Using Technology to Help Refugees

Derek Smith is a caseworker at the International Rescue Committee in Dallas, Texas, who developed a multilingual, community-sourced app for helping refugees once they have arrived in the United States. The app helps refugees connect with hospitals, schools, ethnic stores, banking and more in their native languages, and is currently available in English, Arabic, Farsi, Kinyarwanda and Kiswahili. Smith will talk about his experience working with refugees in Dallas, why he does this kind of work, and discuss his app, the Collective for Refugees and Immigrants, and the process of creating it.