Transcript Empowering Refugees in Advocacy Why do we need former refugees to exercise leadership?  Build trust with newcomers  Authentic voice on the.

Empowering Refugees in Advocacy
Why do we need former refugees to exercise leadership?
 Build trust with newcomers
 Authentic voice on the issue through power of story telling
 Create greater community understanding
 Create support for resettlement and integration
 Example of successful approaches to fostering leadership
development refugee engagement and grassroots advocacy
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
(LIRS)
LIRS is the nation’s second-largest resettlement agency,
assisting nearly 11,000 refugees each year. Since its
founding in 1939, LIRS in partnership with our local
affiliates has resettled nearly 400,000 refugees from
around the world into communities across the United
States.
Leadership Training and Advocacy
 In recent years, LIRS has celebrated World Refugee
Day by bringing together former refugee leaders for a
3-day training designed to:
 hone their leadership skills
 create opportunity for networking
 advocate for issues of concern to the broader refugee
community
 Our goal: Lift up the voices of all refugees in order to
create welcoming communities around the country
World Refugee Day Academy
 In 2014, 51 former refugee leaders
 from 23 states
 representing 16 countries of origin
 Participants
 engaged in legislative advocacy training
 met with their Members of Congress
 developed a 1-2 point action plans to take back to their
communities
LIRS Refugee Academy
 Key portions of the training sessions were led by
former refugees.
 Highlights include 114 Hill visits, meetings with the
White House and State Department.
 Local action plans with 2-3 specific efforts or activities
that the participants will undertake to address refugee
issues in their local communities.
Taking it Back Home!
Some of the participant’s Strategic Action Plans include:
 Developing a network of immigrant faith leaders
 Providing a training for refugees and allies on cultural
diversity and communication
 Creating a program to provide support for refugee
parents, including
 dispelling myths around Child Protective Services (CPS)
 teaching parents how to be advocates for their own
children in the local school system
 Organizing a food fair in the local community
 Connecting with local elected officials and businesses
Structured Support for Sustained
Engagement
 We have also developed a structure to follow up with
Academy participants. Organized within 4 regional
grouping with a team leader.
 Regular regional and national check-in calls.
 Communication tools including E-Newsletter, listserv
and Facebook page.
Organizing through
Relationships & Story-telling
 Story telling is a practiced act of Leadership.
 Refugees naturally have a great deal of
compelling story to tell.
 Key is to be selective, structured, and
intentional in story-telling
“story of self”
“story of us”
“story of now”
Lessons Learned
 No substitute for face-to-face meeting to build a
network of leaders and develop lasting relationships.
 Training is not a one-off experience. Important to
build a structure for sustained engagement.
 Create leadership opportunities for team members and
support network for their efforts.
 Be cognizant of, and respectful of, former refugees’
time and prevailing situation.
Looking Ahead
 LIRS plans to grow and expand the Academy.
 Explore more robust use of current academy
participants to plan and implement future ones.
“My greatest success has been my ability to encourage
and empower fellow refugees to have a voice”
Omar Bah, 2013 Refugee Academy Participant and
Trainer for 2014 Refugee Academy.