Once you, as an employer, organization, or policy officer, have established a connection with informal networks or communities of newcomers, it is important to make this access sustainable. In part 3 of our series on the importance of connecting with informal networks and communities of newcomers, you can read how various experts in the field of informal networks or communities of newcomers have created sustainable cooperation and connections.
Working on sustainable access and connection during collaboration
There are various ways to convert access to informal networks or communities of newcomers into sustainable access and connection. According to the experts who spoke during the webinar, there are a number of building blocks that contribute to making access and connection more sustainable when collaborating with informal networks.
Maja Coric, one of the founders of Stichting Vluchtelingen Ambassadeurs (Refugee Ambassadors Foundation), explains that the most important building blocks for sustainable cooperation with the ambassadors turned out to be representation, ownership, space to get to know society, and equal remuneration. When newcomers see themselves reflected in all layers of the organization, they feel more involved in the mission of the collaboration. In the long term, this means that they will show more commitment. At the same time, it is important to give people from the informal network the space to tell their own stories. This ensures that they become co-owners of the collaboration. Also give newcomers from informal networks the space to explore Dutch society by facilitating encounters: "By participating in training, meeting employers, or going to schools and talking to Dutch children and teachers, you are also exploring for yourself: 'How does it actually work? In addition, she believes that equal pay is also an important building block. People invest time and effort in the collaboration, so they should also be rewarded for it.
According to the experts who spoke, room for development also appears to be an important building block. Ensure that people are given the opportunity to develop skills during the process or collaboration. For Hassan Mahamed, one of the founders of Saeda, this was one of the most important visions when setting up his company. With his organization Saeda, he offers intercultural assistance to newcomer families who are trying to find their place in Dutch society. In order to be able to offer this intercultural assistance, he looked for potential employees who literally and figuratively spoke the language of the families. Having the right qualifications was less important to him. When potential employees fit the profile, Saeda offers them internal training. Hassan talks about one of his employees: "I received an email saying: 'Would you consider this person for a possible contract within your organization? And it turned out that this was a man who had fled his country about five years ago and was a professor there. His degree was recognized here as a university degree in applied psychology, but he was working shifts in a factory. I thought, 'This just can't be right.' Now, this employee is not only employed, but he is also SKJ registered. By lifting committed people out of volunteer work and offering them internal or accredited training opportunities, you work together on an equal footing, offering people prospects within a collaborative framework. This can greatly strengthen the bond.
Working on sustainable access and connection after the collaboration
Even after the collaboration has ended, you can continue to work as an employer, organization, or policy officer on a sustainable connection with informal networks and communities of newcomers. Jamal Chrifi, project leader for education and the labor market at Movisie, has a lot of experience with this. He was involved in developing the K!X method, a way to work with municipalities and employers to help newcomers find work, among other things. After the program has ended, he believes it is necessary for the various parties to stay in touch with each other through meetings. "I ask the municipalities in particular to involve the people themselves in organizing these meetings, so that they can also provide input. This way, people feel involved and participate." During these meetings, it is important that the various parties assess where they are now, what they have learned, and how they could potentially help each other in the future. In this way, both organizations and informal networks or communities of newcomers know that they can always rekindle relationships that have cooled off.
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This article is based on the webinar "The importance of connecting with informal networks and communities of newcomers" and is available online here.
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We wrote this article based on the insights from the webinar.
Experts
Abdel Harchaou, director and one of the founders of DOK030 in Utrecht
Djawad Ahmadi, project assistant at Stichting De Werkshop
Inge Goorts, project leader and advisor on Health for Status Holders at Pharos
Tamer Allaloush, community manager at OpenEmbassy
Aisha Ahmed, community manager at the Welcome App
Emmylou Aben, founder of Pitztop
Mohammed Badran, founder of the Syrian Volunteers in The Netherlands
Maja Coric, one of the founders of the Refugee Ambassadors Foundation / OpenEmbassy
Hassan Mahamed, one of the founders of Saeda Foundation
Jamal Chrifi, project leader for education & labor market at Movisie
