Committed to Language Equity

0:06 All right well good morning everyone you're here at Visionality's Building Forward and... my name is Emily and our
0:14 two guest stars I am so excited to welcome Judy and Lena and we are talking
0:20 today about something that... Judy especially is really passionate about which is why we invited these two but
0:27 something that's really important and hasn't gotten a lot of traction in my opinion in our local community so we're
0:33 talking today about the importance of language equity and Judy I wanted to... kick it straight to you and we can talk
0:40 about how we came to this topic and how you discovered that this is something
0:46 that you're interested in moving forward in the world so let's talk about the most recent PFE which is partnership for
0:54 excellence good morning everyone thanks so much for joining us today and I am really excited about this topic I'm
1:01 probably more excited about the collaboration that it... that it generates... in the commitment to... to
1:07 language access and Justice and so... for the past 10 or so years I've been
1:13 producing the partnership for excellence which is a Regional Conference which has been both inperson and virtual recently
1:20 and... that program really brings together social sector leaders from...
1:26 across our region and across all types of agencies and so... for us we have
1:33 been thinking about... bilingual programming and language Justice...
1:38 since what Lena probably since about 2015... and we've been doing some
1:45 experiments and mostly... my team has been partnering with Lena's team at...
1:52 at bridging voices... uni and theosis and have really... built an incredible
1:57 partnership in order to... advance this so we'd love to talk about it more with you today very much I was just so
2:05 impressed at PFE the... you know we we do a lot of events in collaboration with
2:13 other organizations and there is a a
2:18 wish to make events more language inclusive but what was so deeply
2:23 impressive to me is that you guys did it all the way and you did it in an
2:28 inclusive way and... and you did it because it's the right thing to do and it's the way we
2:34 need to move our industry forward not because of the numbers right so so talk
2:41 to me about that what was the process you know it it sounds like the funders who fund PFE were just like committed to
2:48 it they were ready to go they were ready to jump in like feet
2:56 first well I would say we... we LED them to the wat's
3:01 edge right I mean this really... this commitment came out of the planning and
3:06 steering committees over years and from... engagement with our community so
3:13 seeing how more organizations in their programming we're offering... in language Spanish programming and we said
3:19 if we're serving the sector and we're inviting people... to come who both work
3:25 with monolingual Spanish-speaking... persons and... are interested serving them in their work then we want this you
3:33 know this event that brings together all these people so we actually... I would say we we pitched that to the sponsors
3:40 to say we feel like this is an important direction for us to take and that I
3:46 don't know Emily to your point that we wanted to make a commitment to it that we didn't want to say like you know oh
3:51 let's try that so starting in 2017 when we when we brought in... Lena's team to
3:58 do live interpret ation... we said from now forward we will build this into the
4:04 partnership for excellence so... it and that was that was a bit freeing to be
4:11 able to to say we're going to do this forward so that we weren't every year having to reconsider should we do this
4:17 under what conditions who's interested how many people are going to participate we just said this is part of the
4:23 offering that we want to make to community well and it was a partnership
4:29 but between PFE and bridging voices so let's lenon let's talk about that like
4:36 let's talk about what that partnership means because it wasn't you know y'all
4:42 co-developed... the language equity and Justice... for PFE which seems like the
4:49 most Equitable way to do it and you know it seems like a really smart way so let's talk about
4:56 it yeah well good morning everybody thank you so much for for being here...
