Global Summit: A Community Integration Plan
Summary
The Global Summit Program serves all of Summit County. Global Summit is a community integration and education initiative led by a Summit County steering committee made up of various members of the community.
Global Summit works to build a strong, integrated community by advocating for positive solutions to community issues through partnerships with individuals and organizations.
The Global Summit vision is a welcoming and integrated community that offers equal opportunities, ensures safety and a sense of belonging, values diversity and promotes cultural education for all community members.
Need & Beneficiaries
The Center for Immigration Studies has designated Summit County as a “New Ellis Island,” a county in which the number of new legal immigrants is equal in size to at least 50% of the existing foreign-born population. In this designation, Summit County ranks 50th out of 3,000 counties nationwide. Between 1990 and 2000, the foreign born population of Summit County increased by 722%.
Global Summit was created to address the challenges created by the rapidly changing demographics, as well as, to embrace the many benefits of the resulting diversity. Global Summit is part of a Colorado Trust-funded four-year Supporting Immigrants and Refugee Families Initiative grant. Global Summit encourages involvement and a sense of belonging for all community members, ultimately creating a safer, stronger, and more stable Summit County.
Activities
Law Enforcement Latino Advisory Council
- Seeks to bridge the dialogue gap between law enforcement and the Latino community
- Activities include collecting and responding to questions from the Latino community regarding law enforcement
Communication and Outreach
- Ensures community information is provided in a variety of languages through Spanish-language news media and sponsoring the radio show Ritmo Latino in partnership with KSMT
- Recognizes businesses via local news media who have good integration practices and promoting community knowledge of Global Summit
Youth Development
Creates activities for youth in the community in partnership with Mountain Mentors and provides evening discussion forums for Latino parents.
Cultural Competency, Business, and Leadership Development
- Reaches out to area businesses to assess needs regarding cultural issues.
- Provides a database of cultural integration and cultural competency resources
- Assists in intercultural training, and assist in cross-cultural leadership development.
Events
Global Summit partners in events that promote cultural understanding and dialogue, including: El Grito del Valle, Celebrations around the World, the Speaker Series with Summit County School District, Rotary and the Town of Frisco, and Make a Difference Day