Q+A with Komal Kaur of Eye of An Immigrant

Eye of An Immigrant (EOAI) is an organization dedicated to uplifting and uniting immigrants in the United States. Challenging America’s immigration system—and specifically the financial burden, xenophobia, and lawyer jargon that come with it—Komal Kaur sought to make a change through Startland Education’s Social Change Internship. Komal went through our full design thinking process within our second cohort––conceptualizing her idea over eight weeks and making it a reality.

This fall, EOAI was able to officially register as an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Working on achieving this status since completion of our program, Komal speaks on EOAI’s future and what people can do to continue the fight for migrant rights below.

Eye of An Immigrant Founders, Komal Kaur and Jasneet Kaur, at the Social Change Internship: Holiday Exhibition on December 3rd. Komal and Jasneet were invited to speak to previous interns on their successes since their experience.

(L-R) (Left Photo): Komal Kaur and Jasneet Kaur
(L-R) (Middle Photo): Komal Kaur; Veronica Alvidrez, our Director of Youth and Community Programs; and Jasneet Kaur,

How did you come up with the idea for Eye of An Immigrant?

Komal: So I was born and raised in New York City, and my parents immigrated from a northern state in India called Punjab––my parents were essentially fleeing genocide. When they came to NYC, I saw them face many trials and tribulations.

I started Eye of An Immigrant as kind of a storytelling campaign to share immigration success stories, because a lot of times on media we hear about the bad and there's no other alternative that is shown.

How did you find out about the Social Change Internship? What made you apply?

**Did you know?** Eye of An Immigrant’s first project was a storytelling campaign that featured businesses and organizations like Café Corazón. Check out the full campaign here!

Komal: I found out about the Internship through my high school, and I applied because I already had an idea of something I wanted to do to help immigrants, but I wasn't sure what that fully looked like. So going through Startland helped me put my ideas into action.

Kudos to you on your recent 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. What did it take to get there?

Komal: Getting the 501(c)(3) was a pretty lengthy process. We actually met an attorney through Startland that used to work for Husch Blackwell, so we got connected there and had another attorney that helped us with our case, pro bono. They helped us file for incorporation in the state of Kansas and for the 501(c)(3). In doing that, we had to have our bylaws, articles of incorporation, and we had to find a donor to actually fund both of those valuations––it was approximately $400.

Putting together the pieces of the puzzle made it easier, but it took us about a year to get it all done.

What does the future of EOAI look like?

Komal: So as I mentioned, Eye of An Immigrant started off as a storytelling campaign. But as we’ve started getting more momentum and support from the community, we decided to expand and go for our 501(c)(3) in our mission of aiding families front USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) application fees. A lot of times, there are attorneys that will do pro bono services to help immigrants file applications, but there isn’t aid to help fund fees that go directly to the USCIS. Eye of An Immigrant is going to start there.

We’re also in the process of creating our Board of Directors. Currently, we have four Board members.

**Check out** a short video interview with Komal over on our Instagram!

How can people best support EOAI?

Komal: To best support Eye of An Immigrant, you can go to our website and donate, help us get connected with different immigrant-owned businesses in the Kansas City area, or you can connect us to people who might be interested in serving on our Board of Directors.

What would you say to anyone looking to apply to a future cohort of our Social Change Internship?

Komal: I would definitely say do it. And while you're in the process, get in and ask questions and be ready to learn, because there's a lot of great mentors throughout the program that will help you form your ideas into action.