5:01 I just have to say if you have not met Judy Hopkins this is the one person you say yes to no matter what it's like
5:08 we're gonna have a conference on a Mountaintop okay Judy you got it so I
5:13 think you know what what I really have appreciated about this partnership... and something that we'll we'll talk
5:18 about is sometimes you know organizations or... even just in in
5:24 program people feel really overwhelmed if we don't do everything language then
5:29 can't do it at all and I think that you know there there's a lot to to consider and think about... obviously we'll talk
5:36 about capacity and funding but you when we first started the partnership... it
5:42 started with an in-person event and I think at that time we had one breakout
5:48 session that was Spanish to English we we had this full team it was it was something just unbelievable to see all
5:55 these interpreters I think we had a team of seven to 10 something like that all in Black I still have this picture and
6:01... I think one of the most powerful things I remember from that year was going up on stage and having... folks
6:10 who were on the steering committee on the planning committee deliver an introduction in Spanish and really
6:15 welcome and value... and so that that was you know one piece of it then of course we we
6:23 have to scrap everything we know about in person because pandemic happens and
6:28 you know there it's great that there although there are some limitations you also have tools available to do this
6:34 online so have to rethink everything and once we thought we had it handled online
6:40 now we're back in person and now we're you know dealing with additional... you know just the things that you that come
6:46 up and in planning any event so I think that... in terms of
6:52 co-creating it's it's been wonderful to have... a partner like Judy who asks all
6:59 the questions I mean already just in what she does for for partnership for excellence it it's so well organized so
7:05 to come into that and be able to say oh what about this right or what about this and have we considered what this might
7:11 look like and it can change a lot of things you know it can change for example oh you want to have breakouts
7:19 great so we would need an interpreter in every breakout or... you know you want
7:25 to hand out these materials great well we're going to have to have those translated... but in the end I think what what it
7:31 has been is each year is a lesson each year we we... you know grow from the
7:39 year before and I think for me the biggest takeaway is it didn't have to be all or nothing and there's a
7:47 transparency that says you know we're working on it and you know we we welcome
7:52 the feedback from from participants and I think that's why we are where we are
7:57... but it's a transparency that that it may not all be here yet and there's a
8:02 goal and that's I think for me the biggest lesson so how do organizations know that
8:10 it's time for them to start to start tackling this... how do
8:16 we know if it's right for our own organization I think that you know
8:22 really sitting down to look at the organization's mission and vision values
8:27 is a really great place to start... you know a few years ago a lot of
8:32 organizations were really scrambling and and I say that in the nicest of terms to come up with a diversity statement right
8:40 this is post... George Floyd and there's a lot to to consider and think about I
8:46 feel with with those diversity statements or Equity statements... and language is one of them so I think
8:53 sitting down to have a conversation with with board and staff and you know leadership and and thinking about does
9:00 this make sense for us right if we're offering Direct Services and we look at
9:06 our community we look at our... demographics are we really reaching
9:12 everybody that we want and if the answer is no then what are the the steps that
9:18 we need to take in order to do that... and then there's organizations that you know maybe don't necessarily need to be
9:26 providing... MultiLing programming or or you know they're not
9:33 there yet but they could be allies to the work so I think it really comes down to what is the purpose of the
9:38 organization and the mission and vision... and does it make sense that you know they're doing it directly or maybe
9:45 funding it for partnership Excellence I love that love that so what is it take
9:54 to do this kind of stuff so maybe think back about even before the first PFE
10:00 that y'all worked on language Equity... what was where did when did you know
10:07 Judy that like yes this is the thing that we need to do next... how did you
10:12 connect with Lena and like take me through that whole process from the
10:19 beginning gosh you're drawing me back into the past let me think so... Lena and I worked together
10:28 through through... some community- based work... that we did... through... just
10:35 communities and that's how we met and so when she established her business and...
10:42 really looked to focus on language Justice... I knew that there was somebody out there doing this work...
10:50 somebody that I trusted somebody that I knew operates with an incredibly high integrity and somebody that I knew that
10:56 had expertise that I did not have for something that I wanted to do right so
11:02... the partnership for excellence off... operates with a with a planning committee a steering committee... of a
11:09 variety of... community members that U basically help to determine... the
11:15 topics and the layout and the format for the for the day and so it came as just
11:21 really a strong I won't say a mandate but it was just a really strong intention from that group... you know
11:27 that like I said so many years ago... that this was... important for the
11:32 partnership for excellence that what Lena just said when we sat down and looked at our mission vision and values
11:38... we wanted and needed to be doing this work and so... so... I just started
11:45 having conversations you know what would this what would this what would this look like... you know she was willing to
11:51 build a team even before as she was building her own business to... you know to be able to do this and I would say
11:59 what it you know the step through is first about the commitment and then it's really about looking at these aspects of
12:07 your event planning where you're going to need to be thinking about and so I think about it from the standpoint of...
