Keynote: Osagie Imasogie
Senior Managing Partner & Founder, Phoenix IP Ventures
Philadelphia is a leader in attracting, retaining, and including immigrants, and has shown the positive economic and social impacts of being a welcoming city. Immigrants have significantly contributed to the reversal of a 60-year population decline. Philadelphia is the “City of Neighborhoods”, each with its own distinct personality and home to long-established or newly-arrived immigrant communities.
The 2016 program was highly interactive and engaging. Together, we dove into the processes and strategies that can help communities launch, grow, and expand their immigrant economic development efforts. Sessions were grouped in one of the following areas: Workforce Development, Entrepreneurship & Business, Neighborhood Development, Social Cohesion & Equity, and Organizational Capacity-Building.
In Philadelphia, the Welcoming Economies Global Network and Fiscal Policy Institute released new research which demonstrates that immigrants should be an important component of vacant and distressed housing revitalization.
The report and interactive tool show that immigrants have strong rates of potential homeownership in 23 target cities, and suggest that efforts that encourage homeownership and/or vacant property purchase could yield significant returns by targeting immigrant groups.
2016 Convening attendees participated in a series of tours on Wednesday and Thursday of five of Philly’s unique neighborhoods and the Reading Terminal Market. Browse through photos of the tours, and of the plenary and breakout sessions.
Convening speakers and panelists should upload their presentations into this WE Global Network Google folder. The presentations will be made available to all attendees.