“Language Skills have been Central”: An IFE alum's career journey

Long before she enrolled in IFE Brussels (Spring 2016), and before embarking on a career where “language skills have been central”, Elisielle Lopes (née Wilson) got into a habit of benefiting from any chance to learn a language in its context, starting when her grandmother drew on a knowledge of French to talk to her as a baby. Next came school-learning in French but also junior-high-school summer exchanges with a French girl, providing “real-world” chances to speak in another language. In high school Elisielle had a chance to join a short volunteer program in Costa Rica, and her first instinct was “to pack [her] brother's Spanish grammar for the trip”, and to enroll in high-school Spanish when she got home.

Arriving at Vassar College, Elisielle began studying Arabic, including conversational practice via the Internet with a young tutor in the Middle East. At this point, as Elisielle tells it, the logical step was to study abroad in Brussels, a polyglot city where, through IFE, she could perfect her French in a real-world professional setting, and hear and speak other languages as well. Being an intern with a research center on immigration studies gave Elisielle hands-on experience with another passion: immigration and refugee services. “I was able to learn so much more about the North African diaspora, Belgium’s colonial legacy, and the vibrant Turkish and Moroccan communities on the outskirts of Brussels.”

After Vassar College, it was off to Spain to teach English and perfect her Spanish (while taking a course on North African women in immigration), then back to New York City to look for work, knowing she “wanted to work in immigrant justice and refugee advocacy”. Beginning as a bilingual staffer with a Spanish bank, Elisielle then took up duties as a trilingual project associate with the International Rescue Committee (IRC – humanitarian crisis response), supporting actions in fifty countries using her language skills. (Facilitating a conference for the IRC in Tunis, Elisielle needed to work with a hotel employee who spoke neither French nor English, and she recalls her “shock when [she] spoke Arabic and he understood...so rewarding after four years of study!” ) Soon, Elisielle's commitment to languages propelled her into a new role initiating changes in IRC's communication to and among staff in many countries, emphasizing the importance of own-language expression for clarity, motivation and relations, while pushing for plain jargon-free language and higher quality translations.

After a stint of on-the-ground multi-lingual service provision working in asylum-seeker shelters across the city, a move to the NYC Mayor's Office for Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) put Elisielle in charge of ensuring that all 30 NYC agencies offer quality language services so that all NYC residents can access government resources. As IFE spoke to Elisielle she was taking on a new role with MOIA as Deputy Director for Communications and Strategic Initiatives.

“Language learning is hard. Having a personal connection or something you are working towards really helps.” Context is important too; “if I had stayed in a traditional classroom setting, I may not have learned vocabulary specific to international relations and immigration, but most of all I wouldn’t have overheard so many incredible scholars discuss these topics over lunch.”

Elisielle's career path so far illustrates plenty of reasons to learn a language. Her language skills add meaning and capability to her passion for immigration, inclusion, asylum, while the latter have driven her language acquisition and the rewards of “hearing people in their own voice”. All in all, “it's really fun to use languages throughout the day!”.

IFE's Elisielle Lopes (3rd from left upper row) with her language access team at NYC Mayor's Office for Immigrant Affairs