12:14 you know of planning of materials and of promotions right and so when you want to
12:20 make sure that you are addressing all of those Arenas... in language so I did a lot of
12:28 you know kind of bringing in on my plans and saying like well here's how I do PFE
12:34 where do we need to be thinking about language Justice and there were all
12:39 kinds of things that popped up you know where where I would realize like you know our website so what is that going
12:45 to look like are we going to have a translate option or are we going to have a you know we had a parallel website in
12:52... in Spanish so you could see every feature you could see all the information and it wasn't a click to
12:58 Google Translate her team did that so it was you know it was all you know
13:04 sensitively translated every piece of information you know that we that we thought to put
13:09 out right again this is getting up to the present day but you know eblast and
13:15... messages if we had a registration form that needed to be in... in both
13:21 languages replies to the registration form so online if you're asking questions of offering people information
13:29 so it's that it's that interface really looking it's like following following each channel to the end and saying you
13:35 know how a we have we provided this language access... to the to the
13:42 througho well and I think too like you put a lot of focus on reducing the
13:48 burden of that so if I go through the registration process in Spanish my reply
13:56 email my confirmation email is going to be in Spanish I don't need to click the English email and say show me this in
14:02 Spanish so that was one like big takeaway that I heard the other big takeaway is Google Translate no no no no
14:11 no no don't do that please don't do that... and so I think that is kind of speaks
14:18 to we're not just translating or interpreting we your commitment was to
14:24 language Justice which is very different than like checking that box of like well
14:29 we have the Google translate button on our website so we did it so talk to me
14:34 about that... you know I I attended
14:42 partnership for excellence way before that we we got into this partnership and
14:48 something that I always have in the in the back of my mind when I go to a conference is you know do I feel like I
14:54 belong here and there's something to say about you know inclusivity and it can be
14:59 there but actually feeling you know yes I feel comfortable here... so that's
15:06 something that I always carry with me in into these kind of Partnerships because it can't just be honestly I feel like
15:13 the the day of the interpretation is the last thing that we we worry about it's like the easy part I
15:19 suppose if you have a good team... it's really leading up to it and and having a
15:24 partner like Judy and the committee you know to be willing to listen and when we
15:30 you know talk about okay so this is awesome word play but it's not going to
15:35 translate the way that you know you're you're intending it in English and so you're kind of missing a piece here if
15:41 you if you're trying to you know get a humor aspect across or... you know just
15:48 everything everything down to bathroom signs down to the menu which was a new
15:54 one for us this year you know and and when we think about it it's it's not so
15:59 much just for the Spanish right or for any other language because that's the next challenge it's there are many more
16:05 languages in our community... but it's really just about equity and we're we're
16:12 not going to be able to reach all of our audiences in the same way
16:17 so one of the the the things that comes up you know in this conversation is often cost right cost cost cost and and
16:26 yes and and everything ch money right the the venues cost money the programs
16:31 the printing Etc so it's not this thing that exists in Silo if I feel like you
16:37 know back to that original question if organizations and programs really really want to be centered in equity then
16:44 language is you know language Justice is social justice it is part of what why
16:49 we're coming together and having these conversations... and Beyond the you know
16:55 the the technical pieces of how does equipment work or you know how many how who's going to hand them out things like
17:01 that we'll handle that like I said day of that's kind of the easy part it's everything leading up to and just being
17:07 willing to be open-minded that things might change schedules might change if
17:13 you were going to have programs to the printer you know two weeks before now it's going to change because we have to
17:19 have it to the translator before that... so it really is just about I think being
17:25 open-minded to new processes or culture change at the organization
17:31 altoe well and I it's I it's intimidating making a commitment to language Equity is intimidating because
17:38 it is not easy and it is not cheap and so Judy I loved what you said where many
17:46 years ago y'all made a commitment that we're driving here and we're not gon to
17:52 get here this year but that's the direction we're headed and then when you
17:58 had moments of decisions over the years you were able to decide to lean in to
18:05 language Justice and... and I think that is really helpful because there is you
18:12 know speaking as a business owner who has not embarked on a language Justice
18:18 Journey it's intimidating and so just having... having the space to say we're not
