Annual campaign showcases “Stories We Share” theme through more than 1,600 events
Decatur, GA, USA – Communities across the globe are choosing connection over division through Welcoming Week (September 12-21, 2025), an annual campaign and celebration to showcase the movement of communities striving to be more welcoming places for all, including immigrants.
Welcoming Week, led by Welcoming America and implemented in partnership with organizations worldwide, will spotlight the power of storytelling through more than 1,600 events in Australia, Canada, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United States. Local leaders and residents are stepping forward with unprecedented solidarity to show how inclusion creates stronger, safer neighborhoods for everyone.
Rachel Perić, executive director of Welcoming America, said: “In moments of national reflection and challenge, Welcoming Week is a reminder that the choice to love our neighbor is a moral choice that transcends politics. Whether we’ve just arrived or been here for generations, our communities work best when we build trust and thrive together.”
Global Movement Reaches New Heights
The 2025 campaign, now in its 13th year, builds on record-breaking momentum. Last year saw over 2,000 events across eight countries, demonstrating communities’ commitment to fostering more welcoming places for all, including immigrants.
New international partnerships and rural community engagement signal the movement’s expanding reach, showing how immigrant inclusion strengthens local economies and builds social cohesion.
This year’s expansion includes Welcoming Week in Italy for the first time through Sale della Terra’s community-led cooperatives that are strengthening rural areas. 2025 marks the first national Welcoming Week in all of Europe.
This year’s campaign theme — “Stories We Share” — recognizes storytelling as a way to humanize neighbors who are too often reduced to statistics or stereotypes. Communities are creating spaces for neighbors, whether they arrived yesterday or generations ago, to discover common ground through shared experiences.
From citizenship workshops to neighborhood potlucks, Welcoming Week events reflect each locality’s character and needs, including:
- Welcoming Forest Planting, Ngawaro, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
- Fermenting Stories: From Kraut to Kimchi, Renton, Washington, USA
- StoryFruit: The Good Neighbour Edition, Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
- Community Cooperatives, Santa Paolina, Avellino, Italy
- Historias Que Florecen, Cadereyta, Nuevo León, Mexico
- Community Dinner, Kilburn, South Australia, Australia
- Welcoming Week Garden Soiree: Stories We Share, San Jose, California, USA
Proven Path Forward
Research consistently shows welcoming communities experience stronger economic growth, increased civic participation, and greater social trust. As localities address challenges like workforce development and population decline, the welcoming approach offers concrete solutions that benefit all residents.
Welcoming Week 2025 is proudly sponsored by One Percent for America, an organization dedicated to breaking down financial barriers to U.S. citizenship by offering one percent interest loans for U.S. citizenship application fees, and Re-Imagining Migration, which transforms educators and the educational ecosystem by leveraging schools, museums, and other educational spaces to promote belonging.
This year’s official partners for Welcoming Week span diverse countries, sectors, and communities: Alianza Americas, Alianza FC México (Comunalia), American Immigration Council, American Library Association, ANVITA, Civity, Community Foundations Leading Change, Connecting Communities in the Americas, Consorzio Sale della Terra, Define American, Global Parliament of Mayors, Green Card Voices, Immigration New Zealand, Local Coalition for Migrants and Refugees, Migration Youth and Children Platform, National LIP Secretariat, National Partnership for New Americans, Race Forward, Re-Imagining Migration, Refugee Advocacy Lab, Refugee Congress, Rural Assembly, SoliCity, USAHello, USCRI Mexico, Welcoming Australia, and YMCA of the USA.
Visit welcomingweek.org/events and use the search tool to find Welcoming Week events closest to your community.
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About Welcoming Week
Welcoming Week is an annual campaign and celebration to showcase the movement of communities striving to be more welcoming places for all, including immigrants. Launched in 2012 by Welcoming America and its members, Welcoming Week is now a global campaign providing individuals and communities the opportunity to proclaim welcoming values through events and local initiatives that foster mutual understanding between immigrants and non-immigrants, as well as deeper belonging for all. Learn more at welcomingweek.org.
About Welcoming America and Welcoming International
Welcoming America is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that leads a movement of inclusive communities becoming more prosperous by ensuring everyone belongs. Welcoming International fosters and connects welcoming communities across the globe by bringing together civil society and government institutions that advance inclusion and belonging at the local level. Learn more at welcomingamerica.org and welcominginternational.org.
Media Contact
Leslie Nguyen-Okwu, leslie@welcomingamerica.org