The primary objective of this initiative on the integration of immigrants in the workplace is to illuminate successful policies, practices and processes. An early review of the literature - both popular and academic - showed that the processes for effective immigrant integration are, for the most part, simply taken for granted in the United States. However, we also noted that immigrants are finding their way and advancing in the workforce. This suggested that employers, workers and communities have both formal and informal processes supporting integration.  Therefore, we concluded that a reasonable early step to the development of more formal policies and practices was to describe with what actually was occurring in the field.

Effective immigrant integration at the workforce level requires a level playing field for all workers and businesses established through a series of thoughtful and explicit policies and practices by each of the key stakeholders. Immigrants are a significant part of a rapidly growing number of labor markets. Their integration needs to be a major component of an area's workforce strategy, whether it is aimed immediately at high wage - high skill labor or initially at lower skilled workers that are afforded opportunities to pursue career pathways leading to high skill jobs. However, integration is not in itself an achievable endpoint, but an organic, highly local, two-way process engaging all key actors in a community. Therefore, it needs to be monitored and adjusted constantly to meet the needs of all stakeholders.

A fundamental premise of this project is that in order for an integration strategy to be considered successful, it must achieve that success simultaneously at three levels:

• The employer: immigrant workers must be able to function safely, effectively, and efficiently in the workplace, and add value to enable to the employer meet competitive challenges
• The worker: immigrant workers must become self-sufficient and be afforded a fair opportunity to fulfill career goals and grow wealth
• The community: all members of the community, especially low-wage workers, must justifiably believe that they are functioning on a level playing field and that services and opportunities are being distributed fairly and equitably. In addition, in order for integration to be successful, the community as a whole must grow socially, culturally and economically as it faces up to the challenges of greater diversity.

The project was advised by a diverse group of policy makers, researchers, educators, community activists, labor and business leaders, and experts in workforce development or immigrant services. The following are some of the resources developed in connection with this project.