18:25 there yet and we're we're going here and you know we're here to learn and Empower
18:30 experts to help us move down this path yeah and you will make mistakes I
18:39 mean if you're wondering what it's like to make Equity mistakes... you will make them you will
18:45 you will I you will get that feeling you will have that experience right... I I mean I wish I
18:52 had great examples for you but one that I particularly remember from I think it was that big program Lena that we did
18:58 did in... 2017 and we did something with these different words that represented
19:03 leadership and... and one of in his team came to me and said where did that word
19:10 come from like that's not the right word for courage what what word where did and it was you know was it was on this
19:16 poster it was printed it was like we couldn't we couldn't even take it down for the day it was part of how people were organizing themselves right so
19:23 there's things that you do... I think shortcuts we probably took in the
19:29 beginning not recognizing that they were shortcuts... and as you're you know as
19:34 you're building and and and seeing you see I see more than I used to see right
19:40 both about how we want to be and what people's experience and so for me I as
19:48 the producer I just keep centering Hospitality like hospitality and
19:53 belonging so how are we really creating a foundational space that says you are
20:01 welcome here you know in language so at this point you are welcome here you know
20:07 as a Spanish speaker what can I do in planning and the space building to you
20:13 know have you feel that and a big... opening for me I know personally was
20:19 seeing that length of language preference and that's something that...
20:24 this team really helped me to see is that it's not you know it's not just about saying are we providing a service
20:30 for people who... who are monolingual Spanish and or learning
20:36 English it's about people who are fully established... you know leaders
20:42 collaborators and contributors in our community that prefer to learn in their native language prefer to be in
20:48 conversation in native language and so it's that's a different holding for me
20:53 and that comes more from a place of hospitality and belonging than it comes comes from delivering a service at our
21:01 event does that make sense I love it I love it so much and
21:07 and Judy you mentioned that there were stumbling blocks and... Delany on our
21:12 team likes to talk about the first Pancake the first Pancake is never perfect but like most they get better
21:20 the second pancake's better and so I think sort of Leaning into this first Pancake approach... of language Justice
21:29 I think is is really empowering... Lena I wanted to ask you
21:35... we are the queens of the universe and we have done it we have reached language
21:43 Equity right we're done yeah yes what does it look
21:53 like it's it's a world where you get to walk around and feel like you belong
22:02 everywhere you go it can be at the city hall right at a at a city council
22:08 meeting it can be at a school event it can be at the symphony and we've done
22:14 work with the symphony with language Justice right so because that's the reality I mean it exists everywhere in
22:20 in all of our lives and and I love what you said right because it's... what Judy
22:25 mentioned like it's not just do am I a mon lingual speaker or my limited English proficient which has its own you
22:33 know it's that's a that's a deficit model there are just times where you
22:38 know I wake up and I just I function in Spanish and you know I take my mom as an
22:45 example amazing woman has been in this country for over 30 years you know has learned English has masters degree and
22:52 she had to do that in English but in her heart she will always speak Spanish and there are just things you know when
22:58 she's processing when she's thinking she'll want to do that in Spanish and that's kind of like the
23:05 audience member that I have in mind so what it looks like is is just being able to go anywhere I think and and not be
23:12 embarrassed and not worry and not fear for for yourself in in wanting to use
23:19 that language... and that I mean that would be an amazing thing to to have
23:26 right anywhere you go anywhere you go well it's it's showing up as our full
23:32 self right if my if my full self is the most comfortable and the most vulnerable
23:37 and the most powerful in my native language but I'm forced to operate even
23:43 if I'm proficient... in but it's not allowing us to bring our full selves
23:48 into the world I love it let's talk about
23:54 evaluation and... Judy this is one of my favorite things about this partnership
24:01 that you guys have built... with you know your measure of success on language
24:09 equity and Justice is not the number of people who say yes to having headsets so
24:15 talk to me about the way that you guys measure success and even what that conversation was like with the funders
24:22 right because funders want to know the impact
24:29 you know it just it it highlights that we are we are very focused on on outputs
24:36 right we're focused on how many people used that service was that investment
24:42 worth it and so... I think that our you know as a community our older language
24:48 are those questions right like how many people signed up how many people... attended how many people used that
