Welcoming Salt Lake: Government and Community Leadership Biannual Convening in Welcoming Week
Salt Lake County, Utah
Mayor
Jenny Wilson
Start of Project
07/12/2023
End of Project
to be confirmed
Overview
The Welcoming Salt Lake Plan – drafted in 2016 – is a community-derived plan, which directs the County’s strategy to facilitate and accelerate immigrant inclusion in civic, economic, and social aspects of life and ensures New Americans are engaged, respected, and have opportunities to reach their fullest potential.
In support of this Plan, the Salt Lake County Mayor’s Office for New Americans commits to hosting recurring ‘Welcoming Week’ events in which migrants, refugees, and long-time residents come together to build strong connections and affirm the importance of welcoming and inclusive places in achieving collective prosperity. In 2023, for example, an inaugural Government and Community Leadership Convening was held during Welcoming Week on September 14, 2023, to coincide with Welcoming America’s government and community leadership theme.
The County now commits to holding these events every six months, every March, and every September, during Welcoming Week, with the aim to:
Amplify voices from diverse New American stakeholders concerning successes, challenges, and priorities of their integration in Salt Lake County.
Engage in a dialogue with local government and community leaders on how to involve Salt Lake County residents in welcoming New Americans outside of the formal County-organised Welcoming Week activities.
Identify new partnerships and avenues for collaboration to advance New Americans’ inclusion.
Realized Impact (As of August 2024)
The Government and Community Leadership Convening effectively and efficiently fulfills the mission of Salt Lake County in ways that ensure that race, zip code, status, and country of origin do not impede the opportunity, success, and contributions of any New American resident. Salt Lake County’s participation in Welcoming America's Certified Welcoming program demonstrates a commitment to program monitoring and evaluation, continuous improvement, partnerships, equitable policy design, and community engagement.
The inaugural Government and Community Leadership Convening resulted in three significant outcomes:
Immediate availability of resources as a result of government leaders learning Salt Lake County’s immigrant and refugee population’s greatest needs directly from community leaders.
The development of a clear channel of communication between community organizations and governmental leaders through the Salt Lake County Office of New Americans, which serves to expedite community organizations’ statements of need to appropriate governmental leaders to fulfill requests from existing resources.
The overwhelming support for continued, biannual Government and Community Leadership Convenings.
Lessons Learnt
The voices of immigrants and the broader community are critical to the welcoming agenda.
County leaders can play a catalytic role by recognizing, rewarding, and investing in community partners who are essential to building a community’s capacity for this work.
People of all backgrounds — socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, religious, etc. — have unique talents that can be brought to bear to make our communities vibrant, and welcoming work should be as inclusive as possible to all groups.
It is essential to engage with community and government leaders in ways that build greater understanding of the needs of immigrant and refugee populations of Salt Lake County. Engagement builds trust between government and community leaders, allowing community leaders to provide input and influence governmental decision-making.
Priority Objectives
Providing access to urban infrastructure, social services, and education,
regardless of status
Realising social inclusion
Engaging in regional and multilateral partnerships and increasing city-to-city cooperation
“As the first county in the nation to become Certified Welcoming in 2018, regaining this designation reaffirms our commitment to welcoming and supporting immigrants and refugees. My Office for New Americans continues to identify and address barriers to the integration of our neighbors so that they can maximize their civic, social, and economic potential in Salt Lake County, where we all belong.”