Canada has a long history as a place of refuge for people escaping conflict. That tradition continues today with both government and private programs helping refugee families find a safe place to call home.
These programs all share a core humanitarian goal of helping people in need. While these programs do great things, they don’t often do enough to help refugees with marketable skills to find relevant work.
Founded in 2016, Talent Beyond Boundaries is a non-governmental organization (NGO) built to help refugees with skills find opportunities to work and build a new life for themselves and their families. “We need those skills, we do economic immigration, why not do economic immigration for refugees?” said Kris Braun, a serial founder and now Googler at the Google Kitchener-Waterloo office.
Braun knows a lot about the benefits of helping skilled refugees find employment that suits their abilities. The first Talent Beyond Boundaries placement in Canada happened right here in Waterloo Region in 2019, at Bonfire. At the time, Braun was Bonfire’s VP of Engineering and helped Talent Beyond Boundaries to place Mohammed Hakmi, who found a new career and a new home after escaping the conflict in Syria.
“Bonfire was the first company in Canada to hire someone,” Braun said. “We hired Mohammed while he was still displaced, living in Beirut. Within a week [of arriving in Canada] he was in our office working and part of our team.”
The Talent Beyond Boundaries program doesn’t just help rebuild a person’s life, it also helps rebuild their livelihood. “There are refugees that need to rebuild their lives that can become a productive member of our community quickly,” added Braun. After working at Bonfire for a short period, Hakmi was able to secure his own apartment because he had a job and a paycheque.
Braun views the program as creating equity between traditional immigrants and refugees. “The beauty is that it allows us to extend the same privilege or opportunity to those that have the misfortune of conflict or disaster at home.”
The impacts go far beyond the individual. Families – either settled in Canada or still in refugee camps – benefit from a steady salary. In their new communities, they are also able to help fellow refugees navigate their new home, including schooling, language and connecting with others. “Mohammed is helping other people in his community,” said Braun. “He is able to give them career coaching and build bridges to help them integrate.”
Braun shared the Talent Beyond Boundaries story at True North 2019. “True North was a milestone. We were able to share Mohammed’s story with the community and then challenge them to do more.”
Tech companies across Waterloo Region have a large number of roles to fill, and Braun sees this as an opportunity to help settle more skilled refugees here.
“It’s going to take the whole community's support to make this happen,” he added.
This week, Braun and a group of local tech and community leaders are launching Tech Beyond Boundaries. The goal of the new initiative is to demonstrate that Waterloo Region is a community of welcome for the next wave of colleagues who will be joining us. “We want to give the whole community a way to extend the welcome.”
On the Tech Beyond Boundaries site, you can purchase a welcome package for yourself or someone in the community you think is a great ambassador. The package includes a flavour of your choice from The Crumby Cookie Dough Co. in Uptown Waterloo, a holographic sticker created by Robin+Elaine and a postcard inviting you to share online. “Whether it’s people in tech, friends or advocates, we want them to share on social and get the conversation going about this,” Braun said.
Adding to the Waterloo Region vibe, welcome package deliveries will be made by bike. “It’s very on-the-ground; it takes people power,” Braun said. “In this time of COVID, we’re bridging the isolation in whatever way we can. It’s a core part of who we are and distinctive of this region. We are incredibly welcoming of people from beyond our borders.”
You can visit Tech Beyond Boundaries to order a welcome package for yourself or a gift card for a welcome package to send to someone in the community you think is a great advocate or supporter of welcoming refugees.
# # #
While you’re downloading the COVID Alert app, I see and hear that...Create Waterloo and the City of Waterloo are turning the annual LUMEN festival into a month-long, all-virtual event with event with LUMEN at Home starting this Saturday, Sept. 26 and running through Monday, Oct. 26. The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery has an outdoor Family Sunday program on Sept. 27 from 1 to 4 p.m. Need some laughs in your life? Jane Bond has a special Jokes at Jane’s this Sunday, Sept. 27 from 7 to 10:15 p.m. with headliner Michael Moses.
