Inspiring change: Reflections on welcoming newcomers into rural communities in Australia and the United States

by Welcoming International | Mar 31, 2023 | Australia, In the News, Stories

Participants of the 2022 Rural Communities Welcoming Exchange at the Welcoming Interactive. From left to right: Ricardo Esqueda, Yazmin Molina, Kylie Lee, and Natalia Muszkat. Photo credit: Natalia Muszkat In May 2022, thanks to support from the multinational...

U.S., Australian participants selected for exchange program between rural communities

by Welcoming International | Feb 23, 2023 | Australia, In the News

As part of Welcoming America’s continued work in fostering rural leadership in welcoming and inclusion, we are thrilled to announce the 16 participants selected for the forthcoming Rural Welcoming Communities Exchange program (RWCE): U.S. participants: Celeste Koppe...

Q&A with Sebastian Geers & Bel Schenk

by Vanja | May 3, 2020 | Australia

Sebastian Geers Manager, Welcoming Cities Bel Schenk Coordinatior (Victoria), Welcoming Cities Q: How do you encourage local governments to work with you? A: In Australia we see ourselves as a settler nation. Around 25% of people were born overseas, and a further 25%...

Q&A with Ashleigh Brand

by Vanja | May 2, 2020 | Australia

Ashleigh Brand Project Leader of the Kaleidoscope Initiative for the City of Stirling Q: How did the Kaleidoscope Initiative change your local ecosystem? A: When we started two and a half years ago, we realised that many of our local businesses weren’t accessing or...

Conversation with Mehrnoosh Alemi

by Vanja | May 1, 2020 | Australia

Mehrnoosh Alemi Senior Process Engineer Mehrnoosh Alemi had 12 years of engineering experience in Iran, but she was unable to find work after arriving in Australia. She joined the Kaleidoscope Mentoring Program (KMP) in August 2019 and found a job in the oil and gas...