LSG Recruits Mentors and Mentees for Careers and Connections

Lutheran Services of Georgia  is piloting Careers and Connections, a refugee career mentoring program with Higher, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service’s national employment initiative.

Careers and Connections aims to accomplish two goals: to support long-term career advancement for refugees and to deepen social connections between refugees and their communities. LSG is recruiting 30 mentors to match with 30 refugees. The mentor will act as a job coach, equipping the refugee to develop skills, identify long-term career goals, and create a plan to reach those goals.

Through mentoring relationships, refugees receive the opportunity to expand their social networks. Upon arrival in Georgia, refugees often face significant barriers to community integration. Language skills and difficulties navigating the institutions and customs of a new culture can leave refugees vulnerable to marginalization. This program connects refugees and long-term local residents who can work together to build a more cohesive and vibrant community.

LSG is currently recruiting professional mentors from various fields and refugee mentees for a new cohort to begin mid-May, 2015. For more information on Careers and Connections or to volunteer to become a mentor for a newly arrived refugee, contact Melanie Johnson at mjohnson@lsga.org or at 678-686-9619.