Welcoming America

Founding and History

Welcoming America was founded in 2009 by David Lubbell, who previously founded the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and Welcoming Tennessee. Welcoming America began to receive more attention after it was featured in a PBS special in 2011 that highlighted its work. It later partnered with the Obama administration’s 2014 White House Task Force on New Americans and its Building Welcoming Communities Campaign. ¹

In 2017, the group began to provide certifications for American cities that met the group’s standards for immigrant inclusion. In 2018, David Lubell left his role as executive director to head the Welcoming International Initiative, which spearheaded efforts to increase immigration and reduce resistance to increased immigration in Western countries. ¹

In July of 2025, Welcoming America signed onto an open letter accusing the second Trump administration and Republican members of Congress of weaponizing investigatory powers to look into left-of-center nonprofits and their finances. ²

Financials

For 2023, Welcoming America reported $3,796,923 in revenue, of which $3,281,510 stemmed from contributions and grants, $486,867 from program service revenue, and $10,848 from investment income. It did not report any grants from any level of government. ³

For 2023, Welcoming America reported $4,095,117 in expenses, with $378,103 being paid out in grants, $2,253,836 in salary and compensation, $234,304 in travel expenses, $525,429 in conference and meeting expenses, and $24,795 in advertising expenses. It ended the year with a net loss of $298,194 and $2,405,046 in net assets ⁴

Notable major donors have included the Walmart Foundation, which contributed $849,084 in fiscal year ending January of 2024 for the purpose of “inclusive communities,” and the Catena Foundation, a Walton-family philanthropy, which contributed $375,000 to Welcoming America for its work “counter[ing] xenophobia” in 2023. ^{5  6}

Organization Philosophy

Welcoming America holds left-of-center views on immigration and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The group argues that DEI is the bedrock of any welcoming community of immigrants. It claims that America is rife with the consequences of colonialism and structural racism, which must be overcome in order to build its preferred vision of society. ¹

Notably, the group explicitly embraces equitable outcomes as its measurement of success, which entails thinking that any statistical group disparities are the result of discrimination, racism, and oppression. ¹

Projects and Initiatives

Welcoming America administers programs focused on welcoming immigrants and refugees into American communities. As of November 2025, the group reported partnering with 128 nonprofit organizations and 123 local governments. An additional 36 local governments were “certified welcoming” at the time, meaning that they met the group’s criteria for immigrant and refugee policies and strategic plans. Certified major cities included Austin, Texas; New Orleans, Louisianna; Dallas, Texas; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Indianapolis, Indiana; Baltimore, Maryland; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ^{7  8}

Welcoming America also houses Welcoming International, which carries out the group’s mission to increase immigration around the world, primarily to other Western countries. ⁹

On a policy level, Welcoming America urges the implementation of federal programs to increase immigration and reduce opposition to said immigration through the implementation of narrative campaigns across the entire federal government. It also calls for more widespread diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to be implemented. ¹⁰

Welcoming America is listed as a field partner of the left-of-center New Pluralists organization. ¹¹

Leadership

As of 2025, Rachel Peric was the executive director of Welcoming America, a role she had held since February 2018. She previously worked with the organization in a number of different management roles since 2011. Prior to joining Welcoming America, she directed an adult English literacy group. ^{12  13}

David Lubell is the founder and former executive director of Welcoming America. He founded the group in 2009 after previously founding and directing the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. He was Welcoming America’s executive director until 2018, at which point he became the director of Welcoming International. He left this position in 2022 and became a consultant, and as of November 2025 was working in left-of-center climate activism. ¹⁴