EndPovertyEdmonton (EPE) is engaging communities to take action to end poverty. One such action is co-designing solutions to address employment challenges among Bhutanese newcomers to the city. Since 2018, the Bhutanese community with EPE, Skills Society, the MCHB Coop and the City of Edmonton created prototypes that aim to support the attainment of gainful employment..

About the Project

The newcomer population in Edmonton is diverse. While there are settlement and employment supports available for newcomers, they may not be responsive for smaller immigrant and refugee communities who face multiple barriers such as limited English Language skills, limited education, and complex socio-economic challenges. The Bhutanese community is one such community. Despite demonstrating tremendous resilience, cultural wealth, and hopeful optimism that their lives will be better in their new homeland, the 350 members living in Edmonton, find current systems and supports often do not adequately support them in overcoming the multi-faceted barriers to employment they face.

Why focus on this Community?

The three prototypes reflect the multiple challenges the community experiences in seeking employment. Co-designed with the Bhutanese community, the prototypes demonstrate how to build on community strengths and talents to fulfill their aspirations for a productive and secure future in their new homeland.

The Result: 3 Prototypes

What We’ve Learned

Design by Doing 2.0Bhutanese Employment Lab

Over forty people attended the lab workshops including: Bhutanese community members with lived experience of employment challenges, front-line service deliverers, service designers, and staff of numerous organizations including the City of Edmonton, the Government of Alberta, Multicultural Health Brokers, Cultural Connections Institute, University of Alberta, Catholic Social Services, and Norquest College.

What was the Process?

1 Initial ResearchPre-lab workshops took place over the course of 6 months. During these workshops the stewardship group researched, explored, and worked alongside Bhutanese community leaders to scope the challenge area. After a great deal of discussion and learning, employment was selected as the core challenge area.

2 Co-Designing our ProcessA period of learning took place, during which the stewardship team learned from the Bhutanese community leaders how their community generally approaches problem solving in their cultural context. Allowing this information to guide us, and drawing on human centered design principles, we worked alongside the Bhutanese community leaders to co-create culturally sensitive lab tools and processes.

3 Generate, Refine, TestFollowing a human centered design process, members of the Bhutanese community, leaders of nonprofits, and service providers came together to explore the challenges of employment. After the 2 day workshop, those who confirmed they wanted to keep refining and working on prototypes to transform them into potential pilots, came together for a prototype refining and upgrading workshop.

Who is Involved in this Project?

PROTOTYPE

1Supplemental English

Language Learning for Employment

Barriers to Employment for Marginalized Newcomer Communities

PROTOTYPE

2Supported

Micro-Enterprise

PROTOTYPE

3Community-Led

Employment Brokering

Why are there Bhutanese Refugees?These Bhutanese people are the former citizens of a tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, bordered between India and China. In the 1980s, a policy of ethnic cleansing was implemented by the then Royal Government of Bhutan that resulted in more than105,000 people of Nepali ethnicity fleeing the country in refugee camps in Nepal since the early 1990s and later resettled by the UNCHR across the world.

With no hope to repatriate to their homeland, the Bhutanese refugees who chose Edmonton as their new home in Canada came with hopes of a better life amidst the trauma and persistent hardships that they have experienced for almost two decades. As newcomers to the city, they have aspired to build a community, bring their cultural wealth, innate talents and skills so that they find their place in their new homeland and truly belong and participate in the city’s economic and civic life.

Part of the Road MapThe five-year Road Map is a community plan that builds on the EPE Strategy. It wilI activate actions towards fulfilling the vision of ending poverty within a generation.

The creation of a “Design by Doing” action lab to catalyze grassroots community-led projects is Action #34 in the Roadmap. The goal of this action is to change the conversation and build a movement to end poverty in Edmonton.

Finding Solutions TogetherOften governments, and community organizations try to create solutions FOR communities rather than WITH real input and feedback from communities.

Stewardship Team

PaigeBen

What is a Prototype?Prototyping is making ideas visual and tangible. A prototype is a low cost version of an idea that can be tested, tweaked and made better with feedback. A prototype could be a product, a service, a program, a policy, a system, a movement, a role, or an interaction.

Desired Outcome

A Supported Journey to Gainful Employment and Economic Integration for the Bhutanese Community in Edmonton

Supports Created to Enhance Employability

Supports Created for Sustained Employment and Livlihood

Pathways to Full Economic Participation

Appropriate English

learning

Orientation to the Canadian employment environment

Strengthen prior learning

& skills

Orientation & coaching on

the Canadian workplace

Strengthen English in the

workplace

Guidance for career options

Access to business

resources

Intercultural communication

skills

Positive intercultural interaction & relationships

Long-term employment

Roadmap to suitable career development

Sustainable entrepreneurial

opportunities

The pathway to successful integration of marginalized newcomer communities starts with building culturally responsive supports for gainful employment and livelihood. For these communities, many barriers exist both before and after employment is found.

