MAY 2022: IMMIGRATION
Take me to:
Program Day
Date: Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Time: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Location: TSNE MissionWorks 89 South Street, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02111
Transportation Information:
MBTA (recommended): TSNE is located a 3-minute walk from South Station.
Parking: There is some street parking available. There is also a pay lot located directly in front of the building at 2 Financial Center.
Objectives
Our objectives are to
- Understand inequities, challenges, and opportunities related to immigration in Boston
- Reflect on and discuss what work, resources, and tools are utilized or needed to drive change in the area of immigration.
- Engage with fellow participants, facilitators, moderators, and/or guests in discussions, networking, and activities.
- Name how immigration inequities relate to your workplace and what you could do to create a more inclusive organization.
Agenda
- 9:00 Welcome & Opening Discussion
- 9:30 City of Boston’s Approach to Immigration
- Expert Speaker: Chief Mariangely Solis Cervera, Chief of Equity & Inclusion, City of Boston
- Break
- 11:00 Immigrant Rights & Advocacy
- Expert Speaker: Elizabeth Sweet, Executive Director, MIRA (Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition)
- 12:00 Lunch Provided
- 1:00 Fast Fact Freeze & Share
- 2:00 Core Principles Part 1: Exercise
- Break
- 2:00 Core Principles Part 2: Small group work
- 3:00 Immigration equity in the workplace
- 4:00 May Leadership Commitment Prep Group Presentation
- 4:45 Closing & Survey
- 5:00 End
Program day will be followed by our optional 5:05 gathering for socializing and networking!
Pre-work
Complete the following readings before our program day:
- Boston Indicators, Changing Faces of Immigration to Massachusetts – Read the article and explore the interactive map by adjusting the years. Pay especial attention to how immigration to Massachusetts has changed over the last few decades (7 min read, 13 min interacting with map)
- Boston Business Journal, Editorial: Immigrants are key to Mass. political, economic power (PDF)(5 min)
- Review this history of US immigration timeline https://immigrationhistory.org/timeline/ (30 min)
- May Data Gathering Pre-work
OPTIONAL immigration related resources for further learning:
- From MOIA: USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration & the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, Opening Minds, Opening Doors, Opening Communities: Cities Leading for Immigrant Integration
- From MOIA: “A Vision for Immigration Action: Local Leaders’ Recommendations for Building Inclusive, Equitable, and Resilient Communities for All“
- Watch Harvest of Empire The Untold Story of Latinos in America – This documentary discusses the direct connection between the long history of U.S. intervention in Latin America and the immigration challenges we face today.
Module 3: Patterns of Oppression
Watch Module 3, Patterns of Oppression (6:28). As you watch the video, take notes and pause at the posed questions to write your own notes.
Once you’ve finished the video, share your response to the Post & Share question below.
Post & Share: Write up a situation you encounter involving a pattern(s) in your workplace that you wish you had responded to or responded to differently. This can be a pattern you witnessed or one you realized you enacted. *Please protect privacy of individuals.
Expert Speakers
Chief Mariangely Solis Cervera, Director of Equity and Inclusion, Boston Mayor’s Office of Economic Development
Mariangely Solis Cervera is the proud daughter of a Puertorican father from Carolina and an immigrant mother from Mérida, Yucatán who from an early age taught her that “si caben 5, caben 6” (if 5 people fit, we can fit 6) – a lesson that she has taken with her in every step of her career and personal life. As a former ESL teacher, curriculum developer and coach, Solis Cervera comes with over seven years of experience in English Language Learning, Social and Emotional Learning, and issues of equity and access for 1st generation families in the education system. Previously, Solis Cervera served on Mayor Wu’s campaign as the Constituency Director, where she developed and implemented accessible, culturally competent community engagement strategies within traditionally neglected communities in the electoral system.
In 2019, Solis Cervera served as a Rappaport Fellow at the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement, where she researched the challenges that children from mixed-status families face in Boston Public Schools through community and family centered focus groups. That experience along with her time serving as a Boston Aspiring Latino Fellow at Latinos for Education shaped her desire to build roots in Boston and pivot into a career of building systems-level change through government work. Solis Cervera holds a M.Ed. in Education Policy and Management from Harvard Graduate School of Education, an M.Ed in Teacher Leadership from University of St. Thomas, and a BA in Sociology and Spanish from Mount St. Mary’s University.
When she is not working, you can find Mariangely playing fetch with her cat (it’s possible!), or hosting friends over for a home cooked meal, dialogue and most likely a round of Mario Kart.
Elizabeth Sweet, Executive Director, Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA)
Elizabeth Sweet is the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA). MIRA’s mission is to advance the rights and integration of immigrants and refugees in Massachusetts and beyond. MIRA works to build a Commonwealth where immigrants and refugees feel welcome and empowered to fully participate in economic, social and civic life.
Sweet brings to MIRA an 18-year record of advocating for immigrants and refugees. For the past six years, she served in senior leadership roles at HIAS, most recently as its Chief Operating Officer.
A graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, Sweet set out to defend immigrants and asylum seekers in immigration detention during their deportation hearings. She later became the first full-time Director of the American Bar Association Immigration Justice Project in San Diego and then the Associate Director of the American Bar Commission on Immigration in Washington, DC.