Windmill Microlending connected with the team at Capital One to discuss their support for skilled newcomers in Canada.
This is the second year that Capital One's Business Resource Group (BRG) has chosen to support Windmill – what was it about Windmill that made it stand out to your group?
A: ORIGINS is a Business Resource Group at Capital One that aims to develop Asian leaders of tomorrow through professional development, knowledge-sharing sessions and community involvement. The mission that Windmill strives for – helping skilled newcomers become equitably integrated into the Canadian workforce – resonates with many of our members at ORIGINS BRG. Many of us have witnessed friends or family members who went through the same struggle, adapting to this new life when they first came to Canada. We are glad to see that Windmill is working diligently to solve this problem for immigrants in Canada and we want to support them with this mission.
What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about Canadian immigrants?
A: Through Windmill, I was shocked to learn that many people in Canada were forced to settle for jobs that do not fully utilize their talent or skill. They were under-compensated because they did not graduate from a Canadian University or simply did not have the right Canadian work experience even though they have the right expertise to do the job! This does not only represent a big loss to the Canadian economy but it is also a big improvement opportunity for Canadian employers to think about.
What do you think are the benefits of corporations and not-for-profits working together?
A: There are many benefits, but the most important one, I think, is to allow corporations to be aware of the major social issues that people are facing. Having corporations and not-for-profits work together makes corporations mindful of underserved communities when launching new products/services or hiring. And not-for-profits can leverage corporations’ unique perspectives and expertise in the market, to influence more people to allocate the right resources to collaborate and solve the problem together. By collaborating, society as a whole will benefit, and we should all try our best to take part to make the community we live in better and better every day!
