Stories
Naturalized Citizen from Somalia Employs 50 in Minneapolis Restaurants
Abdirahman Kahin came to the United States in 1996 seeking asylum from Somalia. Today, he is a successful entrepreneur and the owner of Afro Deli, a fast-casual restaurant that serves a fusion of African, Mediterranean, and American food, with two locations in Minneapolis. He also co-owns Campus Cafe, a Turkish… Read More
Entrepreneur Couple from Albania Spreads Good Will Through Coffee
The chance of winning the diversity visa lottery is bitterly low—about one percent. Mateo Hodo’s family won the lottery, granting them U.S. residency, in 2002, and moved from Albania to Michigan and, later, Maine. Alba Zakja won the lottery in 2009, and moved to Maine to be near Mateo,… Read More
Chicago Business Leader, Grandson of Italian Immigrant, Advocates for Restaurant Workers Across Illinois
Sam Toia, a third-generation Italian-American, whose grandfather emigrated from Sicily in the 1920’s, is deeply embedded in Chicago’s culinary world. As President & CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA), he advocates on behalf of the industry and its workers. In the state of Illinois alone, there are more… Read More
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
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
Bolivian Immigrant Proud to Serve His New Country’s Air Force
Growing up in La Paz, Bolivia, Fernando Torrez was fascinated with American super hero cartoons. In 1996, when he was 12, his parents brought him and his older sister to Colorado in search of the American dream. There, he encountered real-life American heroes: cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Read More
Mexican Immigrant Builds Automotive Business from the Group Up
Joaquin Cordero met his wife while working in Cancun, and moved with her in 1998 to Boise, her hometown. He had earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in Mexico, but did not have U.S. licensure and spoke only Spanish. So he went to work as an auto technician. “When… Read More
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