Refugees are finding their way back into their professions with the help of a program offered through a pair of nonprofits in Spokane.

The Career Laddering for Educated & Vocationally Experienced Refugees, or CLEVER, program, is a collaboration between nonprofits and the Washington State Department of Health and Social Services' Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance.

In the Inland Northwest, the program's services are provided by the Spokane office of the International Rescue Committee in partnership with Career Path Services, a Spokane-based nonprofit dedicated to workforce development and employment training. 

The CLEVER program helps refugees who were professionals in their home countries reenter their fields in the U.S., says Grainne Curtin, economic well-being director at the Spokane office of International Rescue Committee.

“Our part of the partnership is the outreach — seeking out these clients who are underemployed and want to basically return to their career fields that they had before coming to the U.S.,” says Curtin. “We have prosecutors trying to get back into the legal field, doctors, dentists, a lot of nurses, teachers, and even a commercial fisherman. We also have barbers and tree climbers.” 

International Rescue Committee’s economic well-being department also provides specialized employment assistance and rental assistance.  

The state-funded CLEVER program offers career coaching through Career Path Services, in addition to transcript translation assistance, help with recredentialing, and job placement support. All services are free to eligible refugees, asylees, and special immigrant visa holders from Afghanistan, Curtin says.

The strongest pillar of the program, she says, is its mentorship model, which pairs mentees with mentors. 

“We try to pair mentees with a mentor from the community, ideally, somebody within their career field,” she says. “We also have curriculum if there isn't a shared career as well because some of our careers can be a bit difficult to find a mentor. For example, at the moment, we're looking for somebody who's in commercial fishing and that can be hard.”

For those in niche or hard-to-match professions, mentors can still provide meaningful support, such as reviewing resumes, strengthening LinkedIn profiles, or making introductions to those working in adjacent industries, Curtin says.

“Something we’ve found to be the most beneficial is the networking aspect (of our mentors),” she says.  “Our clients have no idea where to begin. They don't know anyone in their career field. So having a mentor introduce them to people in that field has been really great.”

Jeff Dodd, a Gonzaga University professor, volunteers every Friday and has served as a mentor to a multilingual client with advanced technical skills. 

“It struck me as being different than other mentoring roles I’ve participated in,” Dodd says. “He was so accomplished and had such a depth of knowledge and robust technical and linguistic skill sets that it felt much less like a traditional adviser mentoring role.”

Much of the work, Dodd says, involved connecting the client to the right people. 

“He has all the skills and resources that a professional might need,” Dodd says. “He just didn’t have the connections. I felt like a lot of my work was (saying), ‘Let me introduce you to my friend who teaches in data science.’”

Dodd rearranged his teaching schedule at Gonzaga so he could volunteer at International Rescue Committee every Friday.

“I want to come because I want to find a way to contribute whatever modest skill set I have to help newcomers to our community feel welcome,” he says.

Curtin says International Rescue Committee's Spokane employment programs have served 379 individuals from September 2024 to October 2025. The employment programs, in addition to the CLEVER program, help refugees secure their first U.S. jobs or transition out of part-time or underpaid work. 

Partnerships with major employers — including Walmart Inc., ABM Industries Inc., and Amazon.com Inc., as well as Spokane-area businesses like Davenport Hotels and BuyWander Inc. — have accelerated program outcomes, Curtin says. 

“(BuyWander’s) operations manager used to be the executive director of Global Neighborhood Thrift,” Curtin says. “He’s bringing that passion for refugee employment to BuyWander.”

The International Rescue Committee, a global nonprofit founded under the direction of Albert Einstein in 1933, opened its Spokane office at 925 W. Montgomery four years ago with a resettlement program and one employment program, says Kimberly Curry, community engagement manager. 

Today, the nonprofit's Spokane office has grown to provide about 30 initiatives under multiple programs that serve 1,500 clients annually. Curry says the office is supported by 43 multilingual staff, more than 100 volunteers, and about 20 college interns each semester.

“We've hired several of our former clients once they finish the programs,” Curry says. “I would estimate at least 50% of our staff are former refugees, but probably more.”

In addition to the economic well-being department, International Rescue Committee's Spokane office offers programs in case management, immigration legal services, medical case management, mental health, youth tutoring, and school-based trauma-informed training for 400 to 600 teachers each year, Curtin says. Its food security and New Roots garden program gives families access to culturally familiar foods and opportunities to earn supplemental income through farmers markets.

Despite federal funding cuts, Curry says International Rescue Committee's diversified funding — federal, state, and private — helps keep the program strong.

She says refugee resettlement is not only humanitarian work but also an economic investment. Research shared by the state refugee coordinator, Curry notes, shows that within ten years, refugees contribute more to the economy than the initial support they receive.

“What they add with their culture, their perspectives, their talents are immeasurable,” says Curry. “I've learned so much more from the individuals we're working with and walking alongside. I've learned more from them than they ever could from me.”