Danielle Goldman on Why the U.S. Needs Immigrant Talent

This week on JobMakers, Host Denzil Mohammed talks with Danielle Goldman, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Open Avenues Foundation in Boston, about their work to help high-growth companies and start-ups retain the high-skilled, foreign-born talent they need through cap-exempt H-1B visas. They discuss the example of Eric Yuan from China, who, after getting rejected for a visa eight times, was finally allowed to stay in the U.S. Here, he founded a company that has become indispensable to so many of us, for our kids' education, our jobs, our healthcare, and staying connected with family members we couldn’t visit during the pandemic: Zoom. Creating innovation when we need it most, Yuan illustrates how the U.S. benefits when we remove immigration barriers in highly competitive industries where talent is scarce.

Guest:

Danielle Goldman is Co-founder and Executive Director of Open Avenues Foundation. Prior to founding Open Avenues, Danielle worked at Rabin Martin, a strategy firm based in New York City where she built social impact strategies, partnerships, and programs for Fortune 100 healthcare companies. In 2018, Danielle launched a national campaign that supported more than 250 migrant families who had been separated at the U.S./Mexico border with health care, housing, and legal counsel. Building on that momentum, Danielle built and grew Open Avenues Foundation to demonstrate the value of foreign nationals in the United States. Danielle is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and part of the 2019/2020 Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab Accelerator program at Babson College. She also serves on the boards of City Awake at the Boston Chamber of Commerce and the One Little Light Foundation. Danielle received her B.A. in Political Science and Managerial Studies from Vanderbilt University.