Talent Beyond Boundaries

Mission

Lever for Change Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award Finalist

Conflict and environmental pressures have driven a sharp increase in displacement over the past decade. Refugees come from all walks of life - they are doctors, engineers, skilled trade workers, software developers, aged and disability carers, and more. So many refugees have marketable skills, yet find themselves in countries where they cannot work locally or access basic rights, and are locked out of international employment opportunities.

Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB) is creating safe migration pathways that enable displaced people to move for work, resume their careers, and rebuild their lives. We work with governments to design skilled immigration systems that are accessible to displaced people, we listen to the needs of businesses and we leverage technology to connect refugees with employers in need of their skills.

Three of the world’s largest immigration countries have now established formal refugee labour mobility schemes with TBB’s support (Australia, Canada and the UK), and the US and several European governments are now setting up pilot programs. More than a thousand people have secured solutions to their displacement as a result of these programs already, and millions of refugees will benefit in the decades to come.

Over the next five years we aim to open skilled migration pathways for refugees into 27 target countries, enable more than 15,000 refugees to relocate through these pathways with safety and dignity, and establish the foundations for the sustainable growth of this solution beyond 2027.

This work is changing people’s lives, and changing tired old narratives. When displaced people are able to move internationally for work, economies benefit, global employers gain access to a previously untapped talent pool, and families find safety, security, and the agency to rebuild their lives in communities where their talents are needed.

Launched in January 2020 in partnership with ICONIQ Impact and sponsored by Chris Larsen and Lyna Lam, and the Sea Grape Foundation, the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award was a $12 million competition to identify actionable ideas to transform the lives of refugees and displaced people in the long term. 88 proposals were submitted to the competition and were evaluated using four criteria: whether they were community-centered, impactful, feasible, and evidence-based. Five Finalists were announced in December 2020. In May 2021, Resourcing Refugee Leadership Initiative was announced as Chris Larsen and Lyna Lam’s $10 million Awardee and DREAMS for Refugees was announced as the Sea Grape Foundation’s $2 million Awardee. Through peer-to-peer fundraising efforts, ICONIQ Impact and the Award’s sponsors mobilized an additional $12.25 million in funding from donors in the ICONIQ network, bringing the total funds raised to $24.25 million.

Organization Information