24:54 service did they find it useful right and what we're learning I think really
25:00 with as we advance an equity lens all of us what we're learning is like those
25:06 questions are not useful right those questions don't speak to... to lived
25:13 experience those questions don't speak to building a a both building a service
25:19 and or building that that community that... that Lena just spoke about right that
25:25 Vision right and so we did get those questions you know early on how many you
25:31 know we've got a bank of headsets how many of those headsets got used and we reported those numbers and then that
25:37 that turned into then why are we doing this if we only have you know this many people if we only have a handful of
25:43 people using it and so even being in that exchange you know with our... with
25:49 our generous... sponsor group helped us to see oh wait is this what we're tracking you know I like are are we
25:56 tracking you no actually we're not tracking uses we're looking to we're looking to create
26:03 an environment of belonging we're looking to create an environment of welcome and so that has led us more you
26:10 know to you know to say like that's not what we're up to that's not what we're trying to... the impact that we're look
26:18 and recognizing... you spoke to this... Emily but it's this is a this is a you
26:24 know a progressive trajectory like you are know that you if you decide
26:31 to make this commitment and do a program in in two or more languages you're not
26:37 suddenly going to get a whole another community of folks showing up at an event where they haven't had that access
26:43 before and they don't know who you are and they're not a a felt part of your
26:48 community and I think that's another misconception honestly that we you know that we worked through was oh so if
26:56 we're just you know we're now were sort of suddenly offering things you know bilingual materials so oh now we're
27:02 going to get you know now we're going to have all these you know all these you know Spanish speaking and bilingual
27:07 participants you know that doesn't happen either because did
27:15 it I love that so much well so you know our Jam we cover a big Topic in 25
27:22 minutes so we've we've reached our 25 minutes I have... one more question that
27:28 I'm very interested in... but I want to... open it up to everybody put a
27:34 question in the chat... share some lived experience... you can raise your hand
27:40 and you can come on camera and talk directly with our... guest stars... so
27:47 my question is do you have a sense what kind of technology is coming out to help
27:54 us Bridge language Justice and and Equity like it seems like this is...
28:01 something that technology could help us advance so I'm just curious if you've...
28:07 started exploring that and what it looks like what it
28:13 is I think there's a couple of options... you know in terms of the the
28:19 interpretation itself there there we're going to go back old school to inperson right we
28:26 have inter a equipment that that's available and it's wireless and I'm short of like two places that I've been
28:33 to in Santa Barbara County where just absolutely didn't work everybody everywhere else seems to to function but
28:39 that of course takes SC a part of the planning time... but that's again that's
28:44 not new right folks already do walkthroughs and... and then you know with with everybody hopping on zoom over
28:52 the last few years... Zoom has a platform for interpretation teams has a platform for
28:58 interpretation... if you don't have that available you know we can talk through it and that's one I think for me one of
29:05 the joys of this work is that it's not set in stone I mean there are many things that folks are just discovering
29:12 as they go creating as they go so we can you know work work through that and I
29:17 just want to add to to what Judy said earlier before our our 25 minutes are up
29:22 but... I think with language Justice it's really about reframing the
29:27 thinking and yeah I I love that because if if this program or any program has
29:33 been offered in English only for so many years to think that you know the one year we have Spanish available
29:39 everybody's going to flock to it when they don't know what it is what it you know entails... it makes we make a lot
29:46 of assumptions right just because it's there they can afford organizations can afford to send people things like that
29:52... and so really not thinking numbers wise but thinking impact and and how does it folks feel and you know what
30:01 changes about... organizations wanting to participate so I I don't think it's
30:06 about you know the interest of the community or organizations it's about do we have the structures in place to make
30:14 sure that we are ready to receive all these new organizations and
30:20 faces and... so that takes a lot of of reframing of what is and think day of
30:26 you know juny and I were having a this great conversation outside and she mentioned you know you don't count how
30:32 many people go into an ada8 bathroom for example you don't count how many people use a gender neutral restroom right you
30:38 don't count how many people took the vegan option so why would you count how many people took the the headsets it's
30:45 just you know why why quantify that and and not everything
30:50 else yeah we're doing it because it's the right thing to do and it's in line with our Mission Vision Values yeah
30:57 thank you so much we do it because we're inspired to do
