Our Impact

Though we are still operationalizing our support for Afghan newcomers, some key learnings have emerged:

• Afghans with professional backgrounds were too often overlooked and their skills underappreciated. Key to our work is highlighting the significant professional backgrounds of Afghan newcomers coming to the U.S. and their potential to contribute some $650 million annually to our economy.
• Workforce integration efforts must be differentiated to reflect these diverse skill sets and individual support needs. No one is served well when we do otherwise – not the newcomers whose hard-earned experience is otherwise ignored and denigrated, nor our companies whose need for mid- and high-level talent can be addressed when we do this work right.
• Collaboration and trust among key stakeholders is critical to advancing positive outcomes — in this case, Upwardly Global was fortunate to work closely with the U.S. military and key governmental agencies, refugee resettlement organizations, employer partners, advocacy groups and new coalitions to coordinate services and share information.
• As migration trends increase globally, rapid response mechanisms that allow agencies with specialized knowledge like Upwardly Global to pivot to support new populations effectively, are critical. Already, we have started to use infrastructure created during this campaign to support a new wave of Ukrainian refugees.
• Workforce integration efforts must span training and job seeker support with effective employer engagement. Upwardly Global has been at the forefront of innovative hiring practices and sharing of best practices, which allowed us to move real hiring.