bring (someone) in from the cold

To allow someone to join or participate in a group from which they were previously excluded; to accept someone into a certain social setting. A relatively unknown director for most of her career, her work with the A-list celebrity garnered the attention of a major Hollywood studio and finally brought her in from the cold. The company finally brought its striking workers in from the cold after months of intense negotiations. After excluding me from their meetings for months, the rest of the executive team has finally brought me in from the cold.