Jim Stergios on Why Immigrants Are Crucial to Our Success

This week on JobMakers, Host Denzil Mohammed talks with Jim Stergios, executive director of Pioneer Institute, about why Pioneer collaborated with The Immigrant Learning Center to produce this podcast. They discuss the overrepresentation of immigrants in terms of job creation in America, contrary to the myth that immigrants “take” jobs. For Jim, it is a story that needs to be told because it is at the core of American enterprise, innovation and prosperity; but it is also personal. He describes his own family's history of starting a business as young immigrants to the U.S. from Greece, and connects it to the common story of America, a nation of immigrant families old and new. And Jim believes the entrepreneurial spirit of yesteryear is the same among today’s immigrants, as you’ll learn in this week’s JobMakers.

Guest:

Jim Stergios is Executive Director of Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based think tank founded in 1988. Prior to joining Pioneer, Jim was Chief of Staff and Undersecretary for Policy in the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, where he drove efforts on water policy, regulatory and permit reform, and urban revitalization. His prior experience includes founding and managing a business, teaching at the university level, and serving as headmaster at a preparatory school. Jim serves on the Board of Advisors at Boston University, where he earned a doctoral degree in Political Science. Jim has been interviewed on numerous news outlets and appears regularly on greater Boston television and radio broadcasts, including WBZ, WHDH, WCVB, NECN, Boston 25, WGBH, WBUR, Nightside with Dan Rea, and WRKO. Jim’s opinion pieces have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Boston Globe, and regional newspapers throughout New England.