OTAN News

Apply to Be a Part of the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program

Image from World Education Services

WES Global Talent Bridge works to help skilled immigrants and refugees in the United States and Canada fully use their educational credentials to integrate into the workforce. WES Global Talent Bridge is pleased to announce a new round of applications for the third year of its innovative Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP).

WES Global Talent Bridge is currently seeking communities interested in applying for its 2020 Program year. SIIP provides customized training, coaching, and technical assistance to advance meaningful, effective, and sustainable skilled immigrant integration initiatives at the state and local level. If selected for SIIP, the community will receive:

• Technical assistance from WES Global Talent Bridge in refining and achieving concrete outcomes (up to 12 hours of customized coaching and advising per community)

• Up to 12 hours of additional customized technical assistance per community from its national partner experts on skilled immigrant integration

• A platform to regularly collaborate with peers on immigrant professional integration, including monthly calls with WES Global Talent Bridge and participating states and/or cities to share ideas and provide updates on the progress of local efforts

• Sponsorship that provides travel and lodging reimbursement for three delegates to participate in a 2020 convening with national experts in Washington, D.C., scheduled to take place April 1-3

• Four interactive web-based training sessions with WES Global Talent Bridge and other national partners on topics related to skilled immigrant integration

• The opportunity to participate in an alumni network of communities advancing diverse skilled immigrant initiatives

Communities will be chosen based on several factors, including evidence of leadership and commitment, a robust network of multi-sector stakeholders, strength of local partnerships, commitment to supporting a rigorous program evaluation process, and strategic alignment with WES Global Talent Bridge’s mission and goals. WES Global Talent Bridge seeks to work with communities that represent a range of geographic and demographic characteristics and programmatic goals. (In the last two years, California communities Santa Clara and San Diego were selected to participate in SIIP.)

If you think your community would benefit from SIIP, please reach out to your fellow state and/or local partners to gauge interest and a willingness to participate and begin the application process. You can find a more detailed Request for Proposals here.

Communities interested in learning more about SIIP and how to apply are encouraged to join a Call for Information on Wednesday, November 13 from 2:00 - 3:00pm EST. You can register for the call here.

To apply for SIIP, submit the questionnaire in the attached Request for Proposals by November 30. Applicants will be notified of their participation by December 30.