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Executive Director Search

Because the website for the Immigrant Welcome Center is in the midst of major change, this page is being hosted by the current Interim Executive Director on behalf of the organization as a means for you, a potential candidate, to learn about the organization and the position.
​Thank you for your understanding and welcome!
Our Core 
 Our Mission: The Immigrant Welcome Center empowers immigrants by connecting them to the people, places, and resources that enable them to build successful lives and enrich our community.

Racial Equity: Prompted by the intense discourse around racial equity that erupted in June of 2020, the staff and board took time to consider where IWC fits into the pursuit of racial equity. We invite you to read our statement.

The Executive Director Search
The organization launched in 2006 by founder Amy Minick-Peterson following her time as First Lady of Indianapolis where she gained insights into the immigrant experience in Indianapolis and gaps in resources for supporting their integration. She worked closely with Terri Morris Downs, who was the first Executive Director until leaving at the end of 2019 to pursue other opportunities.  

The Board of Directors hired an Interim Executive Director in order to give the organization space following the departure of its long-time leader. The Interim began in January 2020 and will be in place through the early start of the new Executive Director, and is available to support the organization on a consulting basis as needed in order to support a smooth transition.

The search is being managed by Charitable Advisors. One may apply by.... We anticipate the interview process taking place over July-August 2020 with an offer extended in mid-August. We hope for a new Executive Director to begin sometime in September.

Any questions about the organization or the process should be directed to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The State of the Organization
The IWC has been in a state of rapid growth and evolution over the past two years and looks forward to continuing this trajectory.. The Board of Directors established its vision for "IWC 2.0" in late 2018, focused on having a deeper impact on the city's immigrant community. IWC has a strong financial position and solid systems for financial management. Our programs have evolved quickly in 2020, driven by the urgency created by COVID-19 and opportunities that emerged. The Board of Directors contributes meaningfully to the funding efforts and to providing appropriate strategic guidance. COVID-19 provided new opportunities to raise the visibility of the organization and of immigrants overall.

The highly-committed staff (6 full-time and 7 part-time temp employees as of mid-June 2020) is stable (no departures in the past 15 months) with updated job descriptions, clear goals that are regularly reviewed, and a strong sense of team. We also have a contract-based specialist focused on our Adult ELL Pathways to Literacy project and a bookkeeper with extensive non-profit experience.
The organization's office is at 901 Shelby Street in the Southeast Community Services building in Fountain Square. The staff has worked from home since March 11, 2020. Given the configuration of our offices and the fact that we share the building (including common areas) with a clinic that treats COVID-19 patients (among many others) it is unclear when IWC operations at any level will resume in our building. ​

Our Work
We think about our work as being in 3 areas: Immigrant Integration, Community Impact and Community Development.
Immigrant Integration
Through this work we provide assistance across the span of the integration process.
  • Information Sharing: As with everyone, immigrants will not access services that they do not know about or do not trust. We invest in having a deep understanding about resources and matters important for immigrants and being about to share those in meaningful ways.  Our scope of information monitored and shared ranges from food pantries to attorneys to understanding a curfew. Our primary channel for getting information disseminated is through our Natural Helpers who are immigrants themselves. We also staff a Help Line and are increasing our capability to share information online.
  • Naturalization Support: Through our partnership with CitizenshipWorks, individuals pursuing naturalization receive assistance completing their N-400 form and have a free review of their application by an attorney. We also hold citizenship classes both remotely and in-person (based on community health). In the recent past, we have also partnered with legal providers to hold traditional naturalization clinics.
  • Advanced Integration: These opportunities include voter registration and education, census participation, and developing one's capacity for self-advocacy as an Ambassador.
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Community Impact
IWC holds an important role in the Indianapolis community providing training and development for other agencies who assist immigrants. We want to elevate the capacity for immigrants to receive robust support through many providers.

We do this through regular convening of providers for education and connection, as well as distinct consulting for individual agencies in order to address their specific interests. We are currently in regular contact with approximately 100 other service providers ranging from community centers to cultural organizations.

A unique project in this area is our Adult ELL Paths to Literacy initiative through which we are building the technical capabilities of 30+ English Language Learning providers (80+ instructors).
Community Development
IWC is committed to making Indianapolis a fully welcoming city where immigrants can thrive. This means addressing systemic issues and building a community where differences are recognized and celebrated.

To that end, we hold Cultural Humility trainings that prompt participants to build their awareness and sensitivity to different cultures, regularly interact with elected officials and funders in order to keep them apprised of the immigrant experience and what systemic changes would be meaningful, 

COVID-19: Community Connect
IWC's COVID-19 response is called Community Connect. We modified regular services in order to adapt to the unique ways we needed to support the community.
  • We marketed a dedicated Help Line in multiple languages and secured interpretation via a language line.
  • Staff and a group of 7 Natural Helper Specialists (i.e., paid Natural Helpers) conducted Wellness Checks in 6 different languages.
  • A dedicated Community Connect Coordinator was hired. This role has morphed to focus almost exclusively on supporting our volunteer Natural Helpers and temporary Natural Helper Specialists.
  • We shifted to weekly training for volunteer Natural Helpers in order to help them keep up with quickly changing resources.
  • We hired a dedicated Resource Coordinator in order to ensure that we had the best current information about resources and health-related matters and that the information was appropriately disseminated.
  • Weekly Partner Power calls launched as a way to pull together other immigrant-serving entities. Even after 13 weeks, these average 50 attendees and include city officials and other leaders who value these meetings as a way to keep current on the immigrant experience. 
  • Information from our Wellness Checks, Natural Helper calls, Partner Power calls and other sources was compiled weekly into a Community Connect report that we shared with funders, policy makers and other stakeholders.

We were fortunate to receive special funding for our COVID-19 response through the C-CERF (Rounds 1 and 3), The Clowes Fund (special granting), and Cummins.
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Additional Information
Below are links to additional information you may be interested in. If you have additional questions, please contact XXXXXXXXXXXXX.

2018 Form 990

2020 Budget

2019 Financial Statements

Board Roster

​Org Chart

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  • Home
  • Services
    • CEO Support
    • Employee Experience
    • Talent Development >
      • Everything DiSC
      • 5 Behaviors of a Cohesive Team
    • Non-Profit Support
  • Approach
  • Resources
    • Second Chance Hiring
  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog