Portland immigrant center honors late leader with scholarship for language learners
Photos / Maureen Milliken and Courtesy, Immigrant Welcome Center
The late Alain J. Nahimana, left, former executive director of the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center, and Interim Executive Director Shima Kabirigi.
The Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center on Thursday unveiled a scholarship named for its former leader, Alain J. Nahimana, who died on May 31.
Nahimana, a native of Burundi, co-founded the center in 2017 with Rwanda native Damas Rugaba, as a hub of collaboration to help immigrants to Maine reach their full civic, economic and social potential.
Fluent in several languages, he also served as the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center's executive director from 2017 to 2020 and was honored on the Mainebiz 2018 Next list for his contribution to the state's economy.
The Alain J. Nahimana Scholarship for Learning English is being launched in partnership with Voxy, a New York-based provider of an English-learning web platform and mobile app the center uses for digital language lessons.
In offering the scholarship, the center and Voxy said they will work together to strengthen the immigrant community through vocational and academic language acquisition. Nahimana told Mainebiz in a September 2017 "On the Record" interview that language barriers are among the greatest obstacles for immigrants wanting to start a business.
"Alain Nahimana began the [Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center] based on his own experience and observation of barriers to immigrant integration in America," Shima Kabirigi, the center's interim executive director, told Mainebiz. "In creating this scholarship, Voxy honors the legacy of Alain Nahimana by offering access to English learning, which removes the barriers to work opportunity and civic engagement in America."
50 learners sought
The scholarship will allow an initial cohort of 50 learners to access Voxy’s language learning platform, beginning this month. For six months, learners will enjoy unlimited access to Voxy’s General English courses and Career Pathway content, which serves as a hybrid English language acquisition and workforce development model.
Voxy is also the platform used for language lessons to immigrants employed at MaineHealth, in a partnership profiled in a Mainebiz print feature article last year.
“Refugees and immigrants face a range of systemic barriers to success in school and at work, but language is by far the biggest impediment,” said Katharine Nielson, Voxy's chief education officer, in a news release. “This scholarship is representative of Alain’s dedication to equal access to opportunity, and will improve the lives of many Maine residents for years to come.”
Participants must be registered students of the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center and have demonstrated an interest in improving their English as a way to achieve economic stability or career advancement.
At the end of the six-month period, Voxy will facilitate a mock job interview and communication skills webinar training to help ensure workforce readiness for all program participants.
Applicants must be a high-need immigrant, asylum seeker or someone who has been granted asylum, or refugee. Other requirements include having computer literacy skills; a GED credential or higher education Interest and goals related to higher education, business opportunities; or career advancement; the ability to devote three to four hours a week to learning on the Voxy platform; and residency in Maine.
Job search and virtual fundraiser
The scholarship launch comes as the center continues its search for a new executive director to succeed Nahimana. Asked how that is going, Kabirigi told Mainebiz that it is getting a strong candidate pool and plans to start interviewing soon.
The Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center is also organizing a virtual fundraiser from 5-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, "The Power of WE, 2020 and Beyond," to highlight its work and raise money for programming.
Its goal is to raise $15,000, to be matched by two unnamed donors.
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