If there’s one lesson to be learned from years of teaching IIBA’s citizenship classes, Glen Olson may have found the answer.
“Citizenship is not an endpoint. And it’s more than a milestone,” said Olson, Program Manager of IIBA’s Citizenship Education & Civic Engagement program since 2017. “Because for the hundreds and hundreds of students who have completed IIBA’s classes and gone on to pass the naturalization test – citizenship is only the beginning.”
The decades-long history of IIBA’s citizenship class program dates back to 2003 when IIBA recognized an unmet need. The program started small – with a modest enrollment of around 15 to 20 students who were supported by IIBA staff and volunteers at the Fair Oaks Community Center, Redwood City. Since then the program has expanded throughout the Bay Area and, on average, reaches over a hundred students each week.
Grassroots History and Intentional Growth
Initially in 2003, “It was all very homegrown and grassroots – and it grew organically via word-of-mouth,” remembers Anthony Moss, who was part of the team that launched the very first classes in Redwood City. “And because IIBA as an organization has been around since 1918, we really felt like we were part of continuing a great history and tradition.”
Moss is now the Citizenship Instructor and Volunteer Manager working in both IIBA’s Napa and Petaluma offices, where the classes have continued to expand throughout the Bay Area along with virtual options via Zoom.
Today, IIBA’s citizenship class program has expanded to include both online and in-person classes in Redwood City, San Francisco, Napa and Petaluma. These weekly, volunteer-led classes include mock interviews, civics lessons, and English reading, writing and speaking practice. Last year alone, IIBA helped prepare nearly 500 immigrant students to take the final step on the pathway to citizenship. The program is structured as a 12-week curriculum focused on building English as a Second Language (ESL) skills, while covering key topics on the naturalization test, such as U.S. government, history, and civics.
Civic Engagement
Promoting civic participation has been a core component of IIBA’s mission for more than 100 years. IIBA has helped tens of thousands of Bay Area immigrant residents become U.S. Citizens who have gone on to become civic leaders and informed registered voters.
“To help someone become a citizen is so rewarding and inspiring,” said Memo Morantes, a longtime volunteer teacher whose roots with IIBA go back to the 1990s, when the organization was still known as the International Institute. Memo, an immigrant from Mexico, has since become a community leader, serving on the San Mateo County Board of Education, and co-chairs the county Latino Leadership Council. “Everybody comes to the citizenship classes ready to participate… the shy ones or the not so shy. It’s such a positive energy that you can see and feel all the way from the first class to the end of the 12 weeks.”
A global spirit
The demographics of those who benefit from the program are truly international.
“Let’s see,” says Olson, going on to list the plethora of first languages spoken by the students over the years “there’ve been students who speak Arabic, Turkish, Kazakh, Mongolian, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Japanese… We’ve had Swiss-German, Italian and Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole… many languages from West Africa, French as well. There are multiple Indian languages like Bengali, Hindi, and Gujarati and …, ; also Urdu, Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian…
And while the curriculum and teaching approach has evolved over time, the core mission of helping immigrants become citizens has remained the same.
A leveled playing field
Many of those first students had participated in IIBA’s citizenship application workshops who were hesitant to apply for naturalization, because they felt like the English language requirements and the civics requirements were just insurmountable.
Sheryl Muñoz Bergman, who recently retired from IIBA and was part of the team that launched the original citizenship class program, remembers having conversations with seniors who had immigrated to the United States without ever having an opportunity to go to school as kids.
“Something that really stood out for me,” recalls Muñoz Bergman, “was a senior who said to me, ‘I never even went to children’s school. How can I go to school as an adult?’ She just felt like, ‘I can’t, I’m too old to start school now.’”
Observing how clients were comfortable coming to the IIBA office or to a community center environment, Muñoz Bergman, Moss and others working at the time were determined to develop a program that worked hand in hand with IIBA’s citizenship application legal services.
If clients needed a heavy dose of support, they would enroll in the classes first and then apply for citizenship, creating a “no wrong door approach,” so that if they were ready to apply and just needed a little bit of assistance, they would apply and then enroll in the class. Or, if they were interested in applying but needed to study and build their language skills first, then they would first take the classes and then do the application.
“It was a true example of helping people by meeting them where they were at,” says Muñoz Bergman.’
Meeting the Moment in 2025
“Since January of 2025,” said Glen Olson, “we have had over double the amount of people reaching IIBA by phone and email to join our classes – as compared to the first six months of 2024. This is the result of a lack of funding for these programs and the cuts the Trump administration made to grants that support this work.
is a resilience and determination among staff, volunteers and students alike to ensure that more people have the opportunity to achieve the American dream of becoming a U.S. citizen
Continuing that tradition are volunteers like Stephanie, who in more recent years, began teaching in-person and virtual citizenship classes for IIBA. Her personal experience of helping her Ecuadorian husband through the citizenship process gave her a deeper understanding of the challenges and anxieties involved.
“My family has been in the U.S. for many generations,” says Stephanie, whose husband was an IIBA client. “Within my immediate community, I didn’t know what it takes to apply for citizenship and all of the anxieties or fears involved. But I get it now.”
She recounts how all went smoothly with her husband’s experience through the citizenship process – until the day of the naturalization test.
“Even though he had studied for a year – on the day of the interview, we ended up being late because we couldn’t find parking. I felt like, ‘how can this be happening? This thing that we’ve been waiting for years, what if it goes wrong – all because of something as trivial as a parking spot?’” Thankfully, despite the anxiety of that moment, her husband is now a U.S. Citizen.
“When we received notification that the government was rescinding the two year grant of $300,000 that had been awarded, we were more than concerned,” said IIBA Executive Director Dumesnil.
“But we also know that we have an army of volunteers and community members who are as committed as the IIBA team to support immigrants on their path to citizenship. One donor made an incredibly generous gift to defray that loss.
There is the expression “in giving you receive” and for those of you who have volunteered in our citizenship classes, you know that is true. When COVID hit and we needed to shift to providing our services remotely, one dedicated senior volunteer (Eva Grove) suggested she bring her card table and continue tutoring outside. That is the spirit that keeps us all going. Despite the political environment, or perhaps because of it, we are more committed now than ever to continuing IIBA’s citizenship class programs.”
Click here for more information about IIBA’s citizenship class program.