October 18, 2004

During a press conference at the start of the Akron Leadership Meeting, Conference President Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic and Advisory Board Chair Dearborn Mayor Michael A. Guido joined with the Knight Foundation to announce a new initiative targeted to helping cities help immigrants in Knight communities become citizens, vote and play an active role in community civic life.

"How we treat newcomers is a reflection of our commitment to the American tradition of freedom and opportunity for all," said Hodding Carter III, Knight Foundation president and CEO. "To support elected leaders and communities where we have had a presence in for as long as a half century, Knight Foundation is investing an initial $13.5 million to help newcomers achieve the American dream and contribute to the economic, social and civic health of communities."

Working with nationally respected nonprofits as well as local organizations in those 26 communities where the foundation has an established presence, Knight will support approaches that increase rates of naturalization, improve English-language education, and strengthen the local and national network of immigrant-serving organizations across the country. The foundation will also establish an American Dream Fund, which will work closely with local Knight community advisory committees to provide operating support to local organizations working on immigrant integration.

Knight Foundation is also working with Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Open Society Institute, and the Joyce and Mertz Gilmore foundations to pool resources to increase immigrants' civic participation, support public policies that create a wider path to citizenship for immigrants, and build a stronger infrastructure of organizations working on immigrants' behalf at the local and national level.