These words were said by Malcolm Forbes, American entrepreneur, raised business’s appreciation
of diversity and importance to respect others for everyone.
Hello, my name is Oleksiy, I am from
Ukraine. Currently, I am in Chicago participating in a professional exchange
thanks to the Professional Fellowship Program and the US State Department. But this story isn’t about me, it
is about how our differences bring success to all of us.
Before my arrival to the Windy City, it was typical
stereotype in my head that Chicago is the city of mafia, gangsters, all are
overweight. However, what was a surprise to me is to see one of the major business
centers of the USA under scope of people’s differences.
Chicago is one of the best examples to see how
diversity works in real life and successfully integrated in the real life. It
has a wealth of ethnic groups to discover – Chinatown, Ukrainian Village,
Polish Triangle, Little Italy, Greektown, etc. They are all beautiful and are vehicles
for advancing access, equity and inclusion.
It is not only an overall impression. In this Global
city, on the 19ths floor, in the center of Downtown, located national
non-profit NGO called Upwardly Global. This is the organization that helps
skilled immigrants rebuild their professional careers in the U.S. through soft skills trainings and
job coaching. It is my host organization for four weeks and I am very excited
to be part of the team. But this story isn’t about Upwardly Global in general,
but about the diversity and how it is perfectly represented in the UpGlo team.
Please meet
Fahad (far left). Fahad is originally from Iraq and his title in UpGlo is
Onboarding Associate. His main role is to pre-screen qualified candidates and
onboard them to the free job seeker services program that UpGlo provides. Fahad
builds a bridge to all services that UpGlo provides for job seekers. Fahad came
to the USA in Aug 2016, more than one year ago, due to the ongoing conflict. He
had multiple jobs with USAID and UN helping people affected due to the
conflict, but he decided that it isn’t safe for him and his family to stay in
the conflict area and came to the USA. However, Fahad didn’t forget his mission
to help people, that’s why he is today part of UpGlo family. He has a very
strong commitment to the mission of organization to help people because he went
through this job search journey himself and can speak from his own experience.
Please meet
Daryna (next right to Fahad). Daryna is originally from Ukraine and is
currently working for UpGlo as a Senior Onboarding and Outreach Associate.
Daryna found her sense of life in helping immigrant and refugee professional
such as herself. Her main role is to promote mission of the organization among
community-based organizations, government agencies, educational institutions
and other partners who serve target population. She is the one who builds
strong relationships with these stakeholders as well as provides direct
services to UpGlo clients in DC. Another part of her role is similar to
Fahad’s, the intake of qualified candidates into the program. I am convinced
Daryna’s Ukrainian hospitality, assertiveness and hard work she does is a big part
of overall success of Chicago and DC offices.
Please meet Cecilia
(next right to Daryna). Cecilia is from Peru, a country of hidden treasures. She
is an Employment Services Associate. Her main role is to provide soft skills
training and job coaching to job seekers. She met her future husband in the USA
and moved here to live permanent. Cecilia is a very family oriented person and one
could feel it in the UpGlo office – she is generously sharing her warmth with colleagues,
job seekers, volunteers. Cecilia is hardworking person and her great motivation
brings success to job seekers.
Please meet Ade
(far right) who is from Benin, country of amazing landmarks. Ade is in the USA
thanks to the Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery. He is a Systems Administrator for
the UpGlo and is ensuring all software works correctly. It is a very important role
as UpGlo using a lot of modern technologies and platforms for their staff and
job seekers including Salesforce, Cornerstone, Mailchimp, Gmail, Microsoft
Software and others. Ade is always ready to support team. As he also brings his
optimism and enthusiasm.
Diversity is
about all of us and I can compare it with bouquet of flowers – as much we have
– more we get. Chicago and Upwardly Global are on the right way to be an
example how diversity brings success.
No comments:
Post a Comment