ImmiGRIT: How Immigrant Leadership Drives Business Success

Praise for IMMIGRIT

This research is a reflection of Ukeme’s enduring spirit, lived experience as an immigrant, and professional astuteness—an important contribution to the conversation on leadership.

—Ama Marston, Co-Author, Type R: Transformative Resilience for Thriving in a Turbulent World

ImmiGRIT shines a light on the underappreciated strengths of immigrant leaders, combining Ukeme’s personal journey with research and actionable advice. This timely book is a must-read for anyone seeking to foster inclusive leadership and harness the power of diverse perspectives in today’s globalized world.

—Noa Ries, Co-founder, Co-ceo of Kahilla

A groundbreaking exploration of immigrant leadership, blending personal narratives with evidence-based research. Beyond its practical insights and actionable advice, ImmiGRIT is a guide for business leaders on inclusive leadership

—Eugina Jordan, CMO and Author of Unlimited

ImmiGRIT is pure passion, purpose, and filled with practical insights. Ukeme inspires organizations to action and empowers them with a proven system to harness the power and potential of the immigrant experience in the workplace. Leaders who put ImmiGRIT into practice will be ahead of the game and position their companies to compete better in the marketplace.

—Chris Catina, Community-first Business Strategist

True to her engineering background, Ukeme has scientifically and intelligently outlined what needs to be done and how it can be done—to harness the talents of the immigrant leaders in our midst

—Nicole Makeda, Esq., Founder Ms. Makeda Travels

Ukeme has sculpted a business masterpiece with ImmiGRIT. A well-written, easily digestible, well-researched book for every corporation that wants to benefit from the untapped and generous benefits of immigrant leadership.

—Emmanuel Olawale, Esq, Attorney and Author of The Flavor of Favor: Quest for the American Dream

ImmiGRIT

ImmiGRIT

How Immigrant Leadership Drives Business Success

Ukeme Awakessien Jeter

Copyright © 2024 Ukeme Awakessien Jeter

All rights reserved.

ImmiGRIT

How Immigrant Leadership Drives Business Success

ISBN

979-8-88926-064-6 Paperback

979-8-88926-065-3 Hardcover

979-8-88926-063-9 Ebook

To Aubrey and Zachary, may your immigrant origins empower you.

—Mom

Contents

Foreword

Author’s Note

Introduction

PART I

Chapter 1. From Immigrant to Leader

Chapter 2. The Shifting Landscape of Immigration

Chapter 3. Immigration Is Shaping Us

PART II

Chapter 4. Unveiling Immigrants in Diversity Discourse

Chapter 5. Unconscious Biases Impacting Immigrants

Chapter 6. Absence of Immigrant Leadership

Chapter 7. Influence of Immigrant Leadership

PART III

Chapter 8. Understanding ImmiGRIT

Chapter 9. Harnessing ImmiGRIT

Chapter 10. Cultivating ImmiGRIT

Chapter 11. Sustaining ImmiGRIT

Parting Words

Acknowledgments

NOTES

WHAT’S NEXT?

Foreword

In February 2024, I received news that I had been nominated as the CMO to watch. While to many it might have seemed like just another industry recognition, it was an emotional moment for me.

As an immigrant from Russia who ventured into the world of marketing with no formal training and with English as my second language, this nomination meant everything.

To me. To my strength. To my ImmiGRIT.

Ukeme, the author of this book, coined that term. ImmiGRIT encapsulates immigrant essence as well as immigrant strength, resilience, perseverance, and resourcefulness.

Ukeme is the epitome of ImmiGRIT. She started as an engineer and then went on to get her MBA and pursued law.

And she did not stop there.

She’s made history as the first BIPOC mayor in Upper Arlington, Ohio.

She’s rewriting the rules, showing us all what’s possible when you refuse to be boxed in by expectations.

I couldn’t be prouder to call her a friend.

She’s not just breaking barriers; she’s smashing them to pieces, paving the way for others like her.

Like me.

Like us.

Immigrants.

It’s not luck; it’s ImmiGRIT.

As an immigrant, I’ve walked the path of navigating different cultures, languages, and perspectives in corporate America. And let me tell you, it’s been a ride filled with invaluable leadership lessons.

Yet too often I’ve witnessed the untapped potential of immigrant leaders, including me, being overlooked in workplaces.

And this is what Ukeme’s book ImmiGRIT: How Immigrant Leadership Drives Business Success is all about.

It’s a guide for anyone who believes in the power of inclusion and wants to drive positive change in their organization.

It’s a call to action, a roadmap for building a brighter, more equitable future together.

It’s a manual, based on insights from immigrants and experts, that teaches how you can unleash the superpower of immigrant leadership for greater innovation and success.

Whether you’re a seasoned executive or a budding professional, this book holds the keys to understanding why immigrant leadership matters and how to harness it for a brighter, more innovative future. As I reflect on my own journey, I realize that immigrant leadership isn’t just a skill set. It’s a force waiting to be reckoned with. You will discover the keys to unlocking this potential, fostering inclusivity, and driving innovation through these pages.

Ready to dive in?

Let’s embark on a journey through this book to transform our workplaces into inclusive hubs of excellence built on understanding, empathy, and finding common ground. Through these pages, let’s celebrate our shared humanity, no matter where we come from.

After all, the future of leadership is diverse, and it starts with all of us.

Companies that grasp this truth sooner rather than later are poised to survive and thrive in the ever-evolving business landscape.

Embracing diversity and immigrant voices isn’t just about meeting quotas or checking boxes. It’s about harnessing the full spectrum of human experience, talent, and perspective to drive innovation, creativity, and success.

