Katherine Gebremedhin, Stacey Simon, Paul Feltman, and Debra Means of WES Global Talent Bridge and IMPRINT

On Wednesday June 29th, the White House Task Force on New Americans hosted the first-ever National Skills and Credential Institute. The Institute provided 18 delegations from 17 states the opportunity to share current best practices and to develop tools and resources to address credentialing and licensing issues that skilled immigrant and refugee professionals confront when seeking to enter the workforce.

Felicia Escobar, Special Assistant to the President for Immigration for the White House Domestic Policy Council, opened the event, which included presentations from senior federal officials including:

• Johan Uvin, Deputy Assistant Secretary, delegated the duties of Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
• Portia Wu, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor
• Mark Greenberg, Acting Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Ryan Burke, Senior Policy Advisor, National Economic Council

More than a dozen leaders from WES Global Talent Bridge and other IMPRINT member organizations served as national technical assistance partners. They were joined by numerous experts from research organizations, government, private industry and CBOs in presenting and facilitating working sessions on the following key topics:

• Navigating Occupational Licenses and Other Useful Credentials
• The Promise of Bridge Programs for Foreign-Educated Immigrants
• Supporting Labor Market Success through Accelerated/Contextualized ESL
• Exploring Competency-based Apprenticeships as a Strategy for Employing New Americans
• Improving Outcomes for Foreign-educated Immigrants and Refugees through Pay For Success Interventions
• Career Pathways

This all day event generated dynamic conversations that helped the delegations gain practical knowledge, identify partners for ongoing support, and develop strategies for strengthening the professional integration of skilled immigrants in their communities.

In order to help sustain the institute’s work, WES Global Talent Bridge and IMPRINT are hosting a half-day Skills and Credentialing workshop in Philadelphia on October 19th from 9 am to 1 pm, in association with the WE Global Network Conference starting that afternoon. The workshop will enable the delegations to re-connect, assess and share their progress and challenges, and provide technical assistance to help the teams further advance their local initiatives. Look for further details on the October convening in the weeks ahead.