About Us
Advancing Opportunities for a Stronger American Workforce (AOSAW) [pronounced Ay-o-saw] is a project funded and supported in partnership with the Freedom Together Foundation, the Harvard Immigration Initiative, the Migration Policy Institute, and the National Immigration Forum.
AOSAW combines efforts to identify the needs of both labor and business, understand state and federal policy impacts on the workforce, and integrate Vocational English to Speakers of Other Languages (VESOL) through the Career Focused English Proficiency (CFEP) initiative to support immigrant workers.
Our Team
Eva A. Millona is a Visiting Fellow with the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the visionary designer of AOSAW. She is also an Eastern Bank Foundation Fellow focused on leading the Career-Focused English Proficiency (CFEP) initiative.
Previously, she served as a presidential appointee for the Biden-Harris Administration in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from May 2021 to January 2025, first as Assistant Secretary for Partnership and Engagement, and then as Chief of the inaugural Office of Citizenship, Partnership, and Engagement (OCPE) at USCIS. Before joining DHS, Ms. Millona was president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Coalition (MIRA) for over 13 years. In 2010, Eva co-founded the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), a national organization focused on immigrant integration at the local, state, and federal levels, and served as co-chair for 11 years. She co-chaired the Massachusetts Business Immigration Coalition and chaired the 2020 U.S. Census Statewide Complete Count Committee in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
A native of Albania, Ms. Millona practiced civil and criminal law before becoming the youngest district judge ever appointed to Tirans’s District Court where she served from 1989 to 1992. After immigrating to the United States, she directed the refugee resettlement program in central Massachusetts. She served on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for over 7 years, served as the co-chair of the Massachusetts Governors Advisory Council for Refugees and Immigrants under four governors, served on the Attorney General’s Concil for New Americans, and the Advisory Board for the Boston Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement. Ms. Millona taught global policy as an adjunt professor of practice at Boston College School of Social Work. Ms. Millona has received numerous awards for her leadership and impact, including the presitgious USCIS Outstanding Americans by Choice Award in 2009.
Eva A. Millona
Emma M. Lezberg, a Ph.D. student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and coordinator of the Migration and Immigrant Incorporation / Immigration Initiative at Harvard workshop, is lending her research skills and immigration studies expertise to the project. Ms. Lezberg began her career as an accredited representative at the Berkshire Immigrant Center in western Massachusetts, where she practiced immigration law and represented hundreds of clients navigating the U.S. immigration system. She remains a leader of the Berkshire Alliance to Support the Immigrant Community (BASIC), which brings together 60+ organizations to advocate for the local immigrant community in a manner that is exceedingly rare in rural areas.
At Harvard, her research focuses on the transition from school to work for undocumented young people. She has presented with Law and Society, Eastern
Sociological Society, the Migration Conference, and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, among others. She has pioneered an innovative professional development model for faculty and staff on career advising for students without work authorization, and has led such workshops at dozens of high schools, colleges, and nonprofits across the Northeast. She serves on the MA Department of Higher Education (DHE) Tuition Equity Working Group, which meets monthly with DHE on implementation of financial aid policies for those ineligible for FAFSA. She has also served as a trustee for several organizations, including Berkshire Country Day School and Literacy Volunteers of Berkshire County.
Emma M. Lezberg
Our Vision
Ms. Millona envisions a stronger, more inclusive workforce powered by the skills and potential of untapped and underskilled immigrant labor. By expanding access to high-quality, holistic vocational ESOL programs, she believes it is possible to break down language and systemic barriers that limit economic mobility for immigrants and restrict workforce growth for employers. The comprehensive models that she has designed with experts in the field will deliver not only targeted English language instruction, but also wraparound support services to ensure immigrant learners can complete programs, gain meaningful employment or advance in their current carreers, and thrive. In doing so, AOSAW, CFEP, and all their partners will build a modern, resilient labor force that meets the evolving needs of today’s industries and reflect the diversity and promise of our communities.
AOSAW focuses on three key areas:
AOSAW Partners
Our partners are crucial to the success of the initiative and include:
Get Involved
Our efforts employ user-specific surveys to elicit information that will assist us in understanding the current landscape of the workforce, their needs, and ramifications due to recent immigration policies, as well as the English language needs of employees, issues of access to classes, and the impact to business and industry due to a lack of, or insufficient, English language skills. We welcome your participation by taking this short anonymous survey that best aligns with your role.
[The Links to the surveys will be posted soon. Please check back.]
News and Events
Coming soon!
