Stories
Rwandan Refugee Expands Immigrant-Focused Newspaper into Buffalo-Based Non-Profit
Shortly after Rwandan refugee Rubens Mukunzi began publishing a newspaper about immigrant and refugee life, he got a visit from the Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Kriner Cash. “He was very excited to have the newspaper, Karibu News, as a voice for refugees and immigrants in Buffalo Public Schools,”… Read More
Argentinian Immigrant Credits Boston with Enabling Business Success
Jonathan Thon, an Argentine native, first came to the Boston area in 2008 to complete a Harvard Medical School postdoc, and stayed on to become an Assistant Professor there. He knew that platelets, the cells that promote clotting, had enormous commercial and medical potential, and so in 2014, Thon… Read More
New York State Assemblyman Reflects on Immigrant Legacy in New York City
When Ron Kim’s family immigrated to the United States from South Korea in 1987, his parents chose to settle in New York City because they knew it had a strong immigrant community. Kim, who was seven years old at the time, explains that this community provided the family with… Read More
Polish Immigrant Gives Back to Community that Welcomed Her
By the time she moved to Fort Wayne in 1998, Polish native Ewelina Connolly had already visited the city several times with the dance troupe in which she performed. On one of these trips, she fell in love with an American. But when they decided to marry, Connolly faced a… Read More
Self-Taught Immigrant and Accountant Has Long Considered Fort Wayne Home
Ning Sanderson grew up in small town in Thailand, hours from her single mother, who worked in Bangkok for the hospitality sector. Then, when she was 13, her mom married an American civil engineer, and the family moved to Saudi Arabia for his job. Since their new Saudi town lacked… Read More
Mexican Immigrant and Community Leader Appointed to Indiana Statewide Commission
The youngest of three in the Galindo family and at the age of 15, Palermo Galindo left behind Mexico— with his mother’s blessing—in search of greater opportunities in the United States. He joined his father, who was already living and working as a land surveyor in San Antonio, but the… Read More
New Americans in Alexandria
A new report from New American Economy (NAE) shows that immigrants in the City of Alexandria paid $364.6 million in taxes in 2016, including $262.4 million in federal taxes and $102.2 million in state and local taxes. The report was produced in partnership with the City of Alexandria Workforce Development… Read More
Afghan Immigrant Studies to Become a Professor While Serving Her Community Along the Way
When 12-year-old Sophia Aimen Sexton lived in Pakistan as a refugee after fleeing Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan War, she watched a lot of Clint Eastwood movies. “I thought when we arrived in America, they would give me a horse and I’d be a cowgirl in the desert,” recalls Sexton. The reality was much different. In 1983, when Sexton’s family was resettled… Read More
Economist Escapes Ethiopia to Start Own Business in the U.S.
In his native Ethiopia, where he’d earned an economics degree and held a government job calculating GDP statistics, Mahfuz Mummed faced a quandary. He’d given eight years of loyal service when his bosses began pressuring his department to falsify data. Mummed watched as colleagues who protested faced violent reprisals. “I… Read More
Ethiopian Immigrant Fulfills Her Dream of Owning a Business
Rhoda Worku was a college student in Ethiopia when civil war broke out. Her father, a high-ranking member of the government, was executed and her mother was imprisoned. Eventually, Worku’s mother was released but life barely improved. “We didn’t have anything,” Worku says. “The government took everything from us.” In… Read More
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