December 4, 2024—Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB) is proud to announce the launch of the Displaced STEM Professionals Initiative (DSPI). With funding from the Talent Mobility Fund, this initiative leverages existing legal immigration pathways to connect outstanding displaced STEM professionals with advanced degrees and high-level experience with U.S. employers seeking to fill roles in critical and emerging technology fields.

Betsy Fisher, TBB’s U.S. Director, said: “Millions of people have been forced to flee their countries, and many have outstanding credentials in STEM fields. They hold patents, have made key research discoveries, and have extensive publications. The Displaced STEM Professionals Initiative will empower these professionals to access U.S. employment and to contribute to U.S. firms through lawful immigration pathways.”

Amy Nice, Co-Director of the Talent Mobility Fund and Head of U.S. STEM Immigration, notes: “The animating thesis of the Talent Mobility Fund is that by understanding processes under existing law and regulation, we can develop projects that will help U.S. employers, their lawyers, international STEM experts, and universities realize there are current options available. Talent Beyond Boundaries’ project fits right in - it focuses on identifying STEM experts that happen to have been forced out of their home countries by the breakdown of civil society yet are poised to use their expertise to advance science, technology, and engineering endeavors of high importance.” 

To start, the initiative will identify displaced people with STEM PhDs from within TBB’s Talent Catalog, an open-source job matching platform for displaced people. The first cohort may include individuals such as a TBB candidate with a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology, over 20 years of biomedical research and laboratory experience, more than 40 publications, a patent, and receipt of an array of grants and awards. Another TBB candidate has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, served as a postdoctoral fellow in communications systems, has 29 peer-reviewed publications as well as numerous awards. 

These exceptional professionals will be supported in securing roles in the U.S. in critical and emerging technology fields, such as semiconductor manufacturing, green technology, and artificial intelligence. A group of industry advisors will provide insights on current and projected hiring needs and key skills that are in demand in their respective industries. 

For U.S. employers who rely on  hiring STEM professionals, or have an interest in advising the DSPI as an industry expert or partnering with TBB in other ways, please contact dspi@talentbeyondboundaries.org.

About Talent Beyond Boundaries
TBB is a nonprofit organization that has pioneered refugee labor mobility, opening new pathways in twelve countries for refugees to access lasting refuge and decent work by leveraging their skills. TBB also supports displaced people in rebuilding their lives with safety and dignity by connecting them with employers in need of their skills, with more than 2,000 people securing relocation opportunities to date. This work is built on the Talent Catalog, an open-source job matching platform for displaced people, where more than 120,000 displaced people have registered their skills and experience.

About the Talent Mobility Fund 

The Talent Mobility Fund is a philanthropic organization dedicated to empowering individuals to move to opportunities by increasing the utilization of existing legal immigration pathways. TMF’s mission encompasses leveraging these pathways to facilitate talent mobility, thereby contributing to economic growth, innovation, and the reduction of global poverty. The Fund operates through two tracks: U.S. STEM Immigration and Global Mobility. The Talent Mobility Fund is a fiscally sponsored project of the Digital Harbor Foundation.