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WTI Earns National Award for Exceptional Immigrant Integration Initiatives
 WASHINGTON
 – 
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) on Wednesday, May 20
th
announced thefour winners of its inaugural 
 E Pluribus Unum
 national awards for exceptional immigrantintegration initiatives, with an innovative Tennessee-based public education and communicationscampaign receiving a $50,000 prize.The
 E Pluribus Unum
 
Prizes program, established by MPI’s 
National Center on ImmigrantIntegration Policy with generous support from the J.M. Kaplan Fund,seeks to inspire others to take on this important work and encourage the adoption of effective integration practices.The 
Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
 and the three other
 E Pluribus Unum
 Prize winners will be honored tonight at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., at the Libraryof Congress featuring remarks by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and other national policymakers.The winners were selected from more than 500 applications received from around the nation.
Against a backdrop of changing demographics common to Tennessee and other “newdestination” states (with a more than 300 percent gro
wth in its immigrant population over 15years), the organization launched its Welcoming Tennessee Initiative (WTI) in 2006, to foster constructive public dialogue on immigration within the state. WTI was designed to increasepublic understanding of the realities of immigration, situating the recent demographic changes ina broader historical context and trying to constructively engage the public in areas where theyhave concerns.
“The Welcoming Tennessee Initiat
ive stands out as a positive, creative way to have aconstructive, mutually enriching dialogue between the native-born members of the state and itsnewest members
 – 
 
with the goal of creating stronger, more vibrant communities for everyone,”
said MPI Senior Vice President Michael Fix, co-director of the National Center on Immigrant
Integration Policy. “And it is serving as a model for community leaders in other new destinationstates.”
 
Said TIRRC’s Executive Director Stephen Fotopulos: “The impact of the W
elcoming TennesseeInitiative is clear: Members of communities receiving immigrants are more likely to respond tothe challenges of immigration with empathy rather than distrust or fear, decision-makers are
of 00

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