Open Avenues Foundation (OAF)

Danielle Goldman is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Open Avenues Foundation. In 2018, after learning that migrant families were being separated at the southern U.S. border, Danielle launched Open Avenues Foundation to demonstrate the contributions immigrants make to the economic, social, and civic fabric of the United States. Danielle led the development of Open Avenues Foundation’s immigrant-led programming that helps foreign talent thrive in the U.S., while building the future U.S. workforce. Previously, Danielle worked at Rabin Martin, a global health strategy firm based in NYC, designing social impact strategies, programs, and partnerships for Fortune 100 companies. Danielle is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and part of the 2019/2020 Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab Accelerator program at Babson College. She is a Board Member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce City Awake and One Little Light. Danielle received her B.A. in Political Science and Managerial Studies from Vanderbilt University.  

The OAF Global Talent Fellowship solves two challenges stymying the United States’ innovation economy:  1. Community colleges and mid-tier universities – the most effective tool society has to facilitate upward mobility for youth– struggle to connect students to jobs at high-growth companies; 2. Small and medium STEM companies – the engine of innovation in the United States — rely on foreign nationals to fill talent gaps, but are forced to rely on an annual, randomized H-1B work visa lottery system. The Global Talent Fellowship provides a work visa solution for foreign talent to fill the talent gaps of today and simultaneously prepare American students for the STEM workforce of tomorrow. Global Talent Fellows work to inspire interest in, and prepare students for, careers in high-growth STEM fields. Through this program, OAF creates substantive connections between U.S. students and foreign-born Fellows to generate a more robust and inclusive innovation economy. 

Today in the U.S., there is a talent gap in STEM fields that is filled by international talent. U.S. students are not exposed to, or educated in, STEM fields at high enough rates to fill demands. One-fifth to one-fourth of U.S. university students graduating with STEM degrees are foreign nationals (AIC, 2017). For the international students and global talent coming to the U.S. to fill talent gaps, they must navigate a restrictive immigration system to obtain a work visa. There are only 85,000 new H-1B work visas granted each year via a randomized lottery system. On average, 400,000 H-1B petitions are sent to USCIS each year (USCIS, 2015-2020). These limitations are compounded by current government directives and orders that are consistently shutting out foreign talent, which has an adverse effect on the United States’ innovation economy. Immigrants account for 30% of the total U.S. innovation over the past four decades (Bernstein, et all., 2018). Additionally, work visas for foreign nationals create jobs for Americans. For each H-1B visa recipient, 1.83 jobs are created for Americans (New American Economy). The growth of companies, foreign talent, and American society is and will continue to be negatively impacted by this system.    

Open Avenues Foundation is a non-profit organization affiliated with U.S. colleges and universities, and thus qualified as an “H-1B cap-exempt organization”, meaning we are not subject to the annual H-1B cap of 85,000. OAF can sponsor “cap-exempt” H-1B work visas for foreign nationals at any time of year outside of the annual lottery system. Through the Global Talent Fellowship program, OAF hires foreign nationals for 5 hours per week to lead industry-driven STEM education projects for students at OAF partner universities. Global Talent Fellows are paired with diverse student populations to lead projects such as building Raspberry Pi computers, developing web applications for 3-D printers, and using software to draw chemical molecules—all of which can be taught online via ZOOM. Once a Global Talent Fellow is approved for a cap-exempt H-1B work visa with OAF, the law permits the same Fellow to concurrently work on an immediate cap-exempt H-1B visa for his/her full-time employer (possibly, but not necessarily, startups founded by the foreign national). Through our Global Talent Fellowship, OAF offers new pathways for international talent to continue to stay, work, and innovate in the United States, while helping to build the future STEM workforce. 

