Bridging the Talent Gap: inSpring and TMF's Vision for a Thriving STEM Workforce
Attracting and retaining global STEM talent is an imperative to sustaining American technological leadership in the 21st century and having a thriving workforce to support vibrant and successful regional economies across the U.S. inSpring will create regional hubs that will launch foreign-born STEM graduates of U.S. universities into high demand, critical industries in order to support the retention of this talent into the skilled workforce. inSpring is excited to partner with the Talent Mobility Fund (TMF) on this initiative.
inSpring has prioritized establishing Regional Talent Hubs in areas across the country with severe workforce shortages, flat or declining youth populations, and growing international talent with relatively low education-to-workforce retention. Currently, inSpring is building hubs in Oklahoma, South Carolina, Rochester, New York, and Birmingham, Alabama. TMF’s support will enable inSpring to enhance these four existing regional hubs by building scalable programming that spans all three critical sectors and the full suite of legal immigration pathways. The grant from TMF will also enable inSpring to launch new hubs, with a focus on regions where workforce challenges are especially acute. inSpring’s initiative also includes the deployment of placed-based and industry-based STEM Ambassadors. These ambassadors leverage their experience with existing immigration pathways to promote the employment and retention of foreign-born STEM graduates of U.S. universities in their regions.
TMF, a philanthropic program of Renaissance Philanthropy and fiscally sponsored by Digital Harbor Foundation, empowers individuals to move to opportunity by increasing the utilization of existing legal immigration pathways. The Fund operates through two tracks: U.S. STEM Immigration and Global Mobility. With support from TMF’s U.S. STEM Immigration Track, inSpring will enhance and expand its place-based, employer-focused programs to address the demand for mobile, skilled STEM talent in the advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and healthcare industries.
“At TMF, we believe that a key to strengthening and sustaining America’s STEM ecosystem is recognizing and leveraging the talent already within our reach. By increasing awareness and optimizing existing legal immigration pathways, we can ensure that U.S. employers are connecting with foreign-born STEM degree graduates of U.S. universities. InSpring’s regional hub model exemplifies this approach—bridging gaps between employers, STEM talent, and regional communities,” said Amy Nice, Co-Director of the Talent Mobility Fund and Head of U.S. STEM Immigration.
“When we created inSpring, we had a belief that by empowering the world’s brightest minds and building a world-class talent mobility platform in the U.S., we would be creating a catalyst for economic growth, innovation, and prosperity, said Chris Hoehn Saric, inSpring Co-Founder and CEO. “Through our Regional Talent Hub model, we are seeing the direct impact touching the communities, hospitals, and employers we are working with and are delighted to have the opportunity to expand our efforts and make a significant impact at scale. The vision, support and network of TMF has been an accelerant for our work and we see tremendous potential in a long-term partnership tied to our shared mission.”
inSpring’s regional hub approach is designed to be a novel, permanent fixture in regions across the U.S., with the intention to scale to 30+ hubs over the next ten years. This network will serve as a vehicle for TMF to launch, activate, and measure existing and future investments to expand its impact on the U.S. STEM talent ecosystem.