In the debut of our "Meet the Ambassador" series, Ambassador Dan Foote shared his experiences in the United States Foreign Service and his perspective on the real-world impact of American foreign policy. Despite snowy weather, over 40 people attended to learn more.

Look for more IIB cultural and educational events in the coming months!

Discover more details about Ambassador Foote and this event.

With a flurry of winter weather (pun intended), it is clear that safety information on how to handle the season is more important than ever. We created flyers in 13 languages to help you and your relatives, friends, neighbors, and colleagues get through the winter season more safely.

We have at least two more months of this snow and cold. For winter safety, download these flyers and post them wherever you think is reasonable, such as at your workplace, school, library, and places of worship.

Please take a look and share with anyone who might need it.

The Winter Olympics will take place during February 2026! To join in the celebration, we will recognize the historic accomplishments of immigrant and refugee athletes who represented the United States of America during the Games over the years. Stay tuned to our blog and social media!

The most effective way to counter misinformation about immigrants and refugees is with facts and data. Learn about refugee resettlement and the value foreign-born people bring to America on our Know the Value or Dispelling the Myths pages. Another key data resource is the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a research organization founded in 1989 at Syracuse University.

Every month, we thank the people who help us achieve our mission: our team, partner organizations, clients, and others. Here is who we recently featured.

Our legal team regularly holds clinics for people with immigration law challenges. To address the backlog of immigration cases in our courts and connect New York residents with services, we’re launching a groundbreaking program to recruit and train licensed attorneys across disciplines and practice areas to work in immigration law. The new program is in partnership with the New York State Office for New Americans (ONA).

The Institute is looking for at least 20 volunteer attorneys licensed to practice law in any state and 10 non-attorney volunteers to support them, including retirees.

Click here to learn more!

We extend a massive thank-you to all who contributed to the Gifts for Good Neighbors drive. We cataloged donations from 43 individuals and groups totaling over $26,000 in gifts for recently arrived families!

If your New Year’s resolution is to give back, take the next step and contact the International Institute of Buffalo to start volunteering. Please let us know if you want to help clients learn English, assist with events, or welcome visitors to our region.

This month, the Employment Services team held a successful Job Fair in collaboration with the New York State Department of Labor. Approximately 88 clients attended the job fair, representing diverse backgrounds, communities, and skill sets.

The event offered valuable networking opportunities, enabling clients to meet employers, learn about openings, and understand workplace expectations. The team remains committed to supporting refugees and immigrants in their employment journey by connecting them to resources and opportunities for long-term success.

Eight employers, Evergreen Health, JM Smucker/Milk-Bone, NFTA, New York State Civil Service, PUSH Buffalo, Sherwood Electromotion Inc., Western New York Independent Living, and Living Legends Health Group, actively recruited and shared information about available opportunities.

Job Club, our job readiness program, is underway with 23 clients. The three-week program prepares clients for the U.S. workplace, covering workplace culture, resume writing, interview skills, and financial literacy. Clients also get help opening bank accounts — an important step after securing employment. Interpreters in Arabic, Rohingya, Dari, and Pashto ensure accessibility.

Walk-in clients are welcome. Interested individuals are encouraged to visit our website, come to our office, or call (716) 883-1900 ext. 379 or 341 to learn more about eligibility and enrollment.

Our New American Integration team (NAI) serves individuals and families who arrived in the U.S. within the past five years, helping them integrate into the community and sign up for regional and IIB services. NAI is gradually resuming resettlement and aims to help clients join our community.

Learn more about how our New American Integration team helps support our newest neighbors.

Our annual Model UN conference is approaching! Registration is now closed, and 48 regional high schools will bring 921 students this year. More than ever before!

Representing 77 countries, these students submitted an impressive 112 resolutions in hopes of being selected for the conference debate. This high participation shows local teens’ deep investment in global issues through diplomacy.

We held two global communications trainings for UB Pediatric residents and incoming medical students at the Jacobs School of Medicine. These trainings offer guidance on working with people from diverse backgrounds.

We are also hard at work planning for the multi-regional visitor group we will be welcoming at the end of February through the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).

Our always-lively fundraiser, Community World Trivia, comes your way on Thursday, April 30. We are looking for sponsors and teams to join. Contact [email protected] for more information.

Learn more about how our International Exchanges and Education team contributes to greater knowledge and understanding in our community.  

The Interpreting & Translation team provides comprehensive language access in Western New York and recently, the team received 1,099 requests to provide interpreting services and completed 92 separate translation projects. In 2025, the Interpreting & Translation team received 14,894 requests to provide interpreting services and completed 1,202 separate translation projects.

The most requested languages were Arabic, Bengali, Burmese, Dari, Pashto, Rohingya, Somali, Spanish, and Swahili.

If you are multilingual and interested in joining our team, we are recruiting interpreters for the following languages: Afar, Karen, Kinyarwanda, Pashto, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Tigrinya, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. We are also looking for a Pashto translator. Click to apply.

Head to our website to discover more of what we do.

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Please take a look at our careers page.