Starting your career over in a new country with different requirements, customs, and vocabularies can be an intimidating endeavor. That’s why Global Talent brings together New American job seekers and local business professionals for a day of networking and interview practice.

Global Talent’s most recent Career Summit took place March 17 at the College of Western Idaho in Boise, sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Two dozen Idaho business professionals came together to network with and coach 10 Global Talent job seekers from countries including Mexico, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Columbia.

Job seekers went through multiple rounds of practice interviews for a hypothetical job in their field, whether that be education or management, engineering, or filmmaking.

Teachers from the English Language Center in Boise will present in Portland this month at the TESOL 2023 International Convention & English Language Expo, the largest professional development event of its kind.

The staff will share their success in using WhatsApp to virtually teach students, many of whom don't have easy access to Wi-Fi, computers or transportation.

The English Language Center serves adults coming to Boise through refugee resettlement, and access to a computer or a vehicle is often a challenge. WhatsApp, a free and widely used smartphone messaging app, has proved to be a valuable tool even now that classes have switched to a hybrid model.

“Many of our students didn’t even have a smartphone or own their own cellphone at all before they came here,” said ELC Curriculum Coordinator Devon Jancin. “So the lack of technology access is a huge problem with online learning, and our presentation is giving direct solutions for how to bridge that gap.”
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Students have given positive feedback, too.

“WhatsApp helps me learn English online because it’s good for listening," ELC student Abdul said. "I can repeat again and again.”

The English Language Center, a program of the Idaho Office of Refugees in Boise, is pleased to welcome two new teachers, Lila Lake and Rylee Godfrey!

Lila Lake earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Boise State University in 2015 and has been working with students ever since. She spent eight years as a high school English teacher in the Treasure Valley and has taught everything from creative writing to a business writing workshop. Her favorite thing about teaching being part of a community of learners and watching her students’ confidence grow! She couldn’t be more thrilled to join the English Language Center to continue her teaching journey. When she isn’t teaching, Lila can be found hiking in the foothills, learning how to sew her own clothes, and traveling.

New Welcome Corps Program
The U.S. State Department has announced a major pilot program that will expand private sponsorship of refugees.

The new Welcome Corps program, a public-private partnership, will make it possible for everyday Americans and institutions to privately sponsor refugees from across the world in search of safety in the U.S. 

The Idaho Office for Refugees welcomes new team members Nawid Mousa and Anna Galitsyna.

Nawid will be managing the Ethnic Community Self-Help Program to support the Afghan community in Idaho. The program aims to open an Afghan cultural center in the Treasure Valley in the first half of 2023.

Anna is our new Operations Coordinator. Her organizational skills and attention to detail will streamline our operations and help build stronger connections with our grantees and partners. 

We are beyond grateful to KeyBank for their generous grant of $200,000. The funding will support refugee and immigrant farmers and business professionals in our Global Gardens and Global Talent programs.

For example, we'll now be able to expand our Global Gardens community garden and launch a business-focused English class for our Global Talent job seekers.

"We're so excited to have support from KeyBank to really address needs that we've seen over the years," said Hannah Roche, manager of Global Talent. "For example, we will be creating a business English class for Global Talent participants that will increase their ability to thrive in the workplace.”

"With this grant we will be developing the community garden, which is in Boise city limits and also in a low-income area," said Rabiou Manzo, who managed Global Gardens for the past three seasons. "That will provide fresh vegetables to people and produce less greenhouse gases. Farmers will learn techniques to increase yield and decrease food waste. We are hoping this will increase racial and financial equity for refugee farmers in Idaho."

Read the full press release here, and check out the feature in the Idaho Press' Town Talk. 

Najib Amani worked with the U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan for eight years in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. While he was flying missions, his wife was serving a mission of her own. Najib’s wife is an educator with a special passion to educate Afghan girls and women.

After the fall of Afghanistan in the 2021, Najib followed orders to evacuate his plane out of the country. The cost of that order was leaving his wife and their two children behind. Najib’s wife kept teaching, in person and on Zoom. Teaching is her life’s mission.

Since 2021, the Taliban has restricted the rights of women and girls to attend school. In March of this year, the Taliban denied education for girls above 6th grade. In December of 2022, the Taliban extended that edict to women and girls attending public and private universities.

Najib brought the Boise community together on Dec. 22 on the steps of the Idaho State Capitol to stand for his wife, daughter, and all women of Afghanistan. He is joining with Afghan and human rights advocates internationally to demand, “Let the Afghan girls go to school!” 

Najib said he does not think it is fair that his son should be able to receive an education while his daughter should stay home, the Idaho Statesman reported, and he will continue to voice his support for women in his home nation, even from afar.