The theme of NIIC 2011 was “Building A Stronger Democracy: A New Decade For Immigrant Integration.” The fourth conference of its kind, it built on previous conferences by adding significant new content tracks as well as attracting a dynamic group of participants – more than 700 total. NIIC 2011 was hosted by OneAmerica in Seattle, Washington. The overarching goals of the conference were to:
- Increase and deepen our understanding of different components of immigrant integration,
- Highlight promising practices, discuss key challenges and future directions, and provide opportunities for capacity building and training, and
- Widen the field and bring in new allies and partners including local government, host communities, and a wider diversity of immigrant populations.
OneAmerica, the largest immigrant rights organization in Washington State, hosted NIIC 2011 which was held October 24-26 at the Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle.
This was the largest ever iteration of this event, drawing more than 700 participants from across the country to advance a national understanding and dialogue around immigrant integration, elevate immigration issues, share best practices and innovative models around immigrant integration, and to engage diverse sectors in that conversation.