Following President Trump’s now infamous immigration and refugee restrictions going into effect for seven countries (Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen), Indiegogo CEO, Dave Mandelbrot, announced he and his team have launched a crowdfunding campaign dedicated to the refugees that are currently in the U.S.
The campaign reads:
“The recent executive order has dramatically impacted the lives of refugees both inside and outside the United States. We have always been a country of immigrants, and our diversity is what makes America great. Many of us at Indiegogo come from immigrant families or are immigrants ourselves. In response to the ban, the International Rescue Committee just announced an emergency appeal to help refugees – mostly women and children – who have come to the United States to start new lives. The IRC’s 29 offices provides necessary aid for people from all over the world who are fleeing unspeakable violence. This appeal will go towards filling funding gaps associated with the ban, including housing, cultural orientation, health care, education, employment, and immigration services.”
Speaking about Indiegogo’s stance on President Trump’s restrictions, Mandelbrot shared in a blog post:
“Indiegogo was founded on the core principles of inclusion, empowerment and meritocracy. As a result, Indiegogo started a company that would appeal to everyone, including immigrants and people around the world who didn’t necessarily have equal opportunities. Indiegogo has always been open platform, striving to give everybody a fair shot regardless of background. And our company really appeals to immigrants as employees. We have employees that have immigrated here from many countries around the world and who contribute substantially to our company in so many ways. We wouldn’t be half the company we are were it not for the immigrants that have contributed to Indiegogo and, again, considering that one of our founders [Slava Rubin] is an immigrant, if it wasn’t for our country’s willingness to take in immigrants our company might not exist at all – like so many companies founded here. It is because we feel so strongly about how much immigrants contribute to our country and our culture that we are so strongly opposed to the Executive Order issued by Donald Trump last Friday. We firmly believe our country and our company are better because we have people here from so many other places and we firmly believe that it’s more diversity and inclusion that will make America great. We aren’t just sitting back. We are taking action.”
Mandel noted that Indiegogo has reviewed the status of all employees to ensure that none are directly at risk of President Trump’s restrictions. Rubin has also added his signature to the NYC Tech Leaders Oppose Trump Immigration Ban, which can be found below, was sent the President.
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