New York Employers Honored for Helping Workers Walk Path to US Citizenship

Today the White House honored five New American Workforce partners as «Champions of Change» for promoting citizenship in the workplace.

A project of the National Immigration Forum, New American Workforce (formerly known as The Bethlehem Project) works with businesses to assist eligible immigrant employees with the citizenship process in seven cities with high concentrations of legal permanent residents: Los Angeles; San Diego; San Jose; New York City; Miami; Washington, D.C.; and Houston.

According to the White House, “These Champions have strengthened their businesses and the American workforce by helping eligible immigrants navigate the naturalization application process. These Champions recognize that citizenship is an asset for businesses, workers and their families, strengthening our overall economy.” This morning’s program featured remarks from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Small Business Administration Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet.

“As a very fortunate immigrant who arrived in America from Ireland with a lottery green card 20 years ago, I have experienced firsthand how the task of earning a U.S. passport could be daunting and difficult. It just made sense to support the New American Workforce, which facilitates the U.S. citizenship process for our colleagues and for the more than 8.8 million immigrants who are eligible,” said honoree Robert Hill, general manager of the InterContinental Miami.

“Through our partnership with the National Immigration Forum, we’ve hosted free citizenship seminars at Tech, which have resulted in more than 80 of our employees, members and their families members connecting with the organization for citizenship,” said Technology Credit Union President and CEO Barbara B. Kamm, also an honoree. “We are helping to build diversity and inclusion in our communities and the workplace, and we’re strengthening our relationships with members and employees.”

“I am honored to have been selected as one of the White House Champions of Change for immigration reform. It’s important for the hundreds of thousands employees across the country who are eligible for American citizenship to know about and take advantage of this opportunity,” said Wendy E. Kallergis, President/CEO of the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association.

“Through our partnership with the National Immigration Forum, our hotel was privileged to become the first business in the nation to field-test the New America Workforce model to help eligible employees become U.S. Citizens,” said honoree Jonathan Plutzik, principal owner and chief operating officer of The Betsy-South Beach. “We then shared our experience to ensure the program would be replicated throughout South Florida so that thousands in the hospitality industry would get the chance to pursue their own American dream. We’re proud now that the program is rippling out across the country.”

Teresita Wisell, Vice President of Westchester Community College in New York State, also was honored.

“These are the employers whose immigrant workforce is contributing to the bottom line, learning English and becoming Americans. The private sector is supporting new Americans’ efforts to get the opportunities, skills and status to reach their fullest potential,” said Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum.

Bios of the five honorees follow.

Robert Hill, Miami Beach, Fla.

Robert Hill is General Manager at the InterContinental Miami hotel. Robert has over 25 years of experience in international luxury hotel management. Under his leadership, the InterContinental Miami continues to be positioned as a socially entrepreneurial organization, involved in many of the region’s civic and social causes. Robert also serves on the National Immigration Forum Advisory Board. As an immigrant having gone through the process of attaining citizenship himself, Robert is passionate about helping others become citizens and live the American Dream. As a result, he offers assistance to all colleagues navigating the citizenship process at the hotel. To date, Robert has assisted 40 colleagues, and 10 have obtained U.S. citizenship.

Wendy Kallergis, Miami Beach, Fla.

Wendy Kallergis is President and CEO of the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association (GMBHA). Under her leadership, GMBHA has partnered with the National Immigration Forum’s New American Workforce, which has made a significant difference in the lives of many hospitality employees. Through this partnership, 13 GMBHA businesses have hosted 15 citizenship workshops that have educated and offered citizenship services to approximately 6,100 employees. Wendy has enhanced her impact by reaching out to and engaging colleagues in other cities who are interested in replicating the program that she runs. Wendy hopes to see the number of hospitality employees who become U.S. citizens triple in the next two years.

Barbara B. Kamm, Los Altos, Calif.

Barbara B. Kamm is President and CEO of Tech CU, a $1.8 billion credit union that has more than 71,000 individual, non-profit, and business members throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Barbara is a passionate advocate for workforce development in the U.S. and has been a leading voice in promoting the value of citizenship to the tech industry and the benefits it brings to the U.S. economy. Under her leadership, Tech CU began providing free seminars with information on citizenship services to its employees and members. Previously, Barbara served as Chief Administrative Officer for Silicon Valley Bank.

Jonathan Plutzik, Miami Beach, Fla.

Jonathan Plutzik is Chairman and principal owner of the The Betsy, a luxury hotel whose business is built around Philanthropy, Arts, Culture, and Education (PACE) programming. Under Jonathan’s leadership, The Betsy has collaborated with almost 250 service-driven organizations. Among other things, The Betsy has actively supported eligible employees’ efforts to become U.S. citizens. Jonathan serves on the Board of Fannie Mae and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Teresita Wisell, White Plains, N.Y.

Teresita Wisell is Vice President and Dean of Continuing Education and Workforce Development at Westchester Community College. In that role, she oversees the Gateway Center, a facility opened in 2010 to expand educational programs and services to the local community. Among other things, the facility offers English language classes, entrepreneurship and financial literacy programs, and citizenship and civic education. Since 2011, the College has offered free civics education to over 250 residents of the county. Of those participating, 60% have applied for citizenship, and 96% of those who have applied have been naturalized.