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Ayesha Blackwell from Amazon and UMass Medical School’s Vanessa Paulman take questions at a panel discussion for congressional staffers hosted by the Council for Global Immigration. |
Vanessa Paulman, director of immigration services in the Department of Human Resources at UMass Medical School, participated in an advocacy event hosted by the Council for Global Immigration (CFGI) in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. Paulman joined about 85 immigration colleagues on Capitol Hill as groups visited a variety of congressional offices to support legislation that enables businesses, universities and medical centers to attract and retain the best and brightest talent from around the world. Paulman visited the offices of Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), and Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware).
Paulman was also an invited speaker at the Senate Visitor Center. The panel presentation hosted by CFGI for Congressional staffers was titled “Fair, Innovative, & Competitive: Building a 21st Century Workforce.” She was joined by Ayesha Blackwell from Amazon and Patrick Wilson from the manufacturing company Cummins to address the ways in which the skills gap in STEM fields is hurting employers and the economy. They also discussed the ways employers are investing in the U.S. workforce and how Congress can reform immigration to spur innovation and economic growth and protect U.S. workers. Lastly, they covered E-Verify, the H-1B visa and the green card backlogs.
