Americas Society Awarded Two-Year Rockefeller Brothers Fund Grant to Support Immigration Initiative

New York, December 5, 2012—As immigration moves to the forefront of the national agenda, Americas Society—with a new $500,000 grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF)—will be a leading forum for policymakers, businesses, and others to come together for positive dialogue on the contributions of Latinos and immigrants overall to the United States. The grant was jointly announced on December 3 at an AS/COA event on immigration policy.

Since 2007, Americas Society has established itself as a local and national leader on immigration issues through its research, off-the-record roundtable meetings, and public forums. This two-year grant will allow Americas Society to further mobilize public and private sector stakeholders in New York City and in new immigrant gateway cities around the socioeconomic contributions of immigrants.

“Americas Society is increasingly a leading voice in advancing the national dialogue around immigration and immigrants’ crucial role in our twenty-first century competitiveness,” said Americas Society President and CEO Susan Segal. “We are extremely proud to be the recipient of a Rockefeller Brothers Fund Pivotal Place New York City grant, which will significantly deepen our impact and leadership in this field.”

"Over the last two years, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund has been investing in a grassroots movement for immigration reform. The Fund's grant to Americas Society and its work with local and national partners will take this movement to the next level in 2013," stated Ben Rodriguez-Cubenas, program director at RBF.

This is the RBF’s third grant to support Americas Society’s work on immigration. Under the 2013–2014 grant, the organization will:

• Further mobilize stakeholders around the importance of immigrants through private, roundtable meetings in five new gateway cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Charlotte, Birmingham, Nashville, and New Orleans);
• Bring public and private leaders together through a summit in New York City with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and public events in select U.S. cities;
• Share New York City’s positive experiences of immigration and integration;
• Conduct new, original research on immigration and the revival of American cities as well as on trade flows and immigration.

“With this grant we will further demonstrate that immigrants are vital to the United States as a whole and specifically to the many new gateway cities in which they reside,” said Jason Marczak, Americas Society’s director of policy. “The underlying principles of how New York City integrates its immigrant population are an important model for the rest of the country,” Marczak added.

Americas Society is the premier organization dedicated to education, debate, and dialogue in the Americas. Established by David Rockefeller in 1965, our mission is to foster an understanding of the contemporary political, social and economic issues confronting Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, and to increase public awareness and appreciation of the diverse cultural heritage of the Americas and the importance of the inter-American relationship. Recognizing the link between U.S. immigration and overall hemispheric relations, AS/COA launched its Hispanic Integration and Immigration initiative in 2007 to draw on its public–private convening power in order to bring together key constituencies in new gateway cities and to produce research on the link between changing demographics and economic competitiveness. Visit us at www.as-coa.org.

Founded in 1940, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund advances social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. The Fund's grantmaking is organized in three thematic programs that support work in the United States and at the global level: Democratic Practice, Sustainable Development, and Peacebuilding; and in three pivotal place programs that address these themes in specific contexts: New York City, Southern China, and the Western Balkans.

Press Inquiries: Please contact Adriana La Rotta at alarotta@as-coa.org or 1-212-277-8384.