Through our Global Talent Fellowship program, we offer an immigration solution to foreign nationals who are seeking to work in the United States—specifically those who have received a job offer from a company or started their own company. Once hired by OAF, Global Talent Fellows work directly with students at U.S. community colleges and universities to lead hands-on, industry-driven projects. To date, eight Global Talent Fellows have received cap-exempt H-1B work visas and are now working for their full-time employers, or building their own companies, in cap-exempt H-1B status. The Global Talent Fellows have led more than 200 hours of project work with 100 students at our four partner universities in Massachusetts. Additionally, OAF provides free webinars, seminars, and consultations to help international students and foreign national employees navigate immigration pathways. OAF is advised and supported pro bono by Jeff Goldman and his team at Jeff Goldman Immigration. OAF Global Talent Fellows, along with our three immigrant Advisors, provide extensive feedback and input in our programming. Combined, we have strong legal guidance and deep understanding of the issues that allow us to deliver this solution to change the future trajectories of foreign talent in the U.S. today. 

Open Avenues Foundation is built on the principle that through creating real interaction, personal connection, and relationship building we introduce a new lens to view global diversity in the United States. In this moment, the country needs practical solutions that builds “empathy, wisdom, and love”. Open Avenues Foundation is creating opportunities for immigrants to take control of the hateful narrative about and naturally instilling a new perspective by educating, training, mentoring, and creating jobs for U.S. students. This grassroots model has the power to change hearts and minds about immigrants in the U.S. and create a kinder, more accepting society. 

In 2016, Jeff Goldman, Co-founder of Open Avenues Foundation, ideated the Massachusetts Global Entrepreneur-in-Residence (GEIR) program, a model where universities, as H-1B cap-exempt organizations, hire foreign-national entrepreneurs (company founders) to help them obtain cap-exempt H-1B visas. The GEIR program was endorsed by former MA Governor Deval Patrick and, now, MA Governor Charlie Baker. Since 2016, the program has helped more than 100 foreign national founders obtain cap-exempt H-1B visas in Massachusetts, and these founders have created over 400 jobs and kept millions of dollars in venture capital funding in the Massachusetts economy. I joined Jeff in 2018 to address the shortcomings of this model. We designed a solution that: 1. Works for all H-1B applicants, not just founders of companies; 2. Has the capacity to scale to meet the demand, which universities cannot do internally; 3. Does more to address educational deficiencies in STEM fields by introducing industry-driven curriculum and projects to U.S. students. In September 2018, we launched Open Avenues Foundation, offering our Global Talent Fellowship program to companies working to keep their foreign talent and to universities to bring STEM industry projects and skills-building experiences to students led by OAF Fellows. 

I am acutely aware that the current negative narrative about immigrants in the U.S. is false. Growing up with an immigration attorney as a father, I was surrounded by the topic of immigration and developed close relationships with foreign nationals affected by volatile political action and inaction. Immigrant families frequented our holiday celebrations and our dinner table conversations involved stories about my father’s clients: the foreign scientists with new patents, the founders starting companies, and the families fleeing persecution. I learned who “immigrants” in this country are and how heartbreaking it can be when these individuals are denied the ability to stay. I realize that not everyone has had this first-hand experience—that most of the people who say “immigrants take from this country and we should keep them out” have not personally met or been impacted by these individuals the way I have. I want to change that. At OAF, we are facilitating the opportunities for U.S. students to connect with and learn from diverse talent from around the world. Through relationship building and real, in-person collaboration, OAF programs will facilitate experiences that will change the way immigrants are viewed in the U.S. This is how we change the narrative. 

