Each immigrant community faces its own unique employment obstacles. For immigrants of the African and Haitian diaspora, a persistent challenge is “brain drain” – the underemployment of professionals with foreign degrees and high-caliber work experience. To address this disparity, the
Like many new immigrants, Supinah Hodges was excited to start her first job in the United States. She had learned some English, taken computer classes, and finally gotten a job at a Dunkin Donuts in Cambridge. The hourly wages surpassed
It’s only natural for a teacher to wonder how her students use their knowledge in the real world, or what becomes of them after graduation. English instructor Lisa Garrone doesn’t have to wonder too hard. She can often just pop
Ruben Colon was hard at work in the packaging department of the Piantedosi Baking Company when the company’s co-owner, Bob Piantedosi, happened through. He stopped to ask Colon about his family and learned he had two daughters. “You have no
The American dream, like most dreams, can be a hazy thing. But Alice Mei and Terry Li came to the United States with a precise vision for their future: They wanted to open a coffee shop. They had done it
For these night students – from countries like China, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia – American life is a riddle wrapped in a stranger riddle: the English language. What does it mean to “get” the door? Why is “pants” plural? And
On a warm Moroccan night in May 2015, Khalid Bachir looked at his computer screen and screamed for joy. It was midnight. His mother, father and twin brother awoke, startled, in the house they shared. Bachir stared disbelievingly at his
When you’re at a disadvantage in the workforce, it can be easy to give up hope for anything better. At the start of the most recent cycle of the “ESL for Customer Service” training program at Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center,
While Boston’s newest skyscraper, the Millennium Tower, rose higher in Downtown Crossing, the fortunes of Jian “Jenny” Zhen Lao in nearby Chinatown fell further. An immigrant from Guangzhou, China, Lao was laid off in 2015 and spent the better part
When he first arrived in the United States 10 years ago, Richard Mutyabule made ends meet for his family by taking a job as a pathology research assistant. For some, it might have been a decent job. But Mutyabule had