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Our 20th Anniversary Event Series began in June 2022 and ended in February of 2023.
Elevating Immigrant Parent Voices, February 9, 2023
Immigrant Small Business Pitch Event, December 13, 2022
20th Anniversary ROV (Raising Our Voices) Celebration, Nov. 4, 2022
English Works Business Council Luncheon Sept. 27, 2022
Summer Social, August 25, 2022
Language of Food, June 29, 2022
20th Anniversary Co-Chairs
Yongmei Chen
Senior Vice President at Eastern Bank
and Board Treasurer for English for
New Bostonians
Paul Francisco
Chief Diversity Officer and Head of Workforce Development Programs
at State Street Corporation
Host Committee
Larry D. Andrews
Michel Bamani
Alberto Calvo
Juan (Adrian) Garrido
Rev. Cheng Imm Tan
Terry Kwan
Alvaro Lima
Corean Reynolds
Myrna Guerrero-McCabe
John Tobin
Jon Cronin
Lorna Rivera, Ph.D.
Daniel I. Sherman
Ty Burr
Paul Lee
Lori Yarvis
Daphne Paulino Ramos
John Galvin
Michael F. Dunn
Mass Growth Capital Corporation
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Stop & Compare Supermarkets
Santander Bank
Former Director, Mayor's Office of New Bostonians
Tai Tung Realty, Inc.
Boston Planning and Development Agency/City of Boston
The Boston Foundation
Winsor School
Northeastern University
The Cronin Group / Rebel Restaurants
Gaston Institute at UMass Boston
The Trefler Foundation
Ty Burr’s Watch List
Retired partner, Goodwin Procter LLP
Archstone Law Group
DPR Consulting
Gordon Brothers
C&W Services
Juan Fernando Lopera
Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Beth Israel Lahey Health
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Sponsorship Opportunities
Visionary Sponsors
Event Donors & Friends
Voices Sponsor
Anonymous
Leadership Sponsor
Supporting Sponsors
Language of Food
English for New Bostonians (ENB) kicked off their 20th Anniversary Event Series on Wednesday, June 29th withThe Language of Food at the Exchange Conference Center in Boston’s Seaport district. The event was
a splendid success as guests enjoyed this moment of illuminating the creativity, work and impact of ENB that has enabled 20,000 people over
20 years to transform their lives in their new homeland!
Two ENB alumni shared their journeys from learning English to creative careers – both related to food! Food, whether growing it, packaging, selling, or serving it, provides many new immigrants a beginning to
career pathways here in the U.S.
Nefisa Siraj owns Cini Coffee and graduated from ENB’s English for Immigrant Entrepreneurs class. Her coffee by the pound sold like hotcakes at Language of Food after she made an expert pitch to the audience about the culture, care and love with which she roasts and packages fine beans from Ethiopia.
Gary Diaz, Head Chef at Tony C’s, and his team took an ENB’s English for Restaurants class in the midst of the pandemic.
Gary told the crowd that English classes not only enabled him to communicate better at work and outside of work, but are part of the company’s strategy to build loyalty and thrive in an environment that’s taken a toll on restaurants. “Trust your staff,” he advises employers, “give them opportunities to grow, teach them English!”
Immigrants work across sectors, in financial services, health care, construction, biotech, media, manufacturing. Every sector depends on immigrants.
ENB aims to raise $500,000 this year for their New Voices Fund to ensure more students like Gary and Nefisa can forge new lives, and contribute their talents in our wonderful City!
For more information on English for New Bostonians’ 20th Anniversary Event Series, visit www.englishfornewbostonians.org
Funder Briefing
Dear ENB Funders, Supporters, and Friends:
We would like to take a moment to thank everyone who attended our Funder and Donor Briefing "Investing in an inclusive New Economy: Resource Planning to promote economic mobility among immigrant communities" on Thursday, July 14, 2022. The event was the second in a series of events that we are hosting this year in celebration of our 20th Anniversary! For those of you who registered but missed the event, we recorded it and it is attached HERE for you to view at your convenience.
The conversation was very hopeful and highlighted plans to promote economic mobility across immigrant communities. We also discussed the connection between English learning opportunities and immigrant advancement; the role of immigrants in the city of Boston's larger image of equity and inclusion; and the focus on economic recovery and advancement. We heard from Rosana Javier (Owner and General Manager of Latino Beauty Salon), Lee Pelton (President & CEO of The Boston Foundation), Mariangely Solis Cervera (Chief of Equity and Inclusion under Mayor Wu for the City of Boston), and Claudia Green (Executive Director of ENB).
We look forward to seeing you at our Summer Social on Thursday, August 25th, the third in a series of events this year! For more information on our 20th Anniversary Event Series, visit https://www.englishfornewbostonians.org
ENB’s Summer Social
On Thursday, August 25th English For New Bostonians (ENB) hosted a Summer Social fundraiser and networking event at the Lawn on D in the Seaport.
