Clinton School student Kate Raum of Joplin, Mo. recently worked with Welcoming America, a national nonprofit organization, to complete a report of case studies examining innovative strategies for creating welcoming communities in the United States.
Welcoming America is a grassroots-driven collaborative based in Atlanta that works to create communities where native-born Americans can understand and appreciate their foreign-born neighbors. The project comes at a time when many communities are experiencing demographic and cultural changes from an influx of foreign-born immigrants and refugees.
Currently, there is little research available on the effectiveness of local programs designed to promote welcoming initiatives. However, Welcoming America has found that the most effective ways to encourage a community to be welcoming of immigrants are through local leadership development, strategic media communication and public engagement. The case studies Raum completed offer a qualitative analysis of nine projects in the three focal areas.
“Kate’s report on innovations in the field is a useful resource for other communities that are engaging in welcoming work,” said David Lubell executive director of Welcoming America.
Raum’s report complements Welcoming America’s recently released Receiving Communities Toolkit and receiving communities report, which are available at www.receivingcommunities.org.
Raum’s collaboration with Welcoming America is one of three required field service projects she has completed in the Clinton School’s Master of Public Service program.
The program is designed to provide students with leadership skills and expertise for careers in nonprofit, government, and private sector service work.