News Flash

The Building Integrated Communities / Construyendo Comunidades Integradas  (BIC) initiative at the Institute for the Study of the Americas, the City of Marion and Centro Unido Latino-Americano  signed a memorandum of agreement to initiate a process to build leadership opportunities and language access for community members born outside of the United States. 

Over the next two years, Marion BIC will conduct a community assessment to better understand the experiences of immigrant and refugee residents and bring together stakeholders to create a plan of action for language access and representative leadership.

The Building Integrated Communities program is an initiative of the Institute for the Study of the Americas at UNC Chapel Hill, in collaboration with local governments, community residents and organization leaders. 

Since 2010, the statewide BIC initiative has partnered with the local governments of Chapel Hill, Siler City, Greenville, High Point, Winston-Salem, Sanford, and Washington and has gained national recognition for its work from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. 

For more information about the BIC program, visit the BIC website (https://migration.unc.edu/building-integrated-communities/) or contact Hannah Gill, Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of the Americas at hgill@email.unc.edu.