Jane Leu Elected to the Prestigious Ashoka Fellowship

The Founder of Upwardly Global is identified as one of the world's leading social entrepreneurs

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - August 25, 2005 - After identifying the vast untapped potential of underemployed immigrants in the US, Jane Leu founded Upwardly Global to solve this problem and build a professional workforce that is immigrant inclusive. For this achievement and her vision for systemic social change, she has been named one of the top social entrepreneurs in the world by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public.

Upwardly Global is a resource for high potential, yet underemployed immigrants and the Fortune 1000 companies that seek to strengthen their workforces with bilingual, internationally-experienced employees. Upwardly Global currently operates in the San Francisco Bay Area and will open a New York City office later this year, with plans to expand to Miami, Minneapolis, and other metropolitan areas with large immigrant communities over the next five years. Upwardly Global has helped hundreds of immigrants from more than 55 developing nations reclaim their careers in the US and has led more than 70 major employers in embracing immigrant inclusive policies and hiring practices.

Upwardly Global was inspired by founder Jane Leu's work in refugee resettlement where she saw newly arrived refugees being funneled into low-wage, low-skilled jobs, despite their university educations and years of professional experience. Jane strongly believes that with the coming skilled labor shortage in the US, companies will benefit from tapping the diverse, motivated, and well-qualified talent pool of immigrant professionals. She is committed to helping companies gain greater comfort with hiring candidates with foreign degrees and experience, while simultaneously helping immigrants overcome barriers and rise to their full career and leadership potential in the US.

For her innovative approach to workforce access, Leu has been elected an Ashoka Fellow. Once elected to Ashoka, Fellows benefit from being part of the Ashoka global Fellowship for life.

Ashoka elects emerging social entrepreneurs to an international Fellowship of their peers, providing significant financial support and an array of professional services, primarily through three strategic partnerships: McKinsey & Company, Hill & Knowlton, Inc. and the International Senior Lawyers Project. A global organization, Ashoka supports exceptional nonprofit leaders who share qualities traditionally associated with leading business entrepreneurs - vision, innovation, determination, and long-term commitment - but are committed to systemic social change in their fields. Ashoka Fellows are recognized for their innovative solutions to some of society's most pressing social problems.

Ashoka Fellows work in six broad fields: economic development, learning/youth development, the environment, health, human rights, and civic participation. Selection criteria include the social impact of the idea, demonstrated creativity in problem solving, the newness of the idea, and the entrepreneurial quality of the founder.

Like many entrepreneurs in the business community, Leu started Upwardly Global from her kitchen table and worked full-time unpaid for more than 2 years until the organization raised seed funding. Now Upwardly Global has 4 paid staff members, more than 100 volunteers, 70 corporate partners, and the organization has won numerous awards for its innovative model.

About Ashoka

Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, a global organization, identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs - extraordinary individuals with unprecedented ideas for change in their communities - supporting the individual, idea, and institution through all phases of their career. Ashoka's mission is to develop the profession of social entrepreneurship around the world and to shape a citizen sector that is entrepreneurial, productive, and globally integrated. There are more than 1,500 Fellows in 53 countries implementing innovative ideas for change in their communities, countries, and continents. Ashoka does not accept government funding; business entrepreneurs, corporations, individuals, foundations, and volunteer chapters finance Ashoka's work. For more information, visit www.ashoka.org.

About Upwardly Global

Upwardly Global is a visionary social change organization that provides immigrants, refugees, and political asylees the tools and training they need to rebuild their careers in the US. At the same time, Upwardly Global creates real opportunity in the American workplace by partnering with companies to promote immigrant inclusion. For more information, visit www.upwardlyglobal.org.

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Contact:
Judy Rojas
415.834.9901
judy@upwardlyglobal.org