The International Institute of New England has been welcoming refugees and immigrants to

Massachusetts and New Hampshire for nearly a century, beginning in 1910 when the Young Women’s

Christian Association (YWCA) created the Department of Immigration and Foreign

Communities to oversee field projects called “International Institutes” to serve the nation’s

growing foreign-born population. The Institutes offered multilingual social services for women

and girls and became known as Red Feather Agencies.

 

International Institute of New England has helped thousands of immigrants with specialized

services, assisted each new wave of refugees from all over the world, and served as a center of

hospitality for many ethnic groups. The Institute has also invested in the revitalization of local

communities throughout New England by receiving, supporting, educating, training, and job

placing an ambitious and diverse workforce.

 

Over the past decade, IINE has experienced significant disruptions to its business model due to

both external and internal challenges. In 2016, the organization hired a new CEO, who was

charged with innovating its programs and revenue streams. One of his first acts was to hire

Impact Catalysts (as its predecessor firm, Root Cause) to conduct a feasibility study of several

potential earned revenue ventures including contextualized English instruction and translation

services. As part of the study, we conducted a national landscape scan of refugee resettlement

models and examined a range of earned revenue ventures in translation and language

instruction. We also interviewed stakeholders, donors and partners throughout

New England. IINE is currently rolling out pilot ventures in Boston and Manchester, NH.