By Phillip Norman and Smmo Ozawa
Welcoming + Inclusion Fellows
We had the privilege of attending the Welcoming Interactive, the biennial conference of our other partner organization, Welcoming America. The conference highlights successful practices around immigrant inclusion, whether programs and policies, or approaches to economic development, civic engagement, and government leadership. True to its name, it’s a space for all who care about creating compassionate communities – where college interns, elected officials, rural leaders, and city advocates may all find themselves around the same table exchanging strategies and stories.
Our trip to the Welcoming Interactive rounded out several weeks of fieldwork for a forthcoming podcast about rural migrations. We shared stories from the field with participants in the Rural Welcoming Initiative (RWI), a cohort of immigrant welcomers from all across the country. We also had the opportunity to add a few new voices to the mix, conducting on-site interviews with RWI leaders.
One of these leaders, Veronica Ozura, has been hard at work on welcoming efforts in Sevier County, Arkansas. Having endured discrimination while growing up in one of only a handful of Mexican families in the county seat of De Queen, Veronica now advocates for immigrant inclusion through her foundation work with Funding Retention and Increasing for Notable Economic Development in Sevier County (FRIENDS). By building relationships with public officials and the business community, FRIENDS has bolstered inclusion efforts for the county’s growing Latine population, as well as a more recent influx of newcomers from the Marshall Islands.
“Small steps, big progress” is Veroncia’s mantra for rural places embracing shifting demographics, trying to take full advantage of everything immigrants can do to make their communities great. “At the end of the day,” she says, “everybody wants to win. And there’s ways to go about stuff to make things progress, and everyone’s still winning.”
This attitude of abundance echoed across many of the sessions and interactions we had over the course of the conference. At a time when so much of our national rhetoric is focused on cultural division and economic competition, it was truly heartening to be in community with a diverse range of changemakers focused on mutual uplift.
This underlying collective sentiment — that abundance is possible when we open doors rather than close them —resonates with this year’s Rural Assembly Everywhere theme, “A Bigger Pie: Cultivating Abundance in a Time of Scarcity”. Until then, if you’re in need of some of this grounded optimism in your life, please take the time to read the Opening Remarks from Welcoming America’s executive director, Rachel Perić and check out their other blog posts highlighting the powerhouse speakers from the conference’s lineup.
“Sharing stories is how we connect to each other, and our shared humanity. This year’s theme reminds us that storytelling has power — it’s how we find common purpose, organize, and build a future where everyone belongs. It’s how we ensure none of us are invisible or erased. It’s how we invite others to be part of the story of building welcoming communities — and shape what’s next.” –Rachel Perić, executive director of Welcoming America.
Welcoming America also announced their theme for Welcoming Week, an annual, worldwide campaign where individuals and communities celebrate welcoming values by hosting events and leading community initiatives, with the goal of building a deeper sense of belonging for all. This year’s Welcoming Week theme is “Stories We Share,” in the spirit of recognizing the power of storytelling to shift perspectives and culture. Somewhat serendipitously, we will be sharing stories through these podcast episodes in the weeks leading up to this year’s Welcoming Week which will take place the week of September 12-21.
We hope that you’re feeling the same kind of synergy we keep finding through this fellowship–in whatever corner of the country you’re reading from, and whatever work you’re doing to better your community. Keep on keepin’ on–we’re all in this together.
Phillip Norman is an oral historian helping preserve the stories of everyday citizens making extraordinary contributions to United States culture and politics. His interest in immigration advocacy took root during his time studying at Bryn Mawr and Haverford College, where he participated in the student-organized Migrant Rights Coalition, and engaged with narratives of migration in his coursework. Phillip’s oral history practice relies on the principles of relational organizing, an approach which ensures ethical rigor and creative excellence in all of his collaborations with grassroots leaders.
Sara “Smmo” Ozawa Known by her initials, Smmo is a geographer who works with communities to develop strategies for achieving the future environs they dream of, in collaboration with the ecosystems of which they are a part. A pragmatic idealist, she believes that strong cultures of neighborliness are critical for achieving these dreams and is excited to document stories of welcoming through this fellowship. Her curiosity has taken her down many a dirt road, but these days you can find her mostly back in Colorado in the landscapes that raised her. She strives to be a good neighbor wherever she goes.
