On Tuesday, VFAI leader Rick Burns sat down with the host of The Fallon Forum in Iowa to discuss the work of the Karadah Project. Founded by Rick, The Karadah Project is a community service organization that advocates for refugees and works to build partnerships between the United States, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Watch the full interview here and read Rick’s recent Op-Ed in the Des Moines Register, entitled, “We don’t have to compromise our security to exercise our American humanitarian values.”

Continuing our news from Iowa, on Thursday, a ceremony honoring the late governor, Robert D. Ray, was held at the Des Moines Capitol. Vietnam war era refugees from southeast Asia led the ceremony and paid a beautiful tribute to the popular former statesman, who helped thousands of refugees resettle in Iowa in the 1970s. Read more about the ceremony here.

Marwan’s Journey, a new children’s book published this summer, addresses the current refugee crisis through powerful imagery. An NPR article published this week details the book’s success in highlighting “positive images of refugees” as well as “humanizing and personalizing the ongoing conflicts.” Read more about Marwan’s Journey here.

Last month, WeWork, a company providing shared co-working spaces in 73 cities around the world, announced its plan to hire, mentor, and train 1,500 refugees over the next five years. WeWork has made a similar commitment to hire 1,500 veterans within that timeframe. The fast-growing company is working with VFAI partner, UpwardlyGlobal, to implement these hiring goals. Read more here.

This week, VFAI announced our Summer Social event set to take place on August 2^nd. RSVP here to join us for an evening of drinks, networking, and rooftop fun!

If you’re looking for some new gear to wear to the upcoming Summer Social or to a future SIV Sip, VFAI is running a discount on all merchandise through July 16^th. Shop here with code SUMMER18 to get 18% off your order this week!