Over 100 local business and community leaders enjoyed delicious food and signature drinks showcasing the rich culinary traditions from Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, graciously provided by ENB’s partner, Rebel Restaurants, whose parent company is the Cronin Group LLC. Rebel has collaborated with ENB to offer English classes to the employees, on site and remotely.
During the event, Paul Francisco, one of the 20th Anniversary Co-Chairs, opened the program by sharing some of his personal journey arriving from Honduras at 17 not knowing the language and relating it to the students that ENB serves. Standing before a largely immigrant crowd at the Lawn on D in South Boston, Francisco also noted the City’s positive transformation. “When I came to this country at 17, and not speaking English, it was organizations like ENB that really gave me the confidence, the support, the knowledge, and the community that I needed to sort of succeed and to try to figure things out in Boston.”
English Works Business
Council Luncheon
Date & Time
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
12:00pm-2:00pm
In-Person/Ticketed Event
Description
ENB’s English Works Business Council
will convene business leaders to facilitate
conversation and share best practices
to meet the needs of our fast growing
immigrant workforce. This will be an in-person, reception-style luncheon and networking event for members and prospective members of the Council.
Location
Boston College Club
100 Federal Street 36th floor
Boston, MA 02110
Target Audience
C-Suite and Human Resource &
Workforce Development Professionals from
Massachusetts businesses and corporations
Join our 20th Anniversary Celebration
Hosted by our Masters of Celebration, Bianca Beltrán, Bilingual Reporter NBC10 Boston Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra and Corean Reynolds, Director of Economic Inclusion at The Boston Foundation, Raising our Voices 2022 was sparked with touching moments through award presentation, laughter, and joyful Cuban music and dancing.
On the evening of Friday, November 4, 2022, over 300 of our sponsors, donors, elected officials, leaders, and friends from all across Boston came together to support, celebrate and recognize the important work that ENB has been doing for the past 20 years - opening doors to economic mobility, resources, and community life for immigrants and their families.
This milestone is marked by the reassurance that in the next 20 years, immigrants will continue to hold important roles in our city’s economy, social and cultural vitality and that quality English classes will always be available to them!
Immigrant Small Business Pitch Event
This is the first ever Immigrant Small Business Pitch Event that ENB hosted. This will not be the last! Graduates from ENB ESOL for Immigrant Entrepreneurs (E4IE) classes presented their best "Pitch" and shared entrepreneurial dreams with the audience and judge panel.
What emerged from the stage was a powerful exchange of business connections and heartfelt feedback from the judges. Jimmy Liang, President & CEO of the JP Fuji Group told the business owners "I am YOU!", as he briefly shared his own journey as an immigrant entrepreneur without a mentor.
E4IE classes clearly build a foundation for the entrepreneurial journey, but it also takes grit, and a big village.
Please join us in giving another warm round of applause to the six finalists and congratulating the following winners:
1st Prize: Diana Organizes
2nd Prize: Josephine's Baking Co.
3rd Prize: Wise Mouth Tea
Audience Choice: Merida Brothers Construction
Elevating Immigrant Parent Voices
Date & Time
February 9, 2023 | 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Free Admission
Description
With a focus on ENB’s ESOL for Parents
Initiative, this event will explore how investments in parent English skills contribute to children’s educational success. We are honored to have Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper as our special guest.
Location
Winship Elementary School
54 Dighton St, Brighton, MA 02135
Target Audience
Immigrant Parents of Elementary school aged children, Educators and Administrators, Elected Officials, Funders, Sponsors, and ENB program partners
Date & Time
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
12:00pm-2:00pm
In-Person/Ticketed Event
Description
ENB’s English Works Business Council
will convene business leaders to facilitate
conversation and share best practices
to meet the needs of our fast growing
immigrant workforce. This will be an in-person, reception-style luncheon and networking event for members and prospective members of the Council.
Location
Boston College Club
100 Federal Street 36th floor
Boston, MA 02110
Target Audience
C-Suite and Human Resource &
Workforce Development Professionals from
Massachusetts businesses and corporations
On February 9, 2023, at the beautiful Winship Elementary School, English for New Bostonians’ “Elevating Immigrant Parent Voices” event offered a stage for parents to share personal experiences and raise their voices in support of ESOL for Parents across Boston Public Schools (BPS). Speeches by Jie from China, Danilo from Brazil, Marie from Haiti, Manuel from the Dominican Republic, Hibo from Somalia, and Anna from Cape Verde carried powerful messages to educators, policy makers, and especially, their own children, advocating for greater access to English classes for immigrant parents like themselves.
The ability of immigrant parents to communicate in English, also fosters a healthy and happier life for children. At the event, 2nd graders shared adorable drawings about why they want their parents to learn English. One little girl's drawing was about how her mom now can schedule a playdate with her friend!
BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper spoke to the audience about the importance of strong partnership between schools and parents/families. She reiterated that our diversity of languages and cultures is an asset, it’s “who we are,” part of the identity of the Boston Public Schools. ENB now supports ESOL for Parents classes across six schools. With greater investment and deeper partnership, these rich and highly popular programs can expand to serve additional schools and neighborhoods.
