WASHINGTON — The Migration Policy Institute’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy today announced the winners of its 2013 E Pluribus Unum Prizes for exceptional immigrant integration initiatives. This year’s prizes honor the nation’s first adult-focused charter school for cutting-edge adult basic education and workforce training programs that have helped tens of thousands of immigrants and refugees in Washington, D.C.; a Minnesota non-profit that works to revitalize low-income neighborhoods in the Twin Cities by empowering immigrant entrepreneurs to transform their local economy from within; and a Massachusetts coalition that is coordinating efforts of a wide range of community, government and business partners to help immigrants and refugees contribute more fully to the economic, civic and social fabric of the Commonwealth. Each winner is being given a $50,000 award.
The E Pluribus Unum Corporate Leadership Award goes to a national not-for-profit health plan that has been in the vanguard of efforts over the past decade to create innovative, scalable approaches that address the linguistic and cultural needs of patients, and thereby improve overall health-care quality and outcomes.
The E Pluribus Unum winners reflect the diversity of actors in the public and private sectors that are involved in immigrant integration efforts at the state and local levels. The winners will be honored tonight during an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. featuring a keynote address by Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, author of the recent Still Dreaming: My Journey from the Barrio to Capitol Hill.
The prizes program, established by MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy with generous support from the J.M. Kaplan Fund, seeks to encourage the adoption of effective integration practices and to inspire others to take on the important work of integrating immigrants and their children so they can become full participants in U.S. society.
The E Pluribus Unum winners (click on links for more detail about each initiative) are:
“We are honored to be able to recognize some of the most exceptional work that is being done across the United States to help immigrants build their new lives. The success of immigration ultimately turns on immigrants and their children becoming full participants in the economic and civic life of the United States,” said Margie McHugh, co-director of MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy. “Many thousands of dedicated and savvy groups and individuals support today’s immigrants and refugees with the process of integration and it is truly exciting to be able to shine a spotlight on those that rose to the top of this year’s competition.”
Said MPI Senior Vice President Michael Fix, who co-directs the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy: “Our award winners demonstrate through their innovative, proven and replicable programs that they are many effective ways to promote the success of newcomers and their families in the classroom, workplace and broader society.”
Profiles, videos and more information about the honorees can be found at www.integrationawards.org.
For more information or to set up interviews with award winners, please contact Michelle Mittelstadt at 202-266-1910 or [email protected].
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The Migration Policy Institute is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank in Washington, DC dedicated to the study of the movement of people worldwide. MPI provides analysis, development and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at the local, national and international levels. Its National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy is a crossroads for policymakers, state and local agency managers, local service providers and others seeking to respond to the challenges and opportunities today’s high rates of immigration create in local communities. For more on MPI, visit www.migrationpolicy.org.