Our History

Diversity in Health Training Institute (DHTI) is a 501c3 non-profit organization, established in 2011 by then Alameda County Supervisor, Alice Lai-Bitker, to address the shortage of healthcare workers and meet the demands of a growing immigrant population in East Bay, Northern California. With the passing of the Affordable Care Act in March 2010, there was a growing need to address the shortage of healthcare workers who can reflect and understand the needs of the underserved immigrant and marginalized communities across the United States.

Prior to DHTI’s formal establishment, DHTI began as a pilot re-entry training program for international nurses in 2007 when Alameda County Supervisor, Alice Lai-Bitker, convened a consortium of several East Bay community health and education organizations. DHTI’s “Immigrant Nursing Re-entry Program” (INRP) enabled foreign-trained nurses to become qualified Registered Nurses (RNs) in the U.S. In its first 3 years, DHTI’s INRP served 84 students from more than 14 ethnic backgrounds speaking over 25 languages, and 90% of the students in the first three years successfully completed the program with half of the graduates obtaining an immediate healthcare job.

Supervisor Lai-Bitker recognized that Allied Healthcare Careers were emerging and these careers offered the best re-entry potential for foreign trained immigrants to continue their healthcare professions with self-sustaining and professional growth opportunities. DHTI was incorporated when supervisor Lai-Bitker finished her final term in 2010 and founded DHTI in 2011. Local government officials and several foundations financially supported DHTI in its first year to continue addressing the growing need to make our healthcare system more diverse, equitable, and inclusive with culturally competent and linguistically diverse immigrant healthcare workers.

Our Mission

Our mission is to expand and diversify the healthcare workforce by connecting immigrants to healthcare career pathways in the U.S. We work with educators and employers to qualify immigrants for healthcare careers. Our vision is to improve healthcare services for the local community.

Our Programs

Our Healthcare Career Pathways program builds a pipeline of culturally competent and linguistically diverse healthcare workers. We help immigrants pursue healthcare careers by offering FREE career coaching and knowledge-based training referrals with our school partners, navigation support, work-readiness workshops, and internship and job placement opportunities.

Our Community Wellness program promotes healthy communities by supporting marginalized Middle-Eastern and North African communities gain access to mental health services and social service referrals. We host community events, psycho-education and cultural workshops, and provide social service referrals and preventive & early intervention mental health services.

Collectively through our various programs and projects, DHTI has served over 1500 immigrants, refugees, and asylees from over 68 countries, representing over 42 languages. DHTI is a trusted community organization with a diverse staff who reflect the languages, cultures, and experiences of our underserved immigrant and marginalized communities. All staff members identify as people of color, 90% identify as refugees or immigrants themselves, and collectively we speak over 10 languages and dialects, such as, Burmese, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Pashto, Persian (Dari and Farsi), Punjabi, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

We look forward to serving YOU along with our Sponsors, Education and Employment partners, and Community Based Organizations.