The GSU Remittance Justice Team worked with ACORN International on the current Remittance Justice Campaign to raise awareness about profiteering by banks and money transfer organizations and analyze remittance trends in and around the metro Atlanta area in order to influence these organizations to lower fees on the transactions involved in sending money to friends and family living outside the United States. We collected 204 surveys from immigrants and refugees, developed 8 partnerships with community organizations and created a blog for general interest building and education as well as electronic survey collection. Our resulting data confirmed existing research regarding remittance practices and will provide our sponsor with a view of the local attitudes toward the remittance process and fees charged. Our team learned the importance of engaging key stakeholders within a community and the necessity of approaching an issue from the perspective of the affected parties.

Posted May 7, 2013