When we founded OAF in 2018, I led our team in the development of our strategies, design of our programs, and establishment of our organization’s core values. For the four years prior, I worked as a consultant doing similar work for large corporations— I was ready and excited to apply these learnings to my own organization. Consulting taught me lessons that I will carry with me through my career: I learned that being vulnerable enough to ask others for help demonstrates security in my strengths; I learned how to communicate passion about ideas and projects to engage diverse audiences; I learned to bring fresh thinking to tackle big, daunting, systematic challenges. As Executive Director of OAF, I am well-positioned to deliver our solution because I know the value of my team and enjoy every minute of building OAF with them. I am proud to have surrounded myself with passionate colleagues with diverse skillsets who are equally as excited about the vision of our organization. To successfully manage this team and push towards our goals, I leverage my communication skills, creative thinking, and steadfast belief in the idea that we can innovate within the restrictive U.S. immigration system to make this country better for all people. There has never been a more uncertain, stressful, and anxiety-inducing for foreign nationals trying to stay in and come to the United States. I listened to stories. I understand this anxiety. I feel this pain. And, together with my team, I will solve this challenge.

OAF started as a for-profit/non-profit hybrid model with a sizable angel investment. My co-founder and I hired a small team and hit the ground running. We designed the cap-exempt H-1B visa program, partnered with universities, developed curriculum, and received five work visa approvals in our first year. Simultaneously, we worked with lawyers who delivered an opinion that forced us to let go of the for-profit company, and with that, our investment. I had two goals at this point: To keep OAF up and running to support our network of foreign nationals and students; and to keep our team motivated to make a change in the U.S. immigration system. We immediately transitioned Open Avenues into a traditional non-profit. With new, extreme financial limitations, we could no longer afford our COO. This moment of change became an opportunity. The rest of our team stepped up to manage our operations, budgets, and sales processes. In Spring 2020, we relaunched the program as the Global Talent Fellowship and welcomed three new Fellows to work with more than 50 new students. As we continue to face challenges within the volatile immigration system, we stick to the same two goals that inspire us to press on.  

In 2018, I was sitting in my New York City office when news broke that migrant children coming from Latin America were being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border and thrown into detention camps. I left work, took out my laptop, and brainstormed with my family how we could help. We incorporated Open Avenues Foundation as a non-profit that day and I started on a strategy for an “Emergency Reunification Campaign” for migrant families. Within two weeks I created a website, partnered with Catholic Charities and Boston Medical Center, and quit my job to move to Boston and build Open Avenues Foundation. Over the course of the next four months, we raised $300,000, hosted a fundraising event with 250 guests, and partnered with a network of 1,500 volunteers around the country. Together, we supported more than 250 migrant families across the U.S. with legal services, housing grants, and medical expense reimbursements. When we ended the campaign in December 2018, I knew I was ready to build and lead Open Avenues Foundation through our next phase as an organization—this time to demonstrate to the American public why and how these foreign nationals contribute to the United States. 

Open Avenues Foundation is disrupting the U.S. immigration space. Today, companies and foreign nationals are hitting dead-ends on their immigration journeys. The H-1B process is uncertain and there is no guarantee that a foreign national will even get their application reviewed by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services when their employer invests in sponsoring their lottery petition. This process can be very cost-prohibitive, high risk, and stressful for all involved. Currently, organizations supporting immigrants through this process are focused on making the document collection process easier or helping foreign nationals identify which visas they should apply for to alleviate burdens within the immigration application process. However, no one has offered a programmatic solution to eliminate risk and increase predictability within the application process. We are disrupting the space with the first program that leverages the cap-exempt H-1B visa laws and work within their intention to help qualified foreign nationals remain in the United States. For the first time, through collaboration with Open Avenues Foundation, companies can file cap-exempt H-1B petitions immediately and at any point throughout the year. In addition to the innovative nature of the visa solution, this program develops new data and stories about the ways immigrants are improving economic outcomes through career development for U.S. students. 

STEM companies in Massachusetts face a persistent dearth of qualified candidates with the skills needed to help them grow and innovate. For example, after employing all relevant graduates from U.S. universities in 2020, 7 out of every 10 computer specialist positions would remain unfilled. Mid-tier universities and community colleges are the most effective in facilitating upward mobility of graduates (Chetty, et al. 2017), but they struggle to connect their students with innovative local companies due to a lack of corporate connections in the STEM ecosystem. As a result, a large subset of students is left out of the typical corporate recruitment cycle. Open Avenues creates opportunities for these students to connect outside of the formal recruitment cycle while demonstrating their potential via skills-based learning. 