Pre-Employment• Language Barriers

• Limited understanding of Canadian employment practices

• Prior learning skills

Employment• Limited knowledge of

Canadian workplace culture and practices

• The need to “fit in”

Self Employment• Difficulty in navigating

the Canadian business environment

• Limited access to capital

Shiva SusannahLucenia YvonneRohit Sarah

Our Solution: Entrepreneurship Broker (A Knowledgeable Guide)Many newcomers have the interest in starting their own small businesses but do not know where to start. An ‘entrepreneurship broker’ acts as a guide, helping to get them on the right track and answer any questions. The guide must establish a strong working relationship with the individuals they are supporting and must have knowledge of the individual’s cultural background.

Supported Micro-Enterprise

Prototype Team

Heidi

Rabin Shiva

Nari

PROTOTYPE

2

What is the Problem? New-comers who want to start a small business are often at a disadvantage and quickly become frustrated with the process of beginning a business.

BarriersNew-comers who want to start a small business are often at a disadvantage because they have:

• Limited knowledge of suitable markets in a Canadian context (where to sell and what to sell)

• No access to start up funds and limited networks

• No credit rating established

• Lack of knowledge of systems such as taxes, licenses, accounting, or small business responsibilities

• Difficulty connecting to the marketplace and language limitations

1 The Guide Identifies EntrepreneursThe guide would get to know individuals interested in growing a small business or ‘side hustle’. The guide helps them to decide the scale of their business and how much growth is right for them.

2 Guided Visits to Local MarketsIndividuals interested in selling goods in Canada must see first-hand what a Canadian small-business context looks like. Visits to markets and craft fairs help potential entrepreneurs to see what kinds of products are sold, for what price, and how items need to be packaged and displayed.

3 Getting the Proper SetupThe guide helps the individual to acquire equipment necessary for their small business and helps them to navigate the red tape and bureaucracy (licenses, permits, paperwork, accounting) that comes with starting a small business.

4 A Sense of Accomplishment and IntegrationThe individual is ready to produce their product and sell it on a small scale. They have built trust in their entrepreneurship broker who guides and advises; understanding how their business (side hustle) can work as a means to patch income. They are able to pass on their knowledge to other members of their community.

More than a BusinessSmall side businesses can foster a strong sense of belonging as people feel able to use their unique talents and skills to contribute to the economic life of their homeland.

By enabling individuals to explore the possibility of starting a small side business you :

• Build confidence

• Foster a deeper understanding of business and selling in a western cultural context

• Provide a sense of accomplishment

• Support the economic integration of that individual

Guided help and hands on support for members of new-comer communities who are interested in using their unique talents and skills to start a small home-based business.

The Big Idea

Members of the Bhutanese community and other similar cultural groups who are looking to use their unique talents and skills to start a small home-based business for supplementary income.

Who is This For?

To test this prototype, we facilitated a meeting between someone with an established relationship and strong working knowledge of the Bhutanese culture with a Bhutanese community member and trialled selling crafts at a local market.

In this process we learned:

• The guide is essential for success. Challenges cannot necessarily be predicted and without the essential support of a guide, the individual would be unable to pursue this pathway to employment.

• Trust is essential for success. The guide must have a deep understanding of the individual’s cultural background to be able to bridge between the individual’s home and Canadian contexts and must work to establish a strong and trusting relationship with the individual.

Tried and True Next Steps

Multicultural Health Brokers is already on board with this project. They have begun testing with a knowledgeable Entrepreneurship Broker but need funds to sustain their work with newcomers who are starting small businesses.

If you can contribute funds to this project or are interested in taking part, please contact:

Heidi heidiveluw@live.ca Shiva shivachapagai35@yahoo.ca

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Next Steps

CONTACTINFO

MARKET

Career Coach/Mentor

Is an expert in their employment and can give valuable long-term career advice outside of and within the workplace

Role• Establishes a close

relationship with newcomer and learns about their career and long-term employment goals (can also offer help with short term goals i.e. accreditation, etc.)

