San Francisco Hosts First-Ever Immigrant Leadership Awards

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES

Monday, June 12, 2017

Contact: press@welcome.us

*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***

TONIGHT: San Francisco Hosts First-Ever Immigrant Leadership Awards

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee will honor the contributions of local immigrant leaders in the City’s first-ever Immigrant Leadership Awards, held tonight at City Hall. The celebration takes place on Monday, June 12, 2017, from 5:30 p.m to 7:30 p.m. PT at San Francisco City Hall (1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Place, North Light Court, San Francisco, CA 94102). Doors open at 5:00 pm. The event is open to the public, but space is limited. To reserve your spot, RSVP at: http://bit.ly/2ql3CCX

At the ceremony, the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month, will honor eight local leaders for their “dedication and fearlessness” in fighting for immigrant rights. Among those is the Microsoft Corporation for its work in supporting the San Francisco Pathways Citizenship Initiative by hosting free citizenship workshops at its headquarters.

Other honorees include Lorena Melgarejo of Faith in Action, a formerly undocumented immigrant who has been a community organizer for the last 19 years; Adoubou Traore of the African Advocacy Network and collaborative leader San Francisco Pathways to Citizenship Initiative, a public-private-non-profit partnership that aims to promote citizenship among San Francisco’s eligible immigrants.

Hosted by San Francisco Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs (OCEIA) and the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission, the awards ceremony includes live cultural performances from groups like Lion Dance ME, local indie-Latin-folk singer and guitarist Diana Gameros, Youth Speaks Spoken Word Artist Yujane Chen, Kennelly School of Irish Dance and more followed by a catered reception.

WHAT: City of San Francisco’s first-ever Immigrant Leadership Awards

WHERE: San Francisco City Hall

(1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Place, North Light Court, San Francisco, CA

94102)

WHEN: **TONIGHT** Monday, June 12, 2017 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. PT

This event is part of June’s Immigrant Heritage Month, a nationwide effort to gather and share the inspirational stories and incredible contributions of immigrants in America. This year marks the fourth annual Immigrant Heritage Month. Later this month, OCEIA will be co-hosting an Immigrant Heritage Month pop-up in San Francisco on June 29 and June 30 from 10:00 a.m to 9:00 p.m. each day at The Laundry in the Mission to celebrate the contributions and achievements of immigrants with its partners at FWD.us. There will be a variety of programming that will include events such as a Know Your Rights training, video screenings, spoken word, and more.

ABOUT “I AM AN IMMIGRANT”

“I Am An Immigrant” is part of Welcome.us, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that coordinates Immigrant Heritage Month every June. Started in 2014, Immigrant Heritage Month honors the countless contributions made by immigrants to our communities, our economy, our culture, and our collective American identity. “I Am An Immigrant” is an ongoing public awareness campaign to encourage Americans to share stories of their families’ immigrant heritage, and what it means to be an immigrant in America. Learn more about “I Am An Immigrant” and Immigrant Heritage Month by visiting IAmAnImmigrant.com.


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