Stories
UK Immigrant Brings Diverse Voices, and a New Aladdin, to Hollywood
When Walt Disney Pictures released the animated feature “Aladdin” in 1992, the movie was criticized for its stereotypical portrayal of Arab culture. Now, to ensure that its upcoming live-action version is authentic and nuanced, Disney has turned to an immigrant entrepreneur named Marya Bangee, the owner of SILA Consulting. The name of the company, which… Read More
Once Undocumented, Mexican Salon Owner Wants to Prove Immigrants Make a Difference
Mexican immigrant Estela Nava has owned a hair salon on the South Side of Chicago for 30 years. Every day she tends to her clients’ needs for haircuts, color treatments, and perms. For Nava, who came to Chicago as an undocumented immigrant at age 17, owning her own business means… Read More
After Years Without Her Own Son, Peruvian Designer Calls on Washington to Pass the Dream Act
When Flor Cabello was starting her interior-decoration company in Westchester County, New York, she heard the word “no” a lot. Friends said her Peruvian accent and heritage would be off-putting to many of the area’s U.S.-born upper-middle-class residents — that is, her target clientele. Bank after bank refused to give… Read More
Iraq War Vet: Immigrants Critical to Fargo’s Growth
Around the 2016 presidential election, when some politicians in North Dakota introduced anti-immigration bills, the Fargo City Council and local business community pushed back. The reason: The city’s economic health depends on new Americans. “We have between 5,000 and 8,000 open jobs in Fargo-Moorhead, and we can’t honestly afford to… Read More
Massachusetts Tech Giant Once Couldn’t Get Hired. Why? The Visa System
When Amar Sawhney came from India in 1987 to study chemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin), he had little but the few hundred dollars his mother had given him after selling her jewelry. Three decades later, he is a successful researcher, inventor, and serial entrepreneur who… Read More
Dreamer Builds a Successful Life in New York After Mother’s Deportation
Angel Reyes Rivas, the co-founder of a thriving technology company, has sacrificed more than most to become an educated, middle-class professional. When he was in high school, his mother was pulled over for driving without a license. As an undocumented immigrant from Peru, she was handed over to Immigration and… Read More
‘Border Kid’ Combines Cultures — and Creates Jobs — Through Cupcakes
When Karina Jiménez was laid off from an office job in 2011, she decided to jump into entrepreneurship with a niche dessert business called Viva Los Cupcakes. She had already been selling cupcakes as a side business at bars, parties, concerts, and art openings in Los Angeles, a 30-minute driver… Read More
California Student Uses DACA Status To Start a Business
As soon as Ovier Alvarez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was granted the right to legally work in the United States, he started a photography business. Alvarez is a Dreamer, one of roughly 800,000 who has so far received protection under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a 2012 policy… Read More
Ecuadoran Businessman Helps New Americans Prosper in Northern California
As executive director of Canal Alliance, a nonprofit in San Rafael, California, Omar Carrera leads work that helps some 5,000 new Americans a year successfully integrate into their new country. “We can save lives because we can break the cycle of poverty, one family at a time,” says Carrera. who… Read More
Venezuelan Fulbright Scholar Brings Soulful Food to Baltimore
In 2015, when Irena Stein opened Alma Cocina Latina in Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood, the food world took notice. “The best restaurant to open for years in the Southeast Baltimore neighborhood,” said The Baltimore Sun. The Washington Post told readers they should “prepare to be dazzled” by both the Venezuelan cuisine… Read More
Make a contribution
Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
