Six Organizations to Support for World Refugee Day: June 20 Marks a Day to Commemorate Refugees Around the Globe

USA - English

• USA - English

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 4, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- According to the UN Refugee Agency, 68.5 million individuals have been forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. Today, the world's forcibly displaced population remains at a record high.

There are many organizations working to support refugees; below are a few inspiring social enterprises serving migrants and refugees around the world through disaster relief, financial services and job placement. Each was chosen to participate in a special accelerator by Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University.

Talent Beyond Boundaries is the only organization in the world connecting refugees to international job opportunities, opening labor mobility as a complementary solution to traditional refugee resettlement.

Needs List is a real-time needs registry for disaster relief and humanitarian aid. The platform aggregates needs from vetted nonprofits, matching them with corporate resources to increase the speed, efficiency, and transparency of crisis response.

Makers Unite creates sustainable products, including tote bags, laptop cases, and travel pouches, that bring a powerful positive message of connecting across cultures. With its social enterprise program, production is handled by newcomers who are employed full time by Makers Unite, and revenue from products is 100% invested back into the program.

Leaf Global Fintech provides virtual financial services to refugees for security and efficiency, allowing safe storage and transport of assets across borders and reducing risk while creating an economic identity.

Five One Labs is a start-up incubator in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq that helps refugees and conflict-affected entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses.

All the World's a Stage is a unique volunteering project for those interested in getting a deeper, more meaningful understanding of the challenges facing refugees. Using a revolutionary method of participatory theatre that enables refugees to explore the challenges in their lives through story and narrative, volunteers will have the opportunity to support refugees in navigating their new lives in their host country, empowering their potential and forming life-long friendships, whilst building their own leadership skills.

"We were inspired by all of the applicants and their imaginative solutions to restore dignity to the most marginalized among our common human family," said Thane Kreiner, Ph.D., Executive Director of Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship. "The enterprises in the SEM cohort were chosen based on their clear impact on displaced people or human trafficking survivors and their ability to benefit from accompaniment by our incredible mentors as they discern how to scale their impact."

Miller Center's pioneering Social Entrepreneurship at the Margins (SEM) Online is a six-month, mentored virtual accelerator program designed to develop social enterprise's impact and business models, at no cost to them. The program was launched in 2018 and is believed to be the first accelerator for social enterprises serving or led by refugees, migrants, or human trafficking survivors. From more than 100 applicants from around the world, 18 organizations were selected to participate in the inaugural program.

Based on the SEM program's success, SEM 2 is being planned now. The call for applications is worldwide; enterprises with impact in Asia are particularly encouraged to apply. Social enterprises that focus on migrants, refugees or human trafficking survivors are invited to apply here. Applications are open until August 2, 2019.

About Miller Center
Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship (website here) has accelerated more than 1000 social enterprises since 2003. These collectively have improved, transformed, or saved the lives of over 380 million people in 100 countries. We help transform social ministries to more sustainable social enterprise models. We engage Santa Clara University students in research that helps social enterprises, leveraging our location in the heart of Silicon Valley and our Jesuit ambition to end poverty and protect the planet.

SOURCE Miller Center