My Story

Mohamed Al-Hamdani

Manager of Life Services Partnerships, CareSource

Mohamed is excited to be starting a family with his wife in the city he calls home. His time in Dayton demonstrates how people create roots and build community in new places.

The Antoons

Wright State Graduates

Despite being uprooted from their comfortable lifestyle in Iraq and forced to restart from square one in America as refugees, Fady and Bashar have fallen in love with this country–and Dayton.

Jeanette Taylor

Program Coordinator, NCCJ

After retirement, Jeanette Taylor didn’t waste any time continuing her work with Dayton’s youth. Now with NCCJ, she works to foster and promote an inclusive community among the city’s youngest residents.

My Story

Dieudonne Nsabimana

President, Royal Drummers of Burundi

Preserving and promoting his Burundian culture is important to Dieudonne Nsabimana. By helping bring the unique African music and dance to Dayton, local refugees and Dayton natives benefit alike.

My Story

Jacques Kahindo

Professor, Wilberforce University

Many groups and organizations came to the aid of Jacques Kahindo between growing up in the Democratic Republic of Congo and eventually settling in Dayton. Now he’s working to provide the same support to Dayton’s population of African refugees.

My Story

Alyssa Wagner

Program Director, El Puente Education Center

An immersion field trip to the Dominican Republic turned Alyssa Wagner’s love of Latino culture into a service-oriented passion for helping Dayton’s Hispanic children.

My Story

Dr. Ayman Salem

CEO, Material Resources, LLC

After building a career in aerospace technology in Dayton, Dr. Salem sees himself as an example that other aspiring entrepreneurs and immigrants can follow.

My Story

Dr. Migwe Kimemia

Program Director, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) –Dayton Office

After a unique life journey that’s taken him from East Africa to Southwest Ohio, Migwe Kimemia has emerged as an inspiring force in Dayton’s diverse cultural landscape.

My Story

Scott Reeve

President, Composite Advantage

Composite Advantage makes lightweight, low-maintenance bridge decks for vehicles and pedestrians. But, President Scott Reeve is also well known as a man who builds bridges to Dayton’s immigrant community.

My Story

Bor Jang

CEO, Angstron Materials, Nanotek Instruments

When Taiwanese Bor Jang first came to the United States in 1976, he found himself lost in an airport in South Bend, Indiana, barely able to speak English.

Welcome Dayton, launched in 2011, supports integration of immigrants into the Dayton community by encouraging business and economic development, providing access to education, government, health and social services, ensuring equity in the justice system, and promoting arts and culture.

Welcome Dayton is a community initiative that reflects our country’s core philosophy:

People with diverse backgrounds, skills and experiences fuel our nation’s success. Government, non-profit, and business sectors engaged in a series of extensive community conversations regarding immigration in the region. As a result of the conversations, the Welcome Dayton Plan was created and the City of Dayton Commission unanimously adopted it in October of 2011. However, Welcome Dayton encourages commitments and engagement by the broader community, as opposed to being just another government-run program.

During its short life span, Welcome Dayton has a list of community-wide accomplishments. Highlights include increasing positive community police relations, building community through the arts, supporting English language learners through additional academic and family programming, increasing access to City of Dayton services for limited English proficient residents, changing perceptions of immigrants through positive media coverage, and building awareness of existing immigrant friendly services offered throughout the private and public sectors.