial role in our education system, only about one in 10 education professionals is an immigrant, and the numbers drop even lower for first through 12th grade teachers and special education teachers. This means that teachers are likely to come from different racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds than many of their students. This lack of diversity creates a challenge for students of color, who perform better with teachers of the same background. To mitigate divisions and stereotyping in diverse classrooms, some experts advise teachers to become aware of implicit bias in themselves and others.

Grudzinski notes, “Our own racial identities are framing the way that we perceive students’ racial identities, students’ experiences.” Even the best intentioned of educators can make generalizations about their students’ ideas, experiences and abilities. One common problem Grudzinski noted was based on a positive association, the belief that Asian students are better at math. Asian students who struggle in math often don’t receive the help they need because teachers assume they don’t need it. Teachers who are aware of such potential subconscious biases can find a way to counteract them and see past the stereotype to extend a helping hand to their students.

Having a thorough understanding of the concept of implicit bias is essential. Davison recommends watching a short series of videos from The New York Times called “Who, Me? Biased?” that breaks down common forms of bias and the reasons why people are susceptible to them.  One form of bias mentioned in the series is called a blind-spot, the tendency for individuals to see prejudiced action in others but not in themselves. Educators and school districts may consider an in-depth training on implicit bias offered by organizations like the ADL or Learning for Justice.

The best thing you can do to counteract biases is to build relationships across ethnicity, age and immigration status. If you have immigrant students in your classroom, make a habit of going to events in those students’ communities. Reach out to your peers or community leaders in different ethnic, immigration status or cultural groups. If you’re used to mostly being with people who are like you, it may sound uncomfortable to go places where you are the minority. Research suggests you can reduce the awkwardness by addressing it head-on. Making a genuine effort to better understand your students will be seen as a sign of respect.

Regularly engage in self-reflection, examining your own perceptions and the influences that form them. Do your patterns of perception and reaction accurately represent your values and your care for your students?  Remember that having biases doesn’t make you a “bad” person. According to the concept of implicit bias, it is an inherent part of human thinking. So let yourself relax, especially since it’s been shown that humans are more likely to show bias when they are tired, hungry or stressed!

Your most important tool, real relationships with diverse people, is something that will gradually become a part of your daily routine and patterns of thought. It’s also a good idea to stimulate positive associations. Davison brought up a sign at the entrance of her son’s elementary school that reads “Respect, Responsibility, Regard,” and showed how it helped the community to remember those values.

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We offer our previous webinars for educators free and on-demand. We also offer a library of resources designed for educators.

Courageous Conversation about Race offers many resources for ending the race gap in education and reducing bias in schools.

The classic book on prejudice in schools Why are the All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria takes on big questions of diversity, equity and bridging divisions.

In Table Talk: Family Conversations About Current Events, the ADL tackles different forms of implicit bias and offers prompts for starting conversations on these tough topics.

There are more ways that immigrants enrich our country than we can count. We know that immigrants are highly entrepreneurial. We can quantify how many jobs are created by immigrant entrepreneurs and how much immigrants pay in taxes. We can even quantify innovation by counting patents, Nobel Prizes, etc. How do you quantify social responsibility?

Corporate Social Responsibility

The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was coined in 1954 by an American economist named Howard Bowen, who is known as the “father of CSR.” It refers to a business model that involves, in the ordinary course of business, enhancing society and the environment, and avoiding negative impacts. More and more, both customers and employees are demanding it. According to Cone Communications, 87 percent of Americans will purchase a product because a company advocated for an issue they cared about, and 76 percent will refuse to do business with a company that has policies they dislike.

To showcase the contributions of immigrants, The Immigrant Learning Center hosts the annual Barry M. Portnoy Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards. If this year’s nominees are any indication, immigrant business owners have fully embraced Corporate Social Responsibility. Here are a few examples:

Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Corporate Social Responsibility

Joseph Ngaruiya grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. His parents run businesses and own real estate investments in both Kenya and the United States. He started his career as a licensed practical nurse and discovered he loves working with older patients. In Kenyan culture, the elderly are highly respected and sought out for advice. His entrepreneurial background and his compassion for the elderly led him to create A Better Life Homecare in 2014. The company has grown to serve about 300 elderly and chronically ill people in western Massachusetts and Connecticut, many who are dependent on Social Security and Medicare. A Better Life ensures its clients receive the care they need at home with their families.