31:04 it yeah Judy can you elaborate just a little bit for us on... on the
31:11 organizational side like what it actually took to make this
31:18 lift yeah thank you Emily I wanted to speak to that a little bit just in terms of the... yeah the reality of the you
31:25 know it it it takes a partner... like like bridging voices... to be able to walk through the whole the
31:32 planning process with you... it takes a recognition that... everything that
31:38 you're doing is going to take more time... you know like she alluded to so you're going to and I'm going to
31:43 estimate that you probably need at least 30% more time around all
31:51 of your Communications elements right like anything that you're doing that is going to go out to the public and
31:56 support the public public to connect with your with your event and that the cost is going to parallel that as well
32:02 30 to 40% more money in order to be able to bring in the team pay for the
32:08 materials translation do the you know additional coordinating to be a partner
32:14 in that partnership... so I just I just wanted to make make that real too
32:19 because there are you know we we sort of I sort of feel like we slid on cost but they're... there and it's an integral
32:25 part of making this commitment thank you so much well and money is real right
32:30 like so it's it's really important to address and especially as nonprofits we
32:36 need to have the tools to inform our board or our decision makers or our
32:41 funders on why it's critical and in line with our Mission Vision Values and yeah
32:48 it's going to cost something and here's what we think it's going to cost and let's build that in let's ramp that up
32:54 over the next 3 to five years years right so we're not we're not bearing the
33:00 30 to 40% increase in time and money in year one but we know that's where we're going and we're going to take the right
33:06 steps to get there and you may have particular funders and donors who are
33:11 really interested in helping you advance equity and that's where they will be you
33:17 know interested and engaged in stepping forward and we had that early at PF too we had you know particular funders who
33:23 really wanted to help us say yes to setting that... to setting that groundwork and so... I would you know
33:30 imagine that there are... more folks around now who are are really...
33:35 committed to that agenda yeah so it could even be like a very specific sponsorship opportunity to say you know
33:43 our Big Stretch goal for language Justice is X dollars you know please
33:50 join us and contribute all are part of that to bring language Justice and then it's like you know the language Equity
33:56 is sponsored by Judy Hawkins but I would say too that we
34:01 we got to reframe and and not think about it as its own thing right because if we're just focusing on Equity then
34:07 this is equity so we see it as an input and then we look at what's our short-term goal with the program right
34:12 what's our our our mid goal our our long-term goal and and that's just one of the inputs the same way that it is to
34:21 you know increase the amount of of... visitors we get from different areas right or to change geographically every
34:28 year so seeing it as that as that input is important because I think it changes the way that we fundrais for it it
34:35 changes the way we talk about it and and we embed it as part of if we want to have a program that focuses on Equity
34:42 across the Central Coast this is just one of the pieces of the puzzle much
34:47 like everything else that that goes into programming yes thank you so much I love it... louen has her hand raised so give
34:55 me just one second I'm going to add you to the party what you got to
35:02 share hi everyone hi Judy hi Lena nice to meet you Lena... I'm part of the
35:07 Visionality team here and I well first I wanted to share that... I went to PFE
35:15 many years ago before coid... and I didn't know you then Judy and I had a
35:22 really... it like a profound experience there where I learned what you guys were
35:29 sharing about how language is not just about access to translation that it's
35:35 about power and about power holding and power sharing... there was translation
35:41 services at that PF and I remember there was this moment where we were in a really large group and like a question
35:48 was posed to the group and a man in the group answered and he just went straight
35:53 into Spanish for his answer and I I speak a decent amount of Spanish and but
35:59 I'm not a native speaker and but what he shared was something personal and a bit
36:04 emotional and I felt his response more deeply because it was in Spanish because
36:11 I could tell that that's how he was able to convey what he wanted to say and it
36:18 was just like a really eye openening experience for me about how this isn't
36:23 just about translation it's about feeling comfortable and being your true self... so I wanted
36:30 to share that but I also wanted to ask... about sort of this
36:37 like... this challenge for for nonprofits who are wanting to do this
36:43 work and how the results the quote unquote results don't show up in the
36:48 first year and how I'm curious to know like in your experiences when you've
36:54 been able to do this work year after year after year with PF or maybe with other
37:00 organizations like if you could share what that like trajectory has looked like because I'm I'm like trying to...
