Welcoming Week Celebrates Cleveland’s Past and Future

Global Cleveland invites residents of Northeast Ohio to celebrate Welcoming Week, September 15 to 24, by participating in events and activities that recognize the region’s International Newcomer heritage and the cultures shaping our future.

Welcoming Week is celebrated each fall by hundreds of communities coast to coast under the guidance of Welcoming America, a non-profit group that promotes multicultural inclusion. Global Cleveland is proud to co-sponsor three events that capture the spirit of the week.

On September 15, we will help The City Club welcome Kavita Pawria-Sanchez, the Assistant Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of International Newcomer Affairs  for the City of New York, to its 2017 Constitution Day Forum. She will speak about the power of citizenship at a noon luncheon. (For reservations, go to www.cityclub.org.)

Pawria-Sanchez oversees efforts to advance International Newcomer inclusion across city government. International Newcomers comprise more than 35 percent of the population of New York City and more than half of it small business owners. In contrast, Cleveland is about 5 percent foreign born.

Her office credits International Newcomers with boosting entrepreneurship, revitalizing neighborhoods, and making New York competitive in the global tech economy.

“Naturalization and citizenship is important, not just for the individuals who live here but also for the economic vitality of the city as a whole,” said Jazmin Long, who leads naturalization initiatives at Global Cleveland. “New York has shown that International Newcomers can be successfully integrated into a city, to everyone’s benefit.”

Joe Cimperman, the president of Global Cleveland, thinks Cleveland would see similar results.

“Our International Newcomer ancestors set the foundation for this great city,” he said. “We’re not New York City, but we’re still an outstanding destination for International Newcomers. We have a high quality of life and leaders who are eager to welcome new cultures.”

That welcoming spirit will be on display September 17 at the International Village Festival on Cleveland’s near west side. The festival celebrates International Village, Ohio’s first Displaced Persons-centric neighborhood.

The Metro West Community Development Organization is restoring abandoned homes and marketing them to families whose children attend Thomas Jefferson International Newcomers Academy, the city’s English immersion school.

The festival will bring together the neighborhood’s established residents and newcomers for a multicultural potluck and storytelling led by Talespinner’s Children’s Theatre. It runs from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Michael Zone Recreation Center Pavilion, 6301 Lorain Avenue.

Finally, on Friday September 22, Global Cleveland will sponsor a lunchtime meet-up at an international restaurant with old world ambience. Meet Global Cleveland staff and friends at Emperor’s Palace, the flagship of Old Chinatown, at 2136 Rockwell Avenue, Cleveland. Let us know you’re coming by emailing [email protected].

by Global Cleveland

A Grand Welcome For Our International Students This Saturday!

Time for a grand welcome for our international students

Hundreds of international students are expected to descend upon InterCLE 2017 Saturday, September 9, at the Global Center for Health Innovation.

Northeast Ohio’s international students, an economic force waiting to be tapped, are being invited to a first-of-its-kind event September 9 at the Global Center for Health Innovation in downtown Cleveland.

Young adults from around the world will descend on InterCLE 2017, where civic and business leaders will, for the first time, formally welcome them to the region.  The event will feature music, food, cultural demonstrations, networking with employers and an after-party in the Flats.

Organizers hope the welcome and the camaraderie will enhance the international student experience in Northeast Ohio and entice more of the world’s best and brightest to stay on after graduation and launch careers and businesses here.

The event is being presented by Global Cleveland in partnership with the Friends of Global Cleveland—a new, international young professionals group—and with the support of the City of Cleveland.

“We have an exceptional group of international students studying in Greater Cleveland,” said Yulu Li, president of the Friends of Global Cleveland. “But too many of them go home or leave for other parts of the country after graduation. We want them to know they are welcome in Cleveland and Akron and they can have a great life here.”

Li, a native of China, earned her master’s degree in public administration from Cleveland State University in 2014 before starting her career with Hanna Commercial Real Estate’s Corporate Services Group in downtown Cleveland.

She and other Friends describe Cleveland as a city that deserves to be better known around the world.

“Cleveland has been my home for the last 10 years, and there is no place as close to my heart,” said Omar Kurdi, the vice president of the Friends of Global Cleveland.

Kurdi, who holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Jordan, earned his bachelor’s degree in international relations from Cleveland State University in 2013 before starting his career in public relations and eventually becoming the CEO of Friends for Life Rehabilitation Services, an agency that provides services for adults with disabilities.

“Many of my friends who came as international students are now proud Clevelanders with thriving careers,” he said. “If this does not scream to the world that Cleveland is great, then I don’t know what will.”

More than 6,000 international students will arrive this fall at colleges and universities like CSU, Case Western Reserve, John Carroll, Kent State, Akron, Baldwin Wallace and Oberlin. Economic development experts say they could offer an advantage in the global economy. Compared to their native-born classmates, international student are more likely to:

• Earn degrees in the in-demand STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math
• Be awarded a patent for an invention
• Be bilingual or multilingual
• Have contacts in global markets

Research also shows that Northeast Ohio could do a better job connecting with this talent source. According to a 2015 study commissioned by the Ohio Board of Regents, the region retains less than 40 percent of its international students. The national average is 45 percent.

