MCW Office of Global Health

Our City of Nations (OCON)

Next conference planned for 2024

About Our City of Nations (OCON)

Our City of NationsIn December 2015, a call went out to all those who cared about the well-being of our newest neighbors, “Come, let us work together for the betterment of our neighborhoods, cities, and region”. Thus, began our collective journey together through the Our City of Nations (OCON) experience.

“City of Nations” is a term given to Milwaukee in the late 1880s when the city was known for its myriad (mostly European) of immigrant populations. We also acknowledge that in Milwaukee we live and work on traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk and Menominee homeland along the southwest shores of Michigami, North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes, where the Milwaukee, Menominee and Kinnickinnic rivers meet and the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida and Mohican nations remain present. With Milwaukee’s indigenous roots, its historical immigrant settlements, and its continual refugee resettlement, it has always been a “City of Nations.”

Previous Conferences

Since 2015, this multidisciplinary conference has occurred every 18 months and been organized by a dedicated group of academic, community-based, and governmental stakeholders who are collaborating to make Milwaukee and our State of Wisconsin a more welcoming community for all. Following the inaugural conference, a Consensus statement on best practices for refugee care in Wisconsin was collaboratively written and published.

To understand the refugee resettlement process in Milwaukee, please view this summary (PDF).

2022

Sixth conference | Hybrid, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, November 17-18, 2022
2022 Conference Summary (PDF) | 2022 Program (PDF)

Fifth conference | Virtual, November 12, 2021
2021 Conference Summary (PDF) | 2021 Program (PDF)

Fourth conference | Virtual, November 12-13, 2020
2020 Conference Summary (PDF) | 2020 Program (PDF)

Third conference | Concordia University, December 13-14, 2018
2018 Conference Summary (PDF) | 2018 Program (PDF)

Second conference | UW-Milwaukee, June 13-14, 2017
2017 Conference Summary (PDF) | 2017 Program (PDF)

Inaugural conference | Medical College of Wisconsin,  December 3-4, 2015
2015 Conference Summary (PDF) | 2015 Program (PDF)