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In 1864, 21 Chinese workers showed up to a railroad site in the Sierra Nevada. Two years later, they were 90% of the workforce - 15,000 to 20,000 men who blasted & pickaxed the first great artery of this country, paid 30 to 50 percent less than white workers for the same job, on a project the chief engineer said couldn't be finished without them.
A century & a half later, immigrants are building this country a different way. Today, 66% of U.S. unicorns were founded by immigrants or their children. 59% of billion-dollar startups have an immigrant co-founder. Together, these companies are worth more than $5 trillion. Nearly 46% of the Fortune 500 was founded by immigrants or their kids, generating $8.6 trillion in revenue a year. Different century, same story, same people.
This time, we're bringing that whole arc into one room - the generation that arrived with one word of English or the founder with nine visa denials & built billion-dollar companies anyway, alongside tech founders living the current version of Plan C: the visas, the capital, the math of staying versus leaving. And we're inviting a few policymakers. Not to speak - to listen. The people writing policy rarely hear these stories directly from the people living them. This time, we want both in the same room.
This event is hosted by APAPA. For over two decades, APAPA has run on one conviction: civic power isn't handed to immigrant communities - it has to be built, the same way everything else on this list was built. This event is part of that - not just business cards, but connecting the generation that built this country to the one building it now, & connecting builders to the people who make policy.
This event is a part of #SFTechWeek-a week of events hosted by VCs & startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
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