ENB was selected through a very competitive process to receive a $2 million grant from MacKenzie Scott's Yield Giving Foundation.
ENB launched the English Works for Newly Arrived Immigrants program in partnership with the MA Office for Refugees and Immigrants (ORI) to meet the urgent needs of families in the Emergency Assistance (EA) shelter system. Expanding beyond its traditional footprint, ENB delivered 34 classes at 14 sites across the Commonwealth—including hotels and shelters in Marlborough, Danvers, Kingston, and Dedham—providing 2,291 hours of instruction to 1,574 students.
Working at the intersection of adult education and workforce development, ENB leads alliances that bridge these fields and create onramps for immigrants to forge careers and contribute their talents. Cutting-edge strategies, and the impact of our work across Greater Boston and beyond, led to our recognition as an Innovator by the Social Innovation Forum in 2019. ENB has gained greater exposure, added private funders, and become a go-to organization for employers seeking to offer English classes to their workers.
In 2014, after over a decade of successful programming, ENB undertook an exhaustive exploration of its role in the field, with the goal to ensure its structure was the best possible to address the ongoing critical need for ESOL. In 2014, the organization incorporated as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit. ENB retains our structure as a public/private partnership whose Board includes representation by the City of Boston, foundations, immigrant leaders, and businesses.
Coalition-building and advocacy have been vital to expanding our City’s ESOL system. In 2008, ENB launched the statewide English Works Campaign to raise awareness of the importance of English classes for immigrants, our economy, and the Commonwealth. By elevating immigrant voices, ENB has promoted understanding of and investment in ESOL by business and government leaders.
ENB has seen significant progress in reducing the vast gap between ESOL demand and supply. Funds allotted for ESOL by the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Program (WTFP) have grown substantially. ENB advocacy with WTFP also led to more flexible funding for workplace ESOL. Our work persistently raises attention about the importance of English proficiency as both a critical tool for immigrants to achieve economic success, and essential to the growth of our rapidly changing economy and workforce.
Each year since 2001, ENB has supported 20+ ESOL providers to serve 900-1,000 adult learners. ENB customizes curricula, enables online and hybrid learning, trains teachers, and evaluates outcomes to ensure accountability and high-caliber programming. ENB classes enable immigrants – whether they’ve never held a pencil or they hold credentials from other countries – to learn English and create career pathways. And through workplace ESOL, ENB helps employees advance careers and companies benefit from untapped talent. Since 2001, 20,000 new Bostonians have become able to grow small businesses, advance careers, help children thrive at school, pursue college degrees, and gain citizenship.
English for New Bostonians (ENB) was spearheaded in 2001 by the Boston Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement, with the Office of Workforce Development, local foundations, and immigrant leaders. ENB was launched to address the urgent need for ESOL classes (English for Speakers of Other Languages) to serve our city’s burgeoning immigrant communities, and to expand and better coordinate Boston’s ESOL system. ENB’s Board of Directors seats a mix of City, philanthropic, business, and immigrant leaders who lead our work to meet diverse community needs, drive innovation, and bring our work high-level visibility.