What really makes Joseph and his business special is his dedication to his staff and the communities they serve. Since his clients are often housing-insecure, Joseph and his team make a point to visit and volunteer in soup kitchens and homeless shelters. Often, the team will go out of their way to help a community member with getting a haircut, cleaning their apartment or obtaining a set of clothes to wear to job interviews. Not only is it kind, it helps promote the company and builds trust. Although he is not a Spanish speaker, many of his team are, and the company is a founding member of Holyoke’s Spanish Caregivers Support Group, which trains Spanish-speaking medical professionals and personal caretakers for dementia patients. For Joseph, social responsibility is part of the American Dream. In accepting the 2019 Barry M. Portnoy Immigrant Entrepreneur Award for Business Growth, Joseph said, “My goal and hope is to be a stepping stone for other immigrants, to support them and to uplift them because I believe in America anything is possible.”

Social Entrepreneurship

For some people, it is not enough to incorporate social responsibility into their business plans. These Social Entrepreneurs see the business or not-for-profit they create as the means to achieve their social goals. Although the main goal of a social entrepreneur is to implement improvements in society, they must still be business savvy to succeed. Miriam Morales, a 2019 Barry M. Portnoy Immigrant Entrepreneur nominee, is both.

Miriam left her family’s coffee farm in Nicaragua during the turbulence of the 1980s. She studied engineering at Northeastern University before embarking on a 20-year career as a Christian minister in Massachusetts. Everything changed in 2011 when her father suffered serious injuries in a car accident, putting not only the future of the family business in jeopardy but also the livelihoods of dozens of families who depended on it. Miriam and her husband, Hector, knew they had to help. They started to sell small batches of the farm’s raw coffee to their friends in Massachusetts. The beans proved to be popular and within no time they were roasting coffee to sell at farmers markets and local stores. Before long they opened a storefront in West Roxbury and later in Boston’s City Hall Plaza.

Miriam’s motivation to help both her adopted and childhood communities is evident through every layer of El Recreo Coffee and Rosterie’s history. Providing living wages for employees in the United States and Nicaragua and meeting the Rainforest Alliance’s sustainability certifications are just the ethical baseline for this “farm-to-cup” undertaking. El Recreo is so much a part of the fabric of the neighborhood that it’s known as the “living room of West Roxbury.” Meanwhile, in Jinotega, Nicaragua, the profits from El Recreo are going directly back into the community. Workers on the farm receive free housing, healthcare, literacy education and technical training, all furnished by coffee sales. The Morales family plans to build schools across the region. Miriam brings her two communities together by organizing an annual trip to Jinotega for Massachusetts coffee buyers and connoisseurs to learn firsthand about fair trade practices and meet the people who grow their coffee.

Conclusion

Social responsibility is natural for immigrants like Miriam Morales and Joseph Ngaruiya. For both, building a business is an act that brings them closer to their adopted communities and allows them to connect with the homes that they grew up in. Celebrating the incredible entrepreneurial spirit and sense of social responsibility of immigrant business owners is why we founded the Barry M. Portnoy Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards. Visit our website to learn more about the accomplishments of Joseph, Miriam and their fellow nominees.

Resources:

Immigrant Social Entrepreneur Hall of Fame

The 35 Social Entrepreneurs to watch for in 2019

Yessy Feliz comes from a family of well-educated women with can-do attitudes, like her mother who worked two jobs while resettling her family from the Dominican Republic to Massachusetts. Even so, she is the first member of her family to own her own business. Tails, Inc., her animal supply and dog care store is no pet project. It’s a booming business in the heart of Jamaica Plain, one of Boston’s most diverse and canine-loving neighborhoods. For Yessy, running a business is both a fulfillment of her own dreams and a path forward for herself and other Latinx immigrants.

“Tails is a legacy, it’s a stepping stone for the next generation to come and say, ‘If she was able to do it, we are able to do it,’” said Yessy, who has been nominated for the 2019 Barry M. Portnoy Immigrant Entrepreneur Award for Neighborhood Business hosted by The Immigrant Learning Center.

The Neighborhood Business category, which honors small business owners who are directly impacting their communities, has always been a place where Latina women shine. As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) and this year’s Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards, we are honored to have three amazing Latina businesswomen: Yessy Feliz, Zoila Gomez originally from the Dominican Republic and Miriam Morales from Nicaragua. It should come as no surprise to see these outstanding women. Over the past five years, the number of women-owned businesses increased by 21 percent, and more businesses than ever before are owned by Latinx entrepreneurs.

Zoila Gomez of Gomez & Palumbo Attorneys at Law always knew her path in life was to be a business owner. While she originally trained to be a beautician at her family’s suggestion, she felt trapped by the thought of owning a salon. Instead, she went to Northern Essex Community College to study political science before getting her J.D. from the Massachusetts School of Law. As the founder of Gomez & Palumbo, she is fulfilling both her passion for immigration law and her family’s dream for her to run her own business.

