Fund Joins Toronto’s Workforce Funder Collaborative

Thursday February 11, 2021

In 2020, the WES Mariam Assefa Fund joined Toronto’s Workforce Funder Collaborative (TWFC) alongside six other philanthropic funders: The Counselling Foundation of Canada, JPMorgan Chase, Metcalf Foundation, Ontario Trillium Foundation, United Way Greater Toronto, and TD Bank Group. This newly formed collaborative, the …

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How the IRC’s Center for Economic Opportunity Is Making Finance More Inclusive

Friday February 5, 2021

Charles, a client of IRC’s Center for Economic Opportunity. Photo courtesy of IRC-CEO. Access to banking and financial services enables economic mobility. However, many refugees and immigrants in the United States face barriers to affordable financing, especially when they are new to the …

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Driving Capital into the Immigrant-Serving Sector: 8 Key Takeaways from our Twitter Chat

Wednesday January 27, 2021

On December 15, World Education Services (WES) brought immigrant serving-organizations together for a Twitter chat to discuss funding for and investing in organizations and solutions that enable immigrants and refugees to thrive. The conversation focused on how to drive more capital toward creating …

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Storytelling for Social Impact: Tools and Resources

Friday January 8, 2021

This fall, the WES Mariam Assefa Fund and the Tarsadia Foundation hosted a three-part webinar series, Storytelling for Social Impact. The series was offered to all who applied to the Opportunity Challenge: $1 Million to Uplift Immigrant Communities, a joint, open grantmaking initiative …

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How Our Partners Inspired Us in 2020

Tuesday December 22, 2020

As we wind down the final weeks of the year, the WES Mariam Assefa Fund team is reflecting on all that we’ve learned and holding on to the inspiration and hope that will carry us into the new year. The year 2020 has …

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The Welcoming Center on Engaging Immigrant Talent: Learning From a Shared Dialogue

Monday December 21, 2020

This piece originally appeared on the Welcoming Center’s website on November 25, 2020 and is cross posted here with permission. The Welcoming Center is a grantee partner of the WES Mariam Assefa Fund.  Our world is collectively experiencing a pandemic as well as …

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Fund Announces First Impact Investments to Support the Success of Immigrant and Refugee Workers

Tuesday December 15, 2020

NEW YORK — (Dec. 15, 2020) — The WES Mariam Assefa Fund today announced impact investments of $750,000 to ensure that immigrants and refugees in the United States have access to the tools and capital they need to acquire digital and other job-related …

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What to Look Forward to at the 2020 National Immigrant Integration Conference

Friday December 4, 2020

Every year, leaders, advocates, and organizations that support immigrants and refugees across the United States gather at the National Immigrant Integration Conference (NIIC). The NIIC is organized by the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), one of the WES Mariam Assefa Fund’s grantee …

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Inclusive Action for the City Discusses Lending in a Pandemic

Wednesday December 2, 2020

By Maribel Garcia + Andrea Avila, Inclusive Action for the City  This piece originally appeared on Inclusive Action’s website on November 18, 2020 and is cross posted here with permission. Inclusive Action is a grantee partner of the WES Mariam Assefa Fund.  It’s …

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Opportunity Challenge Spotlight Video: Worker Cooperatives

Monday November 30, 2020

In early March, the Opportunity Challenge, a joint grantmaking initiative of the WES Mariam Assefa Fund and the Tarsadia Foundation, sought to identify solutions to create an inclusive economy in the U.S.—one that addresses the supports that immigrants need to achieve economic mobility.  …

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