What happens when people move beyond immigration headlines and listen directly to the people living the stories? Wittenberg’s new School of Business, Policy, and Ethics invites the campus and greater community to explore that question during the Immigrant Work & Leadership Summit titled “Immigration at the Crossroads: Business, Policy, Ethics, and Human Stories.” This special interdisciplinary event will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, in Bayley Auditorium, Barbara Deer Kuss Science Center, during the University’s Homecoming, Reunion, and Family Weekend.

This interdisciplinary event brings together documentary film, youth voices, student research, immigrant business stories, and faculty and community perspectives to explore immigration through business, public policy, ethics, identity, work, and lived human experience. The program is free and open to faculty, staff, students, alumni, community members, high school students, and families.

The event was developed and organized by Sunny Jeong, associate professor of business and economics and director of international business at Wittenberg, as part of a broader community-engaged initiative connecting Korean American immigrant storytelling, undergraduate research, experiential learning, and interdisciplinary dialogue. Jeong has led the initiative in collaboration with students, community partners, youth participants, faculty colleagues, and a professional filmmaker.

Much of the work featured in the program grew from Jeong’s “Bridging Generations Through Meaningful Work” project, supported through the ASIANetwork–Mellon AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Voices and Stories Faculty Fellows Program, funded by the Mellon Foundation. The community-based digital storytelling initiative brings younger generations into conversation with first-generation Korean American immigrants to explore stories of immigration, work, entrepreneurship, family, identity, resilience, and the evolving meaning of success.

“Immigration is often discussed through statistics, policies, and headlines, but behind all of those are people—their work, families, businesses, identities, sacrifices, and hopes,” Jeong said. “This event invites us to listen across disciplines and generations and to consider what becomes possible when business, policy, ethics, and human stories are brought into the same conversation.”

The summit will feature five program components:

Documentary Film & Director’s Talk

Brittany Reeon Lee, filmmaker and visual storyteller, will present documentary work and participate in a director’s conversation featuring stories from the Korean American immigrant community. A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Lee brings experience across documentary and narrative film, television, and visual storytelling, with work recognized at film festivals in the United States and internationally. Lee has collaborated with Jeong, students, youth participants, and community members on the digital storytelling component of the project.

Bridging Generations – Youth Voices

High school students Kayla Na, Jaden J. Shon, and Seoyeon Shin will present “Bridging Generations – Youth Voices,” and share what they learned from listening directly to the lived experiences of first-generation Korean American immigrants.

Through interviews with Korean American business owners, professionals, and community members, the students explored immigration journeys, work and entrepreneurship, family responsibilities, identity, resilience, and lessons participants hope to pass on to younger generations.

Meaningful Work & Immigrant Experience

Wittenberg students Hannah Peterson and Taylor Butts, both from Cedarville, Ohio, and both class of 2028 business management majors with minors in communication and digital media, will present their faculty-mentored summer research conducted under Jeong.

Supported by competitive Wittenberg University summer student research grants, the two explored how immigration, work, family, resilience, and identity shape the meaning of work and evolving definitions of success.

Immigrant Business Stories

Selected student teams from Jeong’s BUSN 250 International Business course will present “Immigrant Business Stories.” Through conversations with local immigrant entrepreneurs and professionals, Wittenberg students bring lived experiences into classroom and public conversations about business, public policy, ethics, cultural identity, resilience, and cross-cultural leadership—moving beyond abstract discussions of globalization to listen directly to community leaders.

Faculty Panel & Community Conversation

The program will conclude with a panel that brings faculty, students, and community voices together.

Marjory Wentworth, author, educator, immigration advocate, and director of Wittenberg’s Writing Center and Oral Communication Center, will facilitate and chair the conversation. She will be joined by James Allan, professor and chair of political science, Nona Moskowitz, professor and chair of sociology, and Jeong.

Together, panelists will explore how business, public policy, ethics, storytelling, identity, work, and lived human experience intersect in conversations about immigration, followed by an open Q&A with the audience.

The event highlights the collaborative and interdisciplinary mission of Wittenberg’s new School of Business, Policy & Ethics, while connecting that mission with the University’s Homecoming celebration and ongoing community-engaged teaching, research, and storytelling.