Zoila and Yessy have built their businesses in areas that have produced many powerful immigrant women entrepreneurs. Gomez & Palumbo is located in Lawrence. Known as Massachusetts’ City of Immigrants, the population of Lawrence is nearly three-quarters Latinx a statistic that is reflected in the number of immigrant-owned businesses there. Julia Silverio, who won an Immigrant Entrepreneur Award for Business Growth in 2012, attributed Lawrence’s economic recovery after the Great Recession to the number of immigrant entrepreneurs who made a home in the city.

Tails is similarly placed in the heart of Boston’s “Latin Quarter” along the section of Center Street that’s been dubbed “Avenida de las Americas” in honor of the neighborhood’s South and Central American heritage. Across the street is Ultra Beauty Salon, owned by Damaris Pimentel, another Dominican entrepreneur who won the Neighborhood Business Award in 2015. From their windows, one can see a parade of bakeries, restaurants and barber shops flying flags from Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, a testament to how immigration and economic growth go hand in hand in the neighborhood.

Hispanic and Latina-owned businesses are growing all over the commonwealth, not just in areas with a high-density of immigrants. Miriam Morales’ café, Recreo Coffee & Roasterie has two locations, one in West Roxbury and another in Boston’s City Hall. While neither location is known for a high immigrant population, Miriam feels right at home. It’s no surprise since she is serving up coffee that is grown in her family’s farm in Jinotega, Nicaragua. Not only that, but the café organizes annual trips to Nicaragua every year to educate Americans about coffee farming and fair trade practices. For her, the café is the key to staying connected to her childhood home and building a beloved community in her adopted city.

To learn more about the Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards and all the amazing nominees, click here.

The classroom is a place where students learn much more than coursework. It is one of the primary places where students discover the great diversity of the world through personal encounters, coursework and underlying themes. All students have been affected in some way by the movement of people around the globe, yet certain stories of migration and immigration bring pride and admiration, while others are used to shame students or set them apart.

So how can all students see themselves as equal participants in the global story of human migration? Can that shared identity inspire a sense of community and belonging, even in multicultural spaces? The Immigrant Learning Center’s free, annual online workshop, 2019 Immigrant Student Success: Strategies and Tools for K-12 and Adult Educators, provided techniques to empower students to be creative thinkers and active contributors to a diverse, global society.

Teachers can promote integration, mutual respect and a shared sense of belonging for students of every age. Presenters in the 2019 Student Success workshop have developed creative techniques that help students tell their own stories, find common ground with others, and critically engage with the human story of migration and cross-cultural interaction.

In this video, Adam Strom explains why a sense of inclusion is deeply important and how students’ immigration histories can be a source of both inclusion and exclusion.

All students have unique identities and generations of history behind their arrival in the classroom. Ask your students to share about their ethnic identities and their family histories of migration. You can help vulnerable students feel more comfortable by setting ground rules for respectful communication, sharing about your own identity and giving a historical context for common immigration stories in your classroom community.

Help your students not only tell their stories but also to bring it to life using food, music, literature or artwork. Younger students may be better able to express their understanding of identity and family history through a creative project. Older students may want to share a homemade recipe, play recordings of music, or share a story or poetry.

Use media to broaden the horizons of your classroom

While all students have been affected by migration in one way or another, no classroom is a perfect microcosm of a diverse society. Teachers can help students understand and empathize with immigrants or members of diverse cultures by going on field trips or sharing stories using other media, such as the projects below.

• Waking Dream Series
• Green Card Voices
• ADL Children’s Literature Library

Even in a multicultural student body, it can be beneficial for teachers to share immigration stories through other mediums as it can relieve minority students from the pressure of having to act as sole ambassadors for their culture and complement their stories in a different way.

Look for Common Themes

Participants in the 2019 Immigrant Student Success online workshop had the chance to share their own family histories and look for points of commonality. Whether they were newcomers themselves or their ancestors immigrated generations ago, many stories overlapped. In almost every case of voluntary migration, the search for a better life was the driving force.

Likewise, when students are able to find common ground across cultures and across histories, it can illustrate the common fears, hopes and motivations that shape the movement of people and cultures. It can also prime students to search for common ground even if it is not immediately evident when meeting new classmates, peers and even neighbors.

These strategies can be used with students of all ages, with some modification.

Young children will have a very basic understanding of their ethnicity or family immigration story. Encourage their curiosity using songs that celebrate multicultural understanding. With older students, teachers can incorporate more involved ways to develop appreciation for diversity, such as reading novels or biographies that showcase different groups.

In this video, Federico Salas-Isnardi demonstrates how to analyze for common themes.

When all students can place their own stories and identities in the context of a common narrative instead of something that sets them apart, it fosters greater self-understanding, mutual respect and curiosity about the rest of the world.

Sign up here for more information about our annual educator online workshops and other online training opportunities.