Gabriela Gutierrez is an experienced professional in project management and change management who speaks Spanish, English, and French. She joins Katherine and Sarah to talk about the opportunities and connections that being multilingual have opened up to her throughout her career, focusing on how she has taken a goal-oriented approach to language learning as part of career development. Gabriela also discusses what it is like to work in a trilingual organization where designing from a multilingual perspective is the norm rather than the exception, and how equitable, accessible language practices empower everyone in her organization. As Gabriela says, “Learning and development is about the people and it’s for the people, and we leverage languages to make sure that we always keep people in mind.”

Episode sponsored by Molly Shapiro, accountability coach. mollyshapirocoaching@gmail.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-shapiro/

Connect with Gabriela on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielagutierrez/

Connect with Katherine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinermatheson/

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-kosel-agnihotri

Here is the transcript for this episode.

rlett Lopez is from Caracas, Venezuela. She moved to the US in 2014 to pursue a bachelor’s degree in International Business and Marketing, and later a master’s degree in Instructional Design & Technology. She has a customer success background in the tech industry, and is currently a bilingual Instructional Designer, creating learning experiences for different clients. She volunteers as a career coach at Upwardly Global, mentoring refugee and immigrant job seekers in the US.

Scarlett shares with Sarah and Katherine the importance of being surrounded in childhood by people who spoke multiple languages in shaping her language identity. They also discuss how language evolves through generations, and the challenge of producing content in a “neutral” language that isn’t really neutral at all. Scarlett shares her insights about how instructional designers advocate for learners and how learning a language helps cultivate empathy for learners.

Episode sponsored by Molly Shapiro, accountability coach. mollyshapirocoaching@gmail.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-shapiro/

Connect with Scarlett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-scarlett-lopez/

Connect with Katherine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinermatheson/

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-kosel-agnihotri

In this episode, Sarah and Katherine speak with Andrew Tobey. Andrew is a linguist with a knack for technology who works as a multilingual instructional designer in the corporate space.

Andrew begins the conversation with a personal story about how multilingualism shaped his childhood, and talks more generally about the importance of immersing yourself in a language and speaking it from day one. He explains how learning a language builds persistence and confidence and can be a vehicle for growing many other skills, and how multilingual team members can facilitate so much more than just content creation in multiple languages. We also discuss strategies for leveraging AI as a first-draft tool and using our human skills for quality assurance, and how the ease of AI may lead to increased access through more content in more languages, but also may present security concerns.

Episode sponsored by Molly Shapiro, accountability coach. mollyshapirocoaching@gmail.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-shapiro/

Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewthstobey/

Connect with Katherine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinermatheson/

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-kosel-agnihotri