It is well documented that experiential learning—where students tackle relevant industry issues and learn in and outside the classroom—is fundamental to equip candidates to be competitive in the job market (WPI, 2019). Research shows that experiential learning is especially effective in retaining students from underrepresented socioeconomic backgrounds in STEM (Dagley, M., et al., 2015). However, experiences for students to gain experiential learning and global knowledge in STEM, such as unpaid internships, unpaid extra-curricular activities, and international exchanges are often not feasible for low-wealth students.

Inspired by the U.S. economy's growing demand for the skills and expertise brought by foreign-born STEM professionals, Open Avenues Foundation supports top STEM talent of today and builds the workforce of tomorrow. Through our community engagement and leadership programming, Global Talent Fellows work with Open Avenues Foundation for 5-8 hours per week to lead students at U.S. universities in real-world, experiential learning projects that prepare them for future careers. Integrated into the fellowship are professional development training and networking opportunities. 

These experiences lead to a more diverse and inclusive STEM workforce that fosters the U.S.’s continued leadership in innovation and technology worldwide.

In the past year, we selected 8 individuals to form our inaugural Global Talent Fellowship cohort. Each year we will double our cohort of fellows and anticipate half of our Fellows will choose to participate in the fellowship for two years. Next year, we expect 16 new and 8 second-year Fellows. In 5 years we expect 336 Fellows in our program. 

Too few students, especially students of color, graduate from American universities with degrees in STEM. Our university partners want to change that. Currently our 3 university partners enroll 1,500+ students in STEM majors; 103 of these students participated in our programs this past year. Within 5 years we will partner with 10 universities in cities across the country with diverse student populations located near technology hubs, serving 5,000 students in STEM nationwide, focusing on students of color. 

Our current projections allow for a ratio of one Fellow to every 15 students, which is ideal for substantial engagement and relationship building between students and Fellows. Beyond these direct beneficiaries, we expect that our program will improve the lives of these students’ and Fellows’ families through economic mobility, social capital building and a more inclusive STEM workforce. 

Global talent is integral to the United States’ preeminence in innovation and technology. Currently, non-profits affiliated with universities account for a small fraction of global talent working under professional visas exempt from the annual cap. Given this landscape, we believe that there is ample opportunity for us to engage global talent in our programming.

In the next five years we plan to: 

• Scale nationally: We piloted this program in Massachusetts, but this model can be successful across the United States in any location where there are clusters of high-growth companies and universities. Our goal is to expand to support companies and foreign nationals in key areas, such as: SF Bay Area, New York, St. Louis, and Chicago.
• Stay nimble to respond to evolving immigration challenges: Legislation changes and the topic of immigration is consistently front and center in U.S. politics. What stays consistent, despite volatile shifts in policy, is the need for creative solutions to ensure the U.S. economy is filled with diverse talent to augment innovation and infrastructure to train U.S. workers. We will always aim to bridge this gaps in society. 
• Change the Narrative about Immigrants through Relationships, Data, and Stories: To effectively demonstrate the ways foreign nationals contribute to the fabric of the United States across sectors, we will expand the reach of the stories and data from our programming. We will work to expand the immigrant-led programs we develop to foster relationships between foreign nationals in U.S. citizens.
• Change the face of United States’ STEM workforce to be more inclusive: As we expand and build new programs we will work with high-growth companies to help them leverage perspectives of foreign-born individuals and people of color to optimize innovation and economic progress. We will provide companies with a new pipeline of diverse talent to achieve this outcome.

