Refugee Artisan Initiative
Refugee Artisan Initiative partners with refugee and immigrant women to build skills, launch small businesses, and craft sustainable products that empower communities and protect our planet.
60% of Refugee Women are unemployed in the U.S.
This is the highest unemployment rate of any group in the U.S.
60% of Refugee Women are unemployed in the U.S.
This is the highest unemployment rate of any group in the U.S.
A Problem of Plenty: Single use materials
Due to a system that rewards consumerism, many materials receive only a single use before they end up in the landfill.
A Problem of Plenty: Single use materials
Due to a system that rewards consumerism, many materials receive only a single use before they end up in the landfill.
At RAI, artisans receive upskilling and micro-business training to overcome barriers to employment and begin handcrafting goods from recycled materials. This innovative approach champions both equity and sustainability: women achieve economic independence, and materials that would otherwise go to landfills find a second (or even third or more) use.
At RAI, artisans receive upskilling and micro-business training to overcome barriers to employment and begin handcrafting goods from recycled materials. This innovative approach champions both equity and sustainability: women achieve economic independence, and materials that would otherwise go to landfills find a second (or even third or more) use.
RAI partners with refugee and immigrant women to foster an inclusive, prosperous transition to the U.S. through artisan skills training and microbusiness development.
Our vision is a community that values and invests in refugee and immigrant women as they achieve economic independence.
RAI partners with refugee and immigrant women to foster an inclusive, prosperous transition to the U.S. through artisan skills training and microbusiness development.
Our vision is a community that values and invests in refugee and immigrant women as they achieve economic independence.
Hayden came to RAI through her desire to be active in the Lake City community while she was still a member of the tenured English faculty at Edmonds College. She has since retired, but retains the deep commitment to education, mentorship and diversity initiatives that inspired that career. Her current work is in property management, which allows her to work from her laptop—often from Kenya, where she has spent the last 20 years as the International Program Director for Cura Orphanage.
April is a month of blossoming flowers, warmer weather, and the transition from the long days of winter. Spring is a time for new beginnings, personal reflection, setting intentions, and entering a new chapter.
This RAI team member, who wished to remain anonymous, immigrated to the US from Vietnam and used her sewing skills to become a RAI artisan. She later became the office bookkeeper as she had a previous working experience in Vietnam in that role. Now, she feels like she’s in her dream job at RAI.
