Philadelphia is home to immigrants from all over the world. They strengthen our neighborhoods, businesses, and schools. But newcomers often face barriers: services that are hard to find, systems that are hard to navigate, and too few connections to the people who can help. The Welcoming Network was created to address those challenges in an inclusive and strategic way that will make Philadelphia better for all residents.
What is the Welcoming Network?
The Office of Immigrant Affairs launched the Welcoming Network (TWN) in 2022. It serves as a cross-sector collaboration of public and private partners committed to the successful inclusion of immigrants in Philadelphia.
Members include:
- Maridarlyn Gonzalez – PEW Charitable Trusts
- Rezwan Natiq – AmeriHealth Caritas
- Steven Larin – Immigration Attorney/Independent Consultant
- Miranda Alexander – Caribbean Community of Philadelphia
- Clara Jerez – Catholic Charities of Philadelphia
- Ousmane Ndiaye – Community Support Center PHL
- Wendpenga Sawadego – Burkina Faso Community Association
- Sarun Chan – Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia
- Tanya Dhingra – Coral Health Advisors
They meet regularly to learn about immigrant communities, build new partnerships, grow resources, and push for policies that make Philadelphia more welcoming.
Partners include representatives from Pew Charitable Trusts, AmeriHealth Caritas, the Caribbean Community of Philadelphia, Catholic Charities of Philadelphia, Community Support Center PHL, the Burkina Faso Community Association, the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia, and the City’s Department of Public Health.
Led by people with lived experience
The network is built on authentic community engagement. People with lived as immigrants and are full partners in every part of the work, not just advisers. Their voices:
- Give deeper insight into what communities need
- Help everyone learn from real experiences
- Make sure community members feel ownership over the solutions
Welcoming Network Steering Committee Member Miranda Alexander shares some thoughts on why she is a SC member:
“As a founding member of the Welcoming Network Taskforce and a member of the Welcoming Network Steering Committee, for 3 years, I enjoy the strategic planning work we do for our beloved city. I like our quarterly convenings with our extended immigrant business community. I enjoy promoting Welcoming Week, Immigrant Business Week and Immigrant Heritage Month.
We as a committee can weather the storms of life together in a co-creating room with leaders from diverse backgrounds to share and leverage policies, uphold immigrants rights in public spaces, work and community. I like that we are being intentional about immigrants, refugees and asylees.”
What the network has built
The Welcoming Network works through action teams that turn ideas into projects. So far, the network has launched two:
- The Welcoming Community Resource Finder. The network’s first project is an online tool that helps immigrants and the people who support them find services across the city. The tool covers important resources, such as immigration legal help, health care, English classes and more. Explore the Resource Finder.
- Rooted Together: Co-creating Immigrant Mental Wellness. The network’s second project is a workshop series that occurred in September 2026 that focused on immigrant mental health and making behavioral health services easier to access for immigrants. The data from the workshops is being analyzed now and
Get involved
The Welcoming Network is always looking for new partners. If your organization serves immigrant communities, or wants to, we’d love to hear from you.
The best way to start is to join one of our free virtual information sessions. You’ll learn how the network works, what our action teams are doing, and how your organization can take part. You can also email us at WelcomingNetwork@phila.gov.
