A personal story

Alya Michelson’s deeply personal experience of finding home in a new country, creating a community, and seeking a sense of belonging has called her to a lifelong commitment to support, elevate, and honor women who are also on this journey. These women, whose diverse global perspectives and contributions enrich and shape the country they now call home, bring their creativity, persistence, and vision to solving challenges in their communities.

Undeniable forces

There are 167MM women in the US today. Women who work, raise families, study, and invent. They improve our schools, hospitals, homes and boardrooms.  They are opening businesses and attaining higher education at a pace never seen before, unlocking the American potential suffragettes dreamt of a century ago. Among these women, one in seven is an immigrant who carries in her a global perspective that enriches our society. Her experience is one of arrival, integration, and renewal.

FirstGen celebrates the stories of these immigrant women – famous and unknown, artists and entrepreneurs, innovators and trailblazers. Through FirstGen, a project driven by the passions and philanthropic vision of Alya Michelson, communal spaces area created for women to gather in celebration of their diverse experience and shine a light all the ways immigrant women positively impact our world today.

Reyna Montoya

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Vanessa Luna

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Zeba Talkhani

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