Meet Lauren Brockett of Friends of Refugees in Clarkston

Lauren, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I began my career helping the government sue companies for discrimination against their employees. While serving as an economic research intern for the federal EEOC office in Atlanta, I asked my supervisor how I can help prevent this from happening. Per his advise, human resources became my career of choice.

As a West Indian immigrant from the UK, my parents taught me to study hard and graduate college with a good GPA to find a good job. The economic crash of 2008 made that goal difficult, despite graduating from what many call a “Southern Ivy League” school like Emory University. After so many rejections, I began to journal “what not to do” in resume writing, interviews, and networking events. The various recruiting and training contract positions I landed in legal services, healthcare and nonprofits also added to my career coaching repertoire.

I wanted to find a job abroad, so a friend from Emory suggested I volunteer in Clarkston, GA. While teaching English to a Bhutanese family who fled the human rights violations in Nepal, the father of the household asked me to help him make a resume to land a better job. Within the same week, I heard another man from Nepal committed suicide because he couldn’t land a job and become that breadwinner his family needed in America. I knew I had to dedicate my career to helping immigrants find their value in our workforce. Now, seven years later, I coach hundreds of Americans to develop resumes for refugees, connect dozens of corporate partners with unemployed immigrants and get to share my own story of finding a meaningful job with thousands of immigrants every year through Friends of Refugees.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’m mixed race, a woman and an immigrant in America. Some may call me a triple minority, but I consider myself a triple threat to societal norms. I get to break barriers and challenge people’s expectations every day in leadership and community development. For years, I masked my British accent to avoid being bullied in school, but I have learned from refugee families that there is power in diversity and culture. Embracing your unique background actually helps you land more opportunities for generating wealth.

Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I’ve been called the “job lady of Clarkston,” but I am currently the Director of Employment Services for Friends of Refugees through the Refugee Career Hub, a nonprofit organization providing wellbeing, education, and employment to refugees. I’ve personally placed over 3,000 refugees in decent, living wage jobs around Atlanta, building partnerships with commercial warehousing facilities, major hotels, and other sectors. Through a team of multi-lingual staff and volunteers, I offer resume writing services, job placement assistance, coding courses, solar installation courses, and job fairs. In partnership with Oculus, I’ve helped Friends of Refugees and Lucid Dreams Production develop a virtual reality film about refugees.

I’m accredited by the DOJ Board of Immigrant Appeals as an immigration representative and have reunited individuals in removal and deportation proceedings to their families who have been separated by unfortunate circumstances. I am also certified by the HR Certification Institute as a Senior Professional in HR Management (SPHR). As one of the 15 winners of the 2014 Entrepreneur Award through Emory Business School’s social enterprise program, Start ME, my consultancy service offers cultural competency, diversity and inclusion training to corporate groups.

I’m 15 chapters into finishing a memoir of my friendships with refugees over the years that will include helpful tips for job seekers around the world to find meaningful employment. Many refugee families from Congo, Iraq, Pakistan, and Ethiopia have invited me to join them on trips to visit family members still living in their home country, so I also see more travel opportunities in my near future!

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Although I don’t speak French, Swahili or Arabic, I’ve developed a language that resonates with all: the language of love and compassion. The diversity and inclusion industry will continue to grow rapidly, so I encourage different industries to practice corporate social responsibility to find innovative ways to engage refugees, immigrants, and other minority groups in the workplace. Through the Refugee Career Hub’s resume and internet services of Friends of Refugees, I believe in the power of volunteer service and technology as a medium to connect different groups together in society.

Studies reveal in the future, careers are going to become more of a mosaic of experiences, successes, and failures that will share what we either specialize in or utilize to support a broad range of disciplines that one may want to learn. Under this premise, I can help American businesses leverage diverse talent to stay relevant in today’s interconnected world.