Finalists of the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award
Talent Beyond Boundaries is among five finalists for the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award, a global competition launched earlier this year to secure a brighter, more durable future for refugees around the world.
Today, Lever for Change and ICONIQ Impact announced the five organisations advancing to the next stage of the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award. Talent Beyond Boundaries has been selected as a finalist after a rigorous peer-review and expert panel assessment for our work unlocking skilled migration solutions for refugees.
The winner of the Award will be announced in March 2021. We are excited to be among an inspiring group of finalists, each doing impressive work to transform refugee lives:
This Award, made possible by philanthropists Chris Larsen and Lyna Lam, and the Sea Grape Foundation, is determined to find and fund bold solutions that will achieve significant social change. The five finalists have been selected because they are promising solutions that will not only improve the well-being of refugees in the short term but can also be scaled up to help secure a durable future for refugees in the long term.
The Award was inspired by Lyna Lam’s own experiences. In the 1980s, the Lam family emigrated from Vietnam to the United States, arriving with limited resources. A loan from their local Vietnamese community helped them start a business and achieve stability.
It’s migrant stories like this that inspired the creation of Talent Beyond Boundaries, and our efforts to transform global migration and recruitment systems so that more refugees can use their skills, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to build brighter futures.
Being selected as a finalist is further confirmation of the powerful change that is possible when refugees are given the chance to leverage their own skills to access durable solutions.
It also validates the work of critical partners who have worked tirelessly to get us to this point. The innovative employers who have backed this program, the talented skilled professionals who have competed for jobs and migrated out of displacement so far, and the forward-thinking philanthropists, governments and refugee-serving organisations that are vital to enable this work to happen.
With the right resources and support, we can scale our work so that refugees have equitable access to international recruitment and skilled migration opportunities, transforming the lives of refugees and businesses and communities for the better.
This is our mission.
While we might not win the competition, we are proud to be in such great company and committed to the vital work of opening labour pathways for refugees.
Wish us luck!