So, let’s lead the way together, forging a path toward a tomorrow where every voice is heard, every talent is valued, and every individual, no matter where they are born or come from, is empowered to reach their greatest potential.

With love to all of you,

Eugina Jordan, a Russian-born American, author, a CMO to watch, a mom, and a wife.

Author’s Note

Thank you for picking up this book. Before you begin, I have a quick note. This is a business book about conventional business topics: talent acquisition, talent development, and talent retention. As this book’s title suggests, we explore the untapped power and contributions of immigrant talent, a group often marginalized and used for political warfare. I do not discuss the ethical case of immigration policies, because that hovers just beyond the pages of this book. This is simply a book about the business case and best practices for hiring, developing, and promoting immigrants to leadership.

I use the term immigrant throughout this book in its traditional meaning—to refer to persons living in a country that is not their country of birth. This population includes naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees and asylees, persons on certain temporary visas, and unauthorized immigrants. I also use the term immigrant-origin to encompass second-generation immigrants, a group of individuals born to at least one immigrant parent. This acknowledges a group that straddles an additional layer of identity.

Before diving into this book, I want to acknowledge the immense diversity among immigrants. We are not a monolithic group. We hail from diverse places, under varied circumstances, and carry with us different privileges and socioeconomic statuses. But a unifying experience ties us together—the process of moving and establishing roots in a new country. Despite our differences, this shared journey demands a tenacity that transcends individual disparities.

Finally, I recognize that effective leadership traits are universal. In zooming in on the unique blend of leadership competencies the immigrant experience unearths, my focus on those traits does not imply exclusivity. They represent qualities shared by both immigrants and nonimmigrants. However, my emphasis on immigrants aims to further an understanding of our experiences. It seeks to illuminate the exceptional qualities that emerge from the immigrant journey and how they contribute to leadership excellence.

So, if you are a nonimmigrant perusing these pages, this book is still for you. Rest assured that the qualities discussed apply universally. Consider this an invitation to recognize the shared ground we stand on. Effective leadership knows no boundaries. Regardless of your immigrant status, the qualities discussed here do not diminish your effectiveness as a leader.

Introduction

It felt like déjà vu. I was standing outside the Alford Arena dressed in graduation regalia, observing lines of graduates streaming out. It was another graduation day at the University of Maine, my alma mater. However, this time, I was not earning another degree. I was delivering a special commencement address as a distinguished alumna at a combined graduation ceremony to the graduating classes of 2020 and 2021—the pandemic graduates.

Orono, the community where my alma mater sits, is a small town with a population of roughly ten thousand people. Over two decades had passed since I left the campus, yet everything appeared as I remembered, accompanied by a surprisingly warm breeze for a May day in Maine. As I stood there, it struck me how much this town now felt like home, considering how foreign it seemed when I arrived as an international student—where my journey as an immigrant began.

I had been invited back to deliver the commencement address in light of my recent and historic accomplishment. The milestone? In 2021, I made history as the first immigrant and person of color elected to the city council in Upper Arlington, Ohio. In my address, I talked about my immigrant journey and encouraged the graduates to confidently go off-script when confronted with the twists and turns of personal and career growth. For immigrants, this call to veer off the expected path resonates deeply. Our lives, despite meticulous plans, seldom adhere to a predetermined script. In my story and the collective tales of immigrants, there’s a recurring theme—the unpredictable nature of our journeys.

Standing there with my mother by my side, it all felt reminiscent of my graduation day. The only reminder that this day was new was the presence of my two children standing beside me. I congratulated the graduates as they filed out.

Your speech was great, a mother of a graduate complimented.

I smiled and replied, Thank you.

Another attendee remarked, What a brave career you have had.

The compliments continued, and I sheepishly accepted them. Compliments can be awkward.

Then, a graduate approached me, thanked me for my speech, and made a comment that planted the seed for this book. As an international student, the graduate said, I have never considered that my immigrant experience has given me leadership skills until your speech.

I pondered those words, realizing that I had not considered this either until at least a decade into my career. Worse, many of my leaders had failed to see it too.

Immigrants have long played a vital role in shaping societies and economies worldwide, especially in America. They make significant contributions to all facets of society, including science, technology, arts, politics, and entrepreneurship. So I was shocked to discover that only 3 percent of Fortune 100 CEOs are immigrants.¹

There is no question that more immigrants should be leading major corporations. Their experiences of leaving their homelands, adapting to new environments, and navigating unfamiliar challenges have instilled in them a remarkable ability to embrace change, overcome adversity, and think outside the box. Those are skills that make an organization profitable. Those qualities make them exceptional problem-solvers and enable them to inspire, motivate, and lead their teams to reach new heights.

Every immigrant story is nuanced and multifaceted. Yet it is often oversimplified, glorified, and reduced to a symbol of resilience or a vehicle for perpetuating the myth of the American Dream. This diminishes the complexity of the immigrant experience. Yes, resilience is a hallmark of the immigrant experience that is forged through adversity, but it also needs to be recognized as a leadership trait. Immigrants may face extraordinary challenges and overcome daunting odds, but their stories do more than inspire. Their stories showcase their leadership qualities.

ImmiGRIT

Immigrants are not a homogenous group; however, the immigrant experience has many commonalities. It unearths a unique skill set that is typically not recognized and often underutilized—a skill set that we desire in all our leaders. I have coined this skill set ImmiGRIT.

Beyond the obvious blend of immigrant and grit, ImmiGRIT is ubiquitous. It encapsulates the adaptability, resilience, resourcefulness, and sheer grit exhibited by immigrants, especially immigrant women, as they navigate