Omaha organization helps refugees find jobs, emphasizes their economic impact

The International Council for Refugees and Immigrants offers programs preparing refugees to enter the workforce, support to refugee students and grants to help refugees start businesses.

The organization’s founder and executive director, Dekow Sagar, is a former refugee. Sagar was born in Somalia but later lived in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, where refugees fled from the Somalian civil war. Sagar said his personal experience was what led him to start the nonprofit.

“I can relate to this population on different levels because I’ve been on both sides of the table,” he said.

Sagar said he thinks it’s important to highlight the refugee population in Nebraska and refugees’ contributions to the state’s economy.

“They are part of the state of Nebraska,” he said. “It’s a growing demographic with the same needs just like the mainstream population,” he said.

According to data from the Immigrant Research Initiative, more than 145,000 immigrants and refugees live in Nebraska and account for 8% of the state’s population. Immigrants and refugees also account for 8% of the state’s GDP. 

While 27% of Nebraska’s U.S.-born workers earn less than $35,000 a year, that percentage is 40% for immigrants and refugees, according to the Immigrant Research Initiative data.

Many refugees come to the U.S. with former experience such as working as an electrician or a doctor, but it can be difficult for those refugees to navigate the steps necessary to use that experience in the U.S., Sagar said. The organization helps provide those resources for refugees to continue their former careers or start in a new field offering higher-paying jobs. 

“You look at the background of these individuals and you will be surprised how accomplished a lot of them are,” Sagar said.

The Career Pathways program also helps address workforce gaps in the state by credentialing and recertifying individuals in high-demand industries, Sagar said.

The organization also has a Microenterprise Development Program that offers small-business loans and provides STEM programming and mentoring for refugee and immigrant children.

Sagar said while the Career Pathways program works to address current workforce shortages, the STEM program hopes to prepare students for the high-demand careers of the future.

“We focus on the skills not only for the individuals that can actually get employed right now, but also building the pipeline from kids in middle school to high school so that once they’re ready to enter into the workforce, they do have the necessary, relevant, in-demand skills,” he said.

Helping refugees enter careers that fit their experience is helpful both for them and the local economy, Sagar said.

“For so long, they have lived in the periphery, and I don’t think that has been productive both for the state and for themselves,” he said.