• Helps community members identify and connect with relevant mentors of their desired fields of employment/career

Employment Broker

Bilingual & bi-cultural, the Employment Broker has deep knowledge of the newcomer’s cultural community and mediates between newcomers and employment services through (and with) the Employment Connector

Role• Seeks out community

members seeking gainful employment who experience different levels of barriers to the team

• Becomes deeply familiar with individual community members’ assets, strengths, challenges and life realities

• Bridges linguistic gaps & cultural distance between newcomers and the employment services/training programs

• Provides continued support before and after employment is secured by mediating between employers and the newcomer

Employment Connector

Ideally works for an employment-oriented program or centre and has intimate knowledge of the local employment landscape, as well as the realities of the community members seeking gainful employment

Role • Provides advice on job

application processes and helps connect the newcomer to opportunities suitable to their needs and capacities

• Animate discussions about experiences of newcomers in the area of employment access and share these with appropriate agencies

• Uses culturally appropriate venues to provide info on different employment services and programs that they are eligible for.

Community-LedEmployment Brokering

LONG TERM

PROTOTYPE

3

What is the Problem? Expanded access to information about employment opportunities and services is needed, particularly for refugee and new-comer communities with specific cultural and language barriers. These multi-barriered communities require outreach to develop relationships with employment service providers.

Our Solution: Community-led Employment BrokeringWorking with a core group of stakeholders (City of Edmonton, employment programs and training institutions) we will create a process of relationship building and assemble a team that can support new-comers before, during, and after their search for employment.

1 Forming the Brokering TeamAn employment brokering team of practitioners will be recruited to provide a holistic, culturally-based and responsive support to the Bhutanese newcomers seeking employment opportunities.

2 Organizing a Newcomer Employment and Training Resources FairOnce the employment brokering team is formed, a community event will be held. The employment brokering team will be present at the event will help nurture relationships. They will begin the work on a follow-up plan with the newcomer community and relevant service providers and training institutions.

3 Economic Integration for NewcomersNewcomers with multiple barriers and existing strengths & experiences become familiar with and connected to the most relevant employment/training services. In the process, such providers become more knowledgeable about the needs/realties of newcomers and work towards adjusting their services to meet these needs.

Newcomers receive sustained and culturally relevant support to find and secure gainful employment, specific to their needs, challenges and aspirations. Those who wish to advance beyond the employment they have secured to attain career goals are well supported over time, leading them to having mentors along the way, and ultimately achieving their career and economic goals.

BarriersBhutanese and smaller immigrant and refugee communities often struggle to find employment because they:

• Have limited awareness of existing employment and training/education services

• May have pre-migration employment skills and experience, but not ‘Canadian work experience’

• Have experience in rural working environments but not urban ones

• Speak with accented English and are discriminated against even when their English skills are strong

• Have lived many years in refugee camps where there were no formal employment opportunities

Innovation!Cultural brokering as an evidence-based practice is known and proven in the social services and health sectors where they work with individuals/families to help navigate complex systems and services. Here, the cultural broker concept is applied to support members of smaller immigrant and refugee communities marginalized from the mainstream settlement and employment services.

Such support does not exist and is not recognized in current employment assistance programs.

Prototype Team

Devika

Susannah

Lucenia Nara

Yvonne

This prototype is a sustained process of employment support, career guidance and workplace mentoring for multi-barriered newcomer communities with limited access to employment opportunities.

The Big Idea

Members of smaller newcomer communities who may have different levels of literacy & English, education (training) and previous work experience and encounter multiple-barriers to gainful employment.

Who is This For?

Planning TogetherThis event is co-designed and co-facilitated specifically for the Bhutanese community. It will:

• Be implemented at a location and time most relevant & accessible for this community

• Include activities and workshops that are culturally and linguistically accessible to the newcomers

• Be advertised on a social media platform that is used by the community

Next Steps

We want to assemble an employment brokering team and organize an Employment Resource Fair hosted by the Bhutanese community. We will facilitate a meeting between Bhutanese community members/leaders and employment agencies to plan and execute the event.

After the event, we will coordinate a reflection session to bring stakeholders together to reflect on the experience and discuss follow-up activities.

We need funds to take this prototype to the next stage!

If you can contribute funds to this project or are interested in taking part, please contact:

Multi Cultural Health Brokers mchb@mchb.org

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Next Steps

This prototype on employment brokering builds upon the learnings from the Multicultural Health Brokers Coop work with the Bhutanese community where:

• An existing multicultural health broker functions as an informal employment broker supported by an employment connector

• Newcomers benefit when employment supports are directed both at individual and community needs

• Trusting relationships are essential in building confidence and readiness of newcomers to participate in employment assistance programs

• Working closely with relevant employers ensures that interests and concerns are addressed once a newcomer is connected with them

Tried and True

CONTACT INFO

Shiva

Our Solution: Supplemental English Programs Focused on EmploymentThis innovative program is envisioned as an ‘elective’ course that complements the already well-established Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program in Canada.

