Global Change for Good: How Innovators Participate in Civic Engagement
By: Kaytia King, FWD.us Colorado State Director
In this new age of civic engagement, public expectations for corporate social responsibility are higher than ever. Founders, community leaders, and CEOs are moving past rhetoric and enacting real change — especially in matters that can affect their bottom line.
One of the most important ways businesses can boost their bottom line is by embracing immigration and the entrepreneurial spirit that immigrants bring with them to the United States. America is known as the great melting pot where people come to let their dreams grow. But, in this political climate, policy changes are increasing uncertainty and negatively impacting businesses while suppressing employee recruitment and retention.
The current Administration has supported legislation to drastically cut United States’ legal immigration levels, which in turn would severely harm economic growth and eliminate our country’s competitive advantage of attracting the best and brightest.
We can feel this impact throughout Colorado — from the farms in Palisade, to the STEM positions that have remained unfilled, to the 17,000 DACA recipients whose status hangs in the balance. Immigrants are woven into the very fabric of our state.
Immigrants — our neighbors, classmates, coworkers, and friends — are also a vital part of Colorado’s economy, and the numbers speak for themselves. Currently, more than half a million immigrant residents that make up 10% of the Colorado population. Of those, many are innovators, and more than 35,000 are entrepreneurs. Did you know that thirty percent of Fortune 500 companies in Colorado were founded by immigrants or their children? In addition, immigrants are vital to job creation across our state; more than 80,000 Coloradans are employed at immigrant-owned firms.
In just a few short weeks, on September 26th at 4pm, the FWD.us Denver Startup Week headline event Global Change for Good: How Innovators Participate in Civic Engagement will feature speakers from around the world and across the immigration spectrum, discussing their tribulations and triumphs while navigating through a broken immigration system to make Colorado a more thriving community of innovators. From education to fashion, to physics, our speakers will explain how they are taking social responsibility to the next level with civic engagement.
Join us Wednesday 9/26 at 4:00 PM MT at Shift Workspaces Bannock, successful immigrant entrepreneurs from the Colorado FWD.us Innovation Council will share how they are working to make Colorado a more inclusive and civically engaged place. Join them for a series of lightning round chats to learn more about real, concrete actions you can take to support immigrants and other marginalized persons in your company, your community, and across the country.
