Creating a Welcoming Atlanta
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 Creating a Welcoming Atlanta
Interview with Luisa Cardona About the Author Luisa Cardona is the Deputy Director of the City of Atlanta Office of Immigrant Affairs. Originally from Colombia and raised in Atlanta, Luisa was among the first staff for the brand-new office created this year. Keep up with the Welcoming City by following their: Twitter
Events This month we interviewed Luisa Cardona, who is the Deputy Director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs for the City of Atlanta and one of the staff members of Welcoming Atlanta. New American Pathways is proud to partner with Luisa and the Welcoming Atlanta office on voter registration and as part of their advisory committee. Q: The Office of Immigrant Affairs was formed earlier this year after the success of the Welcoming Atlanta Work Group that was formed in 2014. Could you give us some insider insight on why the city felt it was so important to set up an Immigrant Affairs office? A: I actually asked this very question in my interview. The program was initiated by Mayor Reed himself – it is very important to him. Atlanta is the birthplace of Civil Rights Movement, and this is a new civil rights battle to face. I want Atlanta to be on the right side of history. That, in conjunction with seeing a growing number of foreign-born in the City of Atlanta (we’re actually the second fastest-growing population of foreign-born in the U.S.). We know that foreign-born populations open more businesses, and those that naturalize are more well-off than natural-born citizens. Seeing all those benefits pushed Mayor Reed to open the office and it’s something he’s passionate about. We also want this office to be the beacon of welcoming in what is often a less-than-friendly area. We want to be the contrast to what is often negative in the state. Q: How did you get involved with this effort? A: This is close to me because I’m an immigrant myself; I’m from Colombia and I grew up in Metro Atlanta. My mom always interacted a lot in the community – she helped interpret, especially with prenatal care. I learned how great it felt to give back to the community and all the potential for growth and opportunity that was there. If I can facilitate, it means a lot. When I started working in D.C., I saw how much better it was in other states; I saw how we could be better and welcoming. I wanted to take this back to Georgia. Then I came home and I found this [position] and it was ideal – to know I can make the City of Atlanta better and make immigrant communities better at the same time. Q: What are some good ways for interested Atlanta residents to get involved? A: Speaking out! We are a contrast to the message commonly seen about immigrants on the state and national level. Speak out in terms of the positive message if you don’t agree with it – with “I support and welcome immigrants” or “I am an immigrant and I feel welcome and I contribute in the following ways.” We also have events we host and invite people to attend. You can also, of course, check us out on social media and on our web site. But really – be that message that shows that immigrants are vital and contribute. Q: One achieved goal of the Office was to establish “Citizenship Corners” in Atlanta libraries. What other goals do you have for increasing citizenship access and education? We did put up the corners in libraries and in rec centers in the city, so that’s four rec centers, and in immigrant-owned businesses – so we expanded on what existed and our original goal. The next step will be in [creating] the programming for My City Academy [one of the original recommendations for the Welcoming Atlanta office]. There will be a civics-building opportunity for individuals and you’ll encourage others to become citizens. We also have ideas we gained from other states including one in New York that partners veterans with immigrants looking to become citizens – so, those hoping to reach the American dream with those who defended it. There’s nothing set yet, and this is just some initial program planning, but we’re hoping to be able to do it in the future; we’re hoping to grow and to engage the veteran community. Q: We’ve worked together on voter registration outreach being present at City of Atlanta festivals. What are some of your goals around voter registration? Our goals for voter registration mostly revolve around providing opportunities to our partners – in inviting partners to events – to increase the ability of partners to have access to city events and places. [We want] To provide as much opportunity to register voters, but the city does not actually organize most of the festivals that go on in town – we only organize the Soccer Festival and the Jazz Festival. For the rest we just make permits available. We’re also hoping to make it easier on the website to check for opportunities for voter registration – to set up something like an events’ calendar. Q: Looking back on Welcoming Week 2015, what do you feel were some of your greatest successes? What are some things you want to build on for next year? Our biggest success was our Soccer Festival where 433 people attended throughout the day from the community. I was especially glad that 311 was really popular in providing information and the community was really receptive. That was amazing; individuals responded so well to the ability to have this one phone line they could call for any resource. Also [successful were] community dialogues. We held I think five events that were discussion panels, where we were able to have a conversation about the importance of diversity. We had events at Coca-Cola, Georgia State, the Center for Civic Innovation and the German Cultural Center where we had different conversations on diversity, its importance, how enlightening and inspirational it is, and what the city could offer to different communities. Next year, we plan to have a bigger soccer festival with more attendance. We did have lots of requests for tournaments, so we’ll look into that. We want to be able to engage more members of the community. We want more people to know the office exists. We gain a lot from Welcoming Week and we want them to know we’re here to help. We’ll have more events throughout the year that engage soccer – to bring communities together from different nationalities and ethnicities. Be on the lookout for more great events from Welcoming Atlanta, and see all the great ways they are helping to make Atlanta a more welcoming and dialogue-friendly city on their website. You can contact the Welcoming Atlanta office atWelcomingAtlanta@atlantaga.gov. 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