By lifting the retention rate to 50 percent—which is not uncommon for major cities--the region would benefit from increased population, a better-educated workforce and job creation, researchers concluded.

“It starts with a welcome,” said Joe Cimperman, the president of Global Cleveland. “These are some of brightest minds from China, India, Israel, the Middle East and Europe. We want them to know they are welcome here and can build their lives here. We want their talent, we want their drive, and we want the companies and inventions they are going to create. It starts with a welcome.”

InterCLE runs from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, September 9 at the Global Center, 1 St. Clair Avenue.

by Global Cleveland

Marian Wright Edelman Wins 2017 Inamori Ethics Prize

Marian Wright Edelman, advocate for children’s rights and the disadvantaged, chosen for 2017 Inamori Ethics Prize

A Washington Post profile of Marian Wright Edelman describes a scene from 1967 in which she, as a 27-year-old civil rights attorney, led Sen. Robert F. Kennedy through the Mississippi Delta to meet sharecroppers. She wanted him to see their dire conditions first-hand—especially the starving children.

Edelman “watched him try for five minutes to poke and tickle a listless baby,” she recalled for the story. “The hungry child did not respond.”

Fifty years later, the founder and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), which grew out of the Civil Rights Movement, remains a fierce advocate for the nation’s poor, and especially children’s rights.

For her life’s work, the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence at Case Western Reserve University has chosen Edelman for the 2017 Inamori Ethics Prize, awarded annually since 2008 to honor an individual for significant and lasting contributions to ethical leadership on the global stage.

Case Western Reserve will present the 2017 Inamori Ethics Prize to Edelman during Inamori Center events on the Case Western Reserve campus, Sept. 14-15.

“Marian Wright Edelman is a hugely inspirational change agent who has been indefatigable and remarkably effective in her efforts to improve lives, especially the lives of children,” Inamori Center Director Shannon French, the Inamori Professor in Ethics and a professor at the School of Law and in the Department of Philosophy, said today in announcing the center’s 2017 prize winner.

A champion for children

Edelman grew up in South Carolina, the youngest of five children of a Baptist preacher who taught her early on about the importance of serving others and pursuing an education.

Under Edelman’s leadership, the nonprofit CDF, which she established in 1973, has become the nation’s leading advocacy organization for children and families, championing policies and programs to lift children from poverty, protect them from abuse and neglect and ensure their access to health care and quality education.

Recognized for her tireless work

Edelman has received more than 100 honorary degrees and many awards, including the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize, the Heinz Award and a MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship.

In 2000, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her writings.

Edelman serves on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation and the Association to Benefit Children, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Inamori Center was endowed by a generous gift from Kazuo Inamori, who established Kyocera Corp. and is a global telecommunications leader and founder of the Inamori Foundation that presents the annual Kyoto Prize in Kyoto, Japan.

by Global Cleveland

Community Partner: The Cleveland Leadership Center

Leadership Cleveland trains young leaders, too

The Cleveland Leadership Center is known for its programs that give senior- and mid-career leaders the knowledge and skills to enhance their community impact, such as Leadership Cleveland and Cleveland Bridge Builders. But the nonprofit center, a Global Cleveland community partner, extends its civic training to emerging leaders as well.

Young professionals who want to explore how to make a positive difference in their workplace and community can climb aboard OnBoard Cleveland.

OnBoard is a leadership and civic development experience tailored for early-career professionals. It’s designed to enhance communication skills, strengthen workplace presence, build an appreciation of local assets and an awareness of the civic realm, and build connections among employees, their organizations and opportunities to become involved in the community.

Through the OnBoard experience, participants also come to better understand critical community issues, learn collaborative leadership skills to address those issues, and find new ways to connect with civic opportunities that align with personal interests and talents.

Here’s what some recent participants said about the program:

• “OnBoard serves as a launchpad for early career professionals to develop professionally and engage civically. It gives participants the knowledge they need and mentors their skills so they can become effective members of the community.”
• “A program where I get to learn more about Cleveland's civic landscape as well as meet like-minded young professionals and network with important ‘movers and shakers’."
• “Professionally, nothing beats learning to communicate effectively with others, opening oneself up to new experiences and gaining knowledge of things that are important to you.”

The next cohort of OnBoard will launch in 2019, but those interested should contact Jill Pecoraro now for information about the application process, at (216) 592-2226 or [email protected].

OnBoard is one of several transformative experiences offered by Cleveland Leadership Center to connect, inspire and challenge individuals of all ages to make a positive community impact. For details, visit www.cleveleads.org or call (216) 592-2426.

by Global Cleveland