WHY YOU BELONG HERE

You Belong Here guides immigrant women in charting their path to wholeheartedly living the American dream. We also help nonprofit organizations strategize and recruit immigrant leaders to a more diverse and inclusive board, workforce and volunteer pipeline.

You are invited to join us –
a new community of foreign-born women and mainstream Americans connecting to life-changing inclusivity. ​

WHO BELONGS HERE? ​
IMMIGRANT WOMEN!

Feeling like outsiders at meetings because of your accent, skin color, education, class, race or ethnicity
Sharing a deep hunger to making a difference in the world but not sure where to start
Yearning for something more – more life clarity, more significance, more meaningful work or second act
Searching for a diverse tribe of women who accept you for who you are and celebrate each other’s differences

PORCIA'S STORY

I believe we are equal despite our birthplace, skin color, accents, class, education, and other ways we are different. I am a flaming optimist who believes in the goodness of people. I believe it’s worthwhile to strive for ways to find our sameness instead of difference.

As a new American who immigrated to the U.S. forty years ago with my parents, I did not choose to start over in a foreign country, learn a new language, find new friends, adapt to a new culture, and certainly not to become an outsider instantly the moment I arrived in my new home country. Imagine if you were a well-known child actor since age 6. Yet when you arrived in America, there was no longer any recognition. Things were so different. I felt like a nothing.
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And, growing up in mostly white communities in Colorado was not easy, especially before I mastered the English language. Doing it on top of navigating through my teenage years was even more challenging.
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There’s also the hurdle of navigating through professional advancement without native-born parents’ guidance or access to the rules of the game at work or a seat at the table. As anyone who has moved to a new city knows, finding a new community to belong to is hard enough, imagine what it’s like for a foreign-born professional to establish new networks. Below is a cool essay that I resonated with very much.

I decided I had to launch You Belong Here because of my passion to create communities and my calling to help fellow immigrant women to live a wholehearted American Dream. I believe feeling a sense of belonging is a critical component of such an American Dream. And, civic engagement is an important component of feeling a sense of belonging.

Most immigrants have little knowledge of the nonprofit sector in America. I have close to twenty years of experience working for and founding nonprofits. I’m the perfect connector to bridge the gap between immigrants and nonprofits. I want to help immigrants leverage the power of volunteerism as leadership development and personal fulfillment. I also want to share my personal stories of triumphs, lessons learned, effective strategies to find our personal passion, re-invent oneself, create a purposeful life and vocation.

Furthermore, I feel it’s urgent to do my part in have immigrants at the table and in positions of power in today’s political era, racism, and xenophobia.

The Right Mentor for Your Path to the Wholehearted American Dream

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A New American leader who was ‘made in Taiwan,’ Porcia Chen Silverberg is a recognized champion of, and advocate for, the nonprofit sector. She’s advised hundreds of social entrepreneurs, government, and business leaders on sustainable collaborations, community outreach strategies, and current trends. She’ is now a key advisor and speaker on nonprofit, immigrant, and women’s issues.
 
Her past roles at Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Network; as the founder of the National Center for Community Relations in Denver; and in nine years as Executive Director at Thrive, The Alliance of Nonprofits for San Mateo County, Porcia made recurring and substantial contributions to the nonprofit world, serving individuals and organizations alike.
 
While working with these business and nonprofit organizations “You Belong Here” was born. Realizing that barriers, both personal and within the communities, continued to exist for women, Porcia made a commitment to help other immigrant women break through to Belong in America.
  
Realizing that barriers, both personal and within the communities, continued to exist for women, Porcia made a commitment to help other immigrant women break through to life changing inclusivity.  She recognized that her own struggles of starting over in a new country as a teen are still repeated today in American communities. Learning a new language, finding new friends, and adapting to a new culture are not only overwhelming and stressful, but create feelings of inadequacy.
 
Therefore, Porcia’s new business focuses on guiding other immigrant women – mothers, sisters, and daughters – through a Life-Changing Inclusivity progression. Passionately dedicated to help others live the wholehearted American dream, “You Belong Here” is designed to help them confidently claim their voice and their seat at the table – just as she did.

Recognize Yourself in Porcia’s story?