Supplemental English Language Learning for Employment

PROTOTYPE

1

What is the Problem? Existing English language courses emphasize raising an individual’s overall language level. While this is important, it does not enable individuals who require immediate employment to support themselves and their families, to gain the speaking/listening language skills necessary to get a ‘survival’ job.

BarriersMany new-comers struggle with existing English language programs because they have:

• A sense of urgency - English language speaking/listening skills are required as quickly as possible for finding employment

• Interrupted and incomplete schooling history from living in refugee camps

• Limited literacy even in their own language and have no experience learning to write or read

• Lack of support systems and cultural knowledge to buffer predictable challenges to employment: childcare disruptions; public transportation in off-peak hours; workplace cultural miscommunications; illness

• PTSD which results in fatigue that makes it hard to learn and difficult to focus in a classroom environment

4 English Skills to Support Sustainable EmploymentThis program offers a complimentary pathway to individuals already accessing LINC by providing them the opportunity to hone speaking/listening language skills specific to employment. This will increase their chances of securing a ‘survival’ job whilst they continue to raise their overall English language level through LINC courses.

Focused on EmploymentThe program would hone in on challenges newcomers face related to searching, applying for, and maintaining work including online and computer skills, job search strategies, and understanding workplace culture.

An experiential, supplemental English language learning program that supports newcomers in developing speaking/listening skills specific to employment so that they can get a job earlier in the English learning process.

The Big Idea

This program supports vulnerable populations with complex barriers to employment newcomer groups who do not have a job but would like one, and who have ‘beginner’ to ‘low intermediate’ English speaking/listening language skills (Stage 1 on the Canadian Language Benchmarks). These individuals may have limited literacy in their native language.

Who is This For?

Prototype Team

Rohit

BishnuAnanda

Wangchu

DAY 1 Classroom Learning

Teacher prepares a lesson that involves a combination of new vocabulary, role play, authentic tasks and realia ( ie: a menu with prices).

DAY 2Experiential LearningActivities and field trips that take students out of the classroom and into the community/workplace. Afterwards, the teacher encourages conversation about the activity.

DAY 3Follow-up

The teacher reinforces key learning points from the field trip and does a check-in to see where people are at in the job search process. When needed, the teacher offers one-on-one coaching/employment problem solving.

I’m sorry, Your English is not

good enough

... but I need to work

RESTAURANT

ACTIVITIES

VOCAB

If you need basic English skills to find

work quickly, try our supplemental

program!

Let’s create a list of topics

I want to work as a cook but I don’t know

the right words

Let’s visit a cafe to learn

vocabulary

1 Course RegistrationNewcomers accessing LINC would have the opportunity to register for this course. The course would run three times a week for three months.

2 Co-Designing Course Content The course would follow a shared leadership model of education. Educators and newcomers would work together to create lessons that reflect the challenges and questions newcomers are facing.

Space would be created for emergent and organic learning opportunities and a peer learning model would enable newcomers to learn from one another through the exploration of common challenges.

3 3 Days per Week for 3 Months One day per week newcomers would participate in a two hour classroom learning session. The second day per week would involve a two hour experiential outing and the third would involve one-on-one employment coaching.

Building on Existing Course StructureThis program follows the LINC calendar and complements the already well established LINC program offered to newcomers across Canada. It comes at a time when LINC is exploring ways of incorporating more experiential learning at their sites to connect Stage 1 learners with employment.

Changes in Job Certification Processes NeededMany newcomers who are still learning English are not able to acquire essential workplace certificates (First Aid, Food Safe, WHMIS) because passing the test requires a level of digital literacy and language skills that far exceed the level necessary to be successful on the job. Without these specific certificates, online applications are automatically rejected.

Next Steps

We envision the following steps in taking this project from prototype to pilot to program.

We are seeking funds to cover the costs of a 3 month pilot of this program in a local LINC site.

Apply for a federal government Service Delivery Improvement Grant (SDI) to run a one year pilot of the progrmam in several LINC site.

LINC agrees to take on the project as their own and funds the implementation of it in LINC sites across Canada.

We want to make this prototype a reality!

If you are interested in contributing funds or piloting this program, please contact:

Judy judysillito333@gmail.com

Next Steps

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

CONTACT INFO

RE

STAURANT

Here is another

order of soup

Thank you

PurnaJudy

Let’s role play to learn

ok

Can I order a coffee, please? CAFE

Can I order a coffee, please?

I’ve been offered a cooking

job but there is no bus to that part of town We can think

of a solution

STEP 1 Three Month Pilot

in a single LINC School

STEP 2 One Year Pilot

in Several LINC Schools

STEP 3 Program Implemented

in LINC Schools Across Canada