OAF partners closely with Stack Education, a Boston-based team of traditional and alternative education veterans creating innovation economy programming for Higher Education. Stack Education develops curriculum and launches bootcamps at universities. OAF partners with Stack Education to provide industry-projects for university bootcamps. Each OAF Global Talent Fellow works to scope projects that complement the Stack Education bootcamp curriculum. Together, OAF and Stack Education provide diverse student populations at Worcester State University and Framingham State University with projects in Data Science, Coding/Web Development, and Clinical Trials. We are also piloting an Apprenticeship opportunity for students to seek deeper engagement with Global Talent Fellows.

OAF partners with Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (BFIT) to provide seminars to Freshman that inspire students to enter STEM fields and offer them experiences that prepare them for these jobs. We introduce BFIT students to top talent and hiring managers from high-growth companies and bring students on site visits for additional exposure. OAF Global Talent Fellows have launched mechanical engineering and computer science projects and worked closely with BFIT professors to enhance current, and build future, curriculum. At BFIT, our projects engage 100% students of color. 

Additionally, OAF has provided university students from various universities with access to industry projects that students can leverage to build their resumes and prepare for roles in STEM fields. For example, OAF Global Talent Fellows launched a project for a 3-D printing company and AI Urban Development company to challenge student teams to act as junior consultants for these projects. 

Open Avenues Foundation provides a work visa solution for top foreign talent in the U.S. while creating new career opportunities for U.S. students. To achieve this win-win solution, OAF hires foreign nationals part-time, for 5-8 hours per week, as Global Talent Fellows to develop projects within their field of expertise and launch them at U.S. universities. OAF sponsors Global Talent Fellows for cap-exempt H-1B work visas-- which can be obtained within 6-8 weeks and at any time of year-- allowing their full-time employer to concurrently sponsor them for a cap-exempt H-1B visa. Foreign nationals are nominated for the Global Talent Fellowship by their full-time employers. Nominating companies contract with OAF and pay $12,000 to initiate the Fellowship and $3,300 per quarter in program fees for the duration of the one-year program, which is extendable up to two years. OAF Global Talent Fellows are deployed to launch industry-driven projects for students at no cost to OAF university partners— enabling OAF to ensure diverse students and under-resourced schools benefit from connections to talent from high-growth companies. 

To achieve financial sustainability we aim to generate three sources of funding, each making up one-third of our total revenue. The sources include: 1. Service fees; 2. Individual Donations and Grant Funding; 3. Corporate Sponsorship. OAF is building the infrastructure to achieve revenue from these sources through a phased approach. In Phase 1 (July 2018-March 2020), we developed our immigration service, the Global Talent Fellowship, to sell to corporations who want to engage with Open Avenues Foundation and connect with local universities. We also began building relationships with key individual donors. In phase 2 (March 2020- current), we are applying for grants and building relationships with grant funders and donors. Phase 3, which we hope to begin starting 2021, will focus on securing funding through partnerships with corporations' Diversity & Inclusion, Corporate Social Responsibility Groups, and Talent divisions. 

Open Avenues Foundation has the power to change the way the United States views immigration. Our Global Talent Fellows program—and the incredible people we hire from around the world—demonstrates that immigrants are willing and excited to give back to U.S. society. The volume of calls we receive each day shows us that immigrants seek out opportunities to contribute to the country. We must give them that chance. However, to take our organization to the next level, we need to deepen our network of corporate partners and we need funding. We have already identified a core team who are currently volunteering with us because we do not have the funds to bring them on board. Once we do, we will have the capacity expand this program beyond Massachusetts, market our immigration solutions to corporations across the U.S., enhance our educational programming and adopt more remote learning tools, offer universities across the county connections to growing STEM companies, and deepen relationships between foreign-born individuals and U.S. students. We will show the nation how immigrants improve the lives of U.S. citizens one project, one new job, one relationship at a time. The Elevate Prize—and the passionate, driven, change-makers people behind it— will enable this growth for Open Avenues Foundation and we are ready to get started.