My name is Katie Callahan Neginskiy and I’m the Founder of the International Women’s Resource Center (IWRC). For the past 15 years, I’ve worked in adult education and refugee resettlement in multiple countries. After surviving breast cancer, I decided to create IWRC to address gaps in existing systems and help underserved women grow and thrive.
I grew up in rural North Carolina. My parents worked in oncology–my dad was a doctor and my mom was a nurse–and they both spent long hours outside the hospital ensuring that their patients had secure housing, healthy food, access to emotional support, and opportunities for joy. They understood that their work in healthcare did not exist in a vacuum–they needed to support the whole person, not just “the patient.”
This ethos stuck with me as I began my career in adult and refugee education. My students wanted to learn English but they were burdened by housing issues, healthcare, justice, and safety. Over time, I learned how to navigate these issues and help my students not only with their English language skills, but as people finding their place in America.
IWRC is a space of support and community for refugee and immigrant women. We focus on adult education, health literacy, workforce preparation, family literacy and community building, including personalized support services. This safe space is important for women to receive and share tools for momentum, success, and joy.
We are based in Los Angeles and we host many in-person community building events. However, all of our educational programs are presented in a hybrid model. Our classes, workshops, and one-on-one sessions can be attended in-person, streamed live, or watched later online. This hybrid approach relieves issues of transportation, childcare, work schedules, accessibility and more. Our aim is to present programming that is nimble and responsive to the lives of our participants, volunteers, and staff.
Learn more about our organization on our website and Instagram.
There you will find more information about our work and how to become a volunteer, a participant or both!
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