Dr. Ruth Ellen Wasem, Senior Fellow at the Levin College of Public Affairs and Education at Cleveland State University, and expert on immigration and citizenship policies, refugee and human security policies, and legislative development will be a featured speaker for the City Club of Cleveland's October 25 forum which will address how Cleveland can leverage the many talents of immigrants and refugees who join our communities, and truly become a global city for all? 

Dr. Wasem, who joined the Levin faculty after serving as a professor of public policy practice at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin, continues to be engaged in Washington, D.C., and as an opinion contributor for The Hill.  During Tuesday's forum, Dr. Wasem will provide introductory remarks, to be followed by a panel conversation with local immigrant leaders including Kwame Botchway, Larisse Mondok, and Marina Jackman. The conversation will be moderated by Patrick Espinosa, the Managing Partner at Sus Abogados Latinos. 

Cleveland has always been a welcoming, gateway city. Immigrants and refugees are playing an increasingly critical role in every facet of Greater Cleveland's economy. According to Global Cleveland, they are twice as likely as native-born to become entrepreneurs, and nearly one-fifth of immigrants age 27 years or older in the Cleveland metro area have a graduate or professional degree--contributing to the "brain gain" needed to support a thriving city. 

But recent national politics and policies have changed the rhetoric around immigrants and refugees, blurring fact from fiction. This has created a challenging environment for newcomers to our country. Tickets for the forum can be purchased on the City Club of Cleveland website which will also livestream the event beginning at noon.