EMBARC debuts Community Storytellers, amplifying voices of refugees, immigrants in Iowa

dsmHack volunteer shares personal journey behind her work with EMBARC

The voices of refugees and immigrants in Iowa are key in creating community-first solutions to difficult challenges. Now at EMBARC, you can hear their stories first hand - wherever you may be. 

“I am a refugee. I know what it’s like to be displaced and have to start over and pick up your life, and I know what it’s like to be helped along the way,” said Azra Beganović, a senior software engineer and longtime dsmHack volunteer. 

With help from Beganović and seven other technology professionals at the 2022 Des Moines Charity Hack, EMBARC is proud to debut Community Storytellers, a new mobile-friendly audio map of Iowa. 

Click the banner above our blog and explore Community Storytellers!

Over a 48-hour hackathon, our volunteer team – including Beganović, Eric Cheatham, Luke Stadtler, Eric Ponto, Grant Porter, Stephanie Vanee, Steffen Paige and Ben Sevcite – coded away with participants to create six unique nonprofit projects addressing a technology need. 

Community Storytellers will highlight the experiences of EMBARC staff, volunteers, clients and RISE AmeriCorps members and community organizations across the state. Learn first-hand about life as an immigrant and refugee in Iowa: visitors at stories.embarciowa.org can search for stories by clicking pins across the state, or filter by program, service category, and language to see how our work changes lives. 

Photos in order: The welcome banner on EMBARC’s website, www.embarciowa.org; EMBARC dsmHack team (Azra Beganović, Eric Cheatham, Luke Stadtler, Eric Ponto, Grant Porter, Stephanie Vanee, Steffen Paige and Ben Sevcite with EMBARC staff Naipong Vang and Kate Hayden); developer Azra Beganović; developers Luke Stadtler and Eric Ponto; a screenshot of Community Storytellers in development; EMBARC IT Coordinator Naipong Vang addresses dsmHack volunteers.

EMBARC’s project hit close to home for Beganović. She and her family fled the Bosnian War when she was just three years old, initially settling in Germany. Yet by 1996, Germany announced Bosnians would be forced to repatriate to Bosnia-Herzegovina or seek asylum elsewhere. Beganović’s family moved to Des Moines, sponsored by family members already in the U.S.  

“My parents looked at their options and said, ‘we don’t want to take our kids back to a war-torn area. We’d like to give them the best opportunity we possibly can,’” Beganović said.

Other Bosnians in Des Moines played a key role in welcoming her family and helping them through the initial waves of culture shock and systems navigation, Beganović said. In time, her parents began to help other refugees from Burma, El Salvador, Guatemala and other nationalities navigate the legal and educational systems in Iowa. 

Beganović is a longtime volunteer participant in dsmHack with her Principal Financial Group colleagues. Using her skills in the tech sphere for EMBARC let Beganović pay it forward in the same way her parents demonstrated, she said. 

“Refugees are capable, strong, joyful and powerful individuals who can help each other,” Beganović said. “Having an organization that is by refugees, for refugees – I think that’s an important story to tell.”