In 2017, the Citi Foundation and the IRC embarked into a multi-year, transformational partnership to provide refugees and displaced persons around the world with lifesaving programs and services, and to bring attention to the greatest humanitarian crisis of our lifetime.

Starting in Greece, Jordan, and Nigeria where a total of 912 young vulnerable people received support to kick-start their careers.

The following year, Rescuing Futures II was created with the motivation to grow and reach even more young people. As a result, the program was expanded to three more countries: Lebanon, Germany, and Cameroon. During this project, 2785 clients were supported with entrepreneurship training, business support, mentorship, business grants and networking opportunities.

Resilient Futures III started in 2020, to build on the successful implementation from the previous programs in order to critically address the growing economic needs of displacement-affected youth. Having noticed the need to support further clients in Latin-America, the program was expanded to Mexico; meaning that Resilient Futures is now being implemented in seven countries and four continents.

The vision for this program is to build on the well-established program across all seven countries, scaling to reach more and increasingly diverse youth, and also introducing innovative new elements to keep up with the rapidly growing economic needs of urban youth. While maintaining a focus on youth entrepreneurship, microenterprise support, employment and labor market integration opportunities, and cross-cutting community engagement, this program will seek to offer enhanced services, pilot new market-demanded approaches, strengthen social cohesion and inclusion, and provide a new focus on building business resiliency in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We invite all UK Citi staff to volunteer and take part on our programs to help make an impact to the lives of many more young entrepreneurs around the world.

Come volunteer with us

The International Rescue Committee relies on the generous support and expertise of companies like Citi to respond to the world’s worst humanitarian crises; and every member of your team plays a part.

From light-touch, one-time engagements to hands-on, longer-term commitments, volunteers provide vital skills, resources, and energy that enable our programs to reach more people in-need when every second counts. Thank you for being IRC champions!

We regularly publish new volunteering opportunities; these are the current ones for this quarter:

Mentoring

Across most of the countries where Resilient Futures operates, there is a need for volunteer mentors. This can be done face-to-face or take place virtually, as mentors/mentees may not live in the same city. Mentors would be particularly helpful for entrepreneurs that are in the process of refining business plans or young people looking for jobs.

Learning Workshops

This evidence-based workshops are spaces where Citi volunteers and IRC’s programmatic staff come together to review data from past programmes with the intention of measuring impact relative to funding and identifying successes/best practices. Outputs could include suggestions on how future programming can do better in terms of client targeting and selection of businesses categories.

Business Roundtables

Citi staff could host "business roundtables" meetings with microentrepreneurs on different topics related to business startup and growth. These could be held virtually.

Aliessa’s experience

ALT TEXT

 

Everyone has the right to live without fear of persecution or displacement, and that’s why I support and volunteer with the IRC to welcome and stand with refugees. Growing up, I was told the story of my Armenian great grandmother who crossed rivers and hundreds of miles to seek refuge in Syria. Fast forward to today, Syrians are seeking refuge around the world. My family’s story, along with millions of others, will never go unheard because of the incredible work the IRC does to uplift and ensure refugees thrive and reach their full potential.

The experience of volunteering with the IRC in New York was life changing – I met the most resilient and hopeful youth, newly resettled refugees, my new community members, neighbors and future leaders. I am grateful to pay it forward by supporting the IRC because they instill hope and change lives by giving refugee communities the opportunity to thrive.

 

The IRC taught me to never underestimate the impact that small gestures can make – a smile, a hello and a welcome can go a long way.
Aliessa Reem, member of the Citi team in New York.

 

Volunteering with the IRC

Most of our volunteering activities can be done remotely, as we keep adding new opportunities regularly there’s not a one-size-fits-all recipe but we always ensure they’re realistic for fitting into everyone’s busy agendas.

Here are some general guidelines for you to take part on our volunteering programmes:

How do I sign up for one of the volunteering activities?

Please email Florencia Mastroianni who will be able to assist you.

What other activitites are available?

We have several volunteering opportunities including: mentoring, mock-pitching, training sessions, learning workshops, business roundtables, community engagement events, fundraising for the IRC or taking part in a virtual cooking class with a former refugee turned professional chef.

Where can I learn more about Resilient Futures?

Visit our Citi page and sign up for our quarterly newsletter. You can read the last newsletter here.

Advocacy reports funded by Citi