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Founder’s Message
The Inspiration
I recognized Richie, the cashier at a local retail shop, as an African, so I decided to engage him while he was assisting me with my items. He was a recent immigrant originally from Ghana, under thirty years of age, and had a college degree in Engineering. He reminded me of my early years in the U. S. when I also worked in customer service, like many Africans and skilled immigrants. After your initial professional downgrade, you have to start from somewhere lower and work your way up. What surprised me was Richie’s plans to develop himself by going to nursing school. He had been advised by his friends that he would be better off as a nurse than trying to become an engineer in the US. After a few follow-up phone calls with him, I successfully convinced him that he could pursue his dreams as an engineer.
The Need
There are more “Richies” in the fast-growing 120,000 African-born immigrant community in Massachusetts; most of whom live in the Greater Boston and Worcester area. Unlike other immigrant communities, the African immigrant community is often highly proficient in English and among the most highly educated populations in the US, with 47% holding a college education. African immigrants are known to be persistent in pursuing their goals. Despite these positive attributes, the African community tends to fare poorly in the labor market. This phenomenon is referred to as “Brain Drain:” the underutilization of skills and knowledge. Besides the African communities, other immigrants from the Caribbean and Southern America also fare poorly in the labor market.
After the initial downgrade of their qualifications and work experiences upon arriving in the country, it takes most skilled immigrants more time to recover and build their careers. Unfortunately, many of them don’t recover at all. What’s considered a brain drain from the sending countries quickly turns into a complete brain “waste” as these highly-educated immigrants end up working in places and positions that underutilize their skills and potential. Lawyers, engineers, and architects have taken jobs in customer service or manual labor positions. This waste of knowledge is a loss to the individuals, their families, communities, and the greater society. The culprits are a lack of accurate and timely information, career support, networking opportunities, integration resources, and social capital in the African and other immigrant communities.
The Solution
African Bridge Network was established in 2015, after a series of community engagements, to create a platform allowing those who care about this issue to make a meaningful contribution and bringing change to this situation. We are indebted to our co-founders – Ahamdou Balde, Peter Obour-Mensah, Vyto Jasper and Komba Lamina. Our mission is to build a supportive environment for African and other skilled immigrants to leverage their foreign degrees and experiences to reach their potential. We envision the day where every skilled immigrant in the US will receive the necessary support to turn his or her potential into a brain gain for themselves, their families, their communities, the United States. The African communities and friends of Africa have enthusiastically embraced our efforts. Although some of the “Riches” in the African community already receive the support they need, many of them could benefit from our services. With your support, we can expand our capacity to help them reach their capacity.
We hope you will join us in unlocking the rich potential of our skilled immigrant community.
Sincerely,
Emmanuel Owusu
Founder and Executive Director
African Bridge Network
We envision a day when the skills of immigrant professionals are highly valued and they can use their past experiences to build their careers, support their families, and make meaningful contributions to our society.
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