Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant Communities - ILRC

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Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant CommunitiesJanuary 2003Chapter 3Setting Up a Leadership or Civic ParticipationTraining Project at Your Organization§ 3.1 IntroductionThere are many considerations that go into setting up a leadership or civic participation trainingprogram at your organization. Before embarking on such a large project, one must be certain thatone’s organization is supportive of the work. Additionally, the immigrant community must bewilling to participate. Obtaining a sufficient amount of funding is always an issue as well. It isimportant to carefully pick who will be trainers in the project as well as which immigrant leaderswill participate. Logistics, such as where and when the training will be, are vital to ensuring asuccessful project. The project must have reasonable and achievable goals and outcomes. Thischapter will explain how to set up a leadership or civic participation training that yourorganization can sponsor.§ 3.2 Convincing Others of the Need for Such WorkThose of us who work with immigrants and refugees want to see them succeed in the UnitedStates. For years immigrants and refugees have been the scapegoats of politicians in the UnitedStates. Many Americans have incorrectly blamed hard working, tax paying immigrants andrefugees for some of the woes of our society. People who work with and care about immigrantsand refugees realize that such blame is mistaken. Immigrants and refugees also realize that suchblame is mistaken. Others in the society use this blame as a way to deny the success ofimmigrants and refugees and make it more difficult for immigrants and refugees to succeed.Thus, immigrants, refugees and advocates realize that for immigrants and refugees to overcomethese obstacles they need to gain power and voice—a term used in this curriculum to meanmaking the ideas and concerns of individuals and their communities heard and respected byAmericans in general, and decision-makers in particular.The future of immigrant and refugee power and voice lies in immigrant and refugee leadershipand civic participation campaigns. Although some organizations provide leadership training,generally the training is focused on middle class or professional native-born activists withimmigrant roots. There is not as much leadership training available for other immigrants andrefugees. The logical organizations to provide such training are the same organizations thathelped the immigrants and refugees settle in the United States, obtain their green cards andcitizenship status, and reunite their families. Immigrants and refugees trust these organizationsmore than other institutions. Yet few of these organizations work on leadership or civicengagement issues because they lack the expertise, resources and even sometimes the inclinationor recognition of the need for such trainings. The result has been that organizations that havedevoted so much of their energy and resources to improving the status and welfare of immigrantsand refugees are missing an exciting and powerful opportunity to help immigrants and refugeesgain the skills they need to make their voices heard and increase their power in American3-1
Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant CommunitiesJanuary 2003society. This training curriculum can provide the service and advocacy organizations with theknowledge they need to implement a leadership and civic participation program that couldchange forever the immigrants and refugees with whom they work.Although it does take time and money to successfully carry out a quality leadership program, therewards are always worth it. Such programs also can provide a solid avenue that manyorganizations have not yet tapped to raise money for projects.§ 3.3 Where to Obtain Funding for a Leadership and Civic Participation ProgramLeadership training and civic participation programs are becoming increasingly popular withinthe world of foundation philanthropy. More and more program officers at foundations arebeginning to realize that immigrants and refugees are part of our society, mixing with,influencing and being influenced by other cultures in the United States. Funders are coming torecognize the massive disparity in income, education, power and voice between native-born andimmigrants and refugees. Thus many funders are providing more money than they have in thepast to projects that encourage immigrant and refugee civic engagement and leadership training.Organizations that are seeking funding for leadership and civic participation activities shouldapproach all sorts of foundations. There are many good directories to research foundations. TheFoundation Center, with branches in Atlanta, Cleveland, New York, San Francisco, andWashington, D.C., houses a vast array of information on foundations. Besides the main branches,there are many cooperating collections throughout the country—funding information centers inlibraries, community foundations and other nonprofit resource centers that provide a corecollection of Foundation Center publications and a variety of supplementary materials andservices. Visit fdncenter.org to find a location near you or to access many online materials andlinks to numerous foundation websites.While many national, local and community foundations are presently interested in leadership andcivic participation activities, it is also important to be creative and flexible. Look for ways tomake your work interesting to a funder that does not sponsor “immigrant civic participation,” perse. For example, if your project will ultimately strengthen public schools or increaseemployability of participants, then talk about building immigrant leadership as a means to thosegoals. It will open up many new doorways to potential funding partners.Additionally, large corporations or local businesses that employee immigrants or refugees can begood sources of support. Remember that these contributors are motivated by “enlightened selfinterest,”so you will want to show them how your work benefits them. How will your workincrease the pool of qualified employees for local business or the purchasing power of customersor some other community outcome of concern to the business sector? How will your projectcreate a good public image for business funding partners? Consider inviting members of thebusiness community or other special guests to observe your project in action. Getting people tosee your work first hand, and getting them excited by it, are the first steps toward gaining theirsupport.Even private individual donors can be moved to make donations for special projects such asleadership and civic participation work, especially responding to heightened xenophobia in the3-2
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