37:08 take this awesome information and think about it in terms of how to like help our
37:14 nonprofits like quote unquote sell this right like sell this to the stakeholders that they have to talk to and how they
37:21 can like be able to be effective in making sure that like they're heard
37:28 about the importance of
37:35 this you want to start
37:41 Judy yeah I thank you so much for sharing that story because that is language Justice I I think to be able to
37:49 have somebody gift you themselves from their heart is that that that's what it
37:57 is at the end of the day right and... thinking about what what your question
38:04 is if if we if we really look at equity and again it language Justice is just part of that right it's it's really
38:11 selling the funders on there are some things that are going to change so for example if we typically just reach out
38:19 to our stakeholders via email and we're not getting folks you know who who are
38:26... monolingual Spanish speakers bilingual folks you know other languages then we have to ask ourselves why and
38:32 it's not because they don't want to be here it's not because they don't care it's because we have to find different
38:38 ways to reach folks and so the events where I've seen you know true like
38:44 wonderful conversations happening people are wearing headsets and you'd never know because they're just talking they're looking at each other... is
38:52 because organizations have taken the time to say okay so what is the best way to reach different communities is it
38:59 radio is it Facebook is it phone calls which it is for for a lot of them it's
39:06 just you know doing that personal Outreach and saying you know hi this is like L and I really want to invite you
39:11 personally to come to partnership for excellence what is it let me tell you right and and why you should be here because you are part of nonprofit
39:18 Community or whatever it is and so really taking the time to to look at all of that is is equity because it's not a
39:24 one-size fits all model and that's not how we're going to to reach folks right it's it's really about
39:31 looking at at our communities about ways to communicate sometimes it's not even written sometimes it has to be video or
39:39... Audio Only... that's going to reach the audience... so that that for me is
39:46 something to to really consider in terms of yeah I don't know that the first year
39:51 it's going to be you know people lining up at the door... but it shouldn't determine us from stopping and
39:58 evaluating the why the same way we evaluate the entire program right if you
40:03 see a sandwich platter that was not eaten you would look at it and say h like I wonder why people didn't eat the
40:08 tuna right no offense to tuna but... you you would evaluate it and You' say well
40:14 maybe people don't want you know fishy breath during a conference so you would do the same for this like what happened
40:20 why you know how did we reach out where did we not do it... and then just you
40:25 know keep improving that for for years and I've seen that with schools with organizations with programming that...
40:33 have really taken that to heart and and keep moving forward as opposed to just saying like nope see it didn't work
40:39 we're done yeah well it's that first Pancake
40:45 approach right if if every pancake that you're making is perfect then maybe
40:50 you're not evolving you know maybe you're not sort of pushing that pancake envelope
40:58 yeah thank you so much Judy I do want to give you a a Kudos PFE has become a not-
41:05 neego... opportunity for our team every year and... it is such a powerful moment
41:14 yes to do continuing education and to learn like hard skills about our
41:20 industry but also just to be surrounded with people who are fighting the same
41:26 fight right as us and you know know what it feels like to work in a nonprofit and
41:33... and it's been really meaningful in shaping the way that Visionality has
41:38 moved... through the years so I just want to thank you Judy personally for
41:44 for making this such an incredible... moment for our industry and like and
41:51 that is exactly like partnering with Lena and and saying like we built
41:56 something really strong and powerful that is deeply impacting our industry and we need to make sure that that can
42:02 reach as many people as possible and in the same the point of PFE is for us to show
42:09 up as our full selves and get seen and heard and appreciated as our full self and that includes language Justice and
42:16 Equity so I'm I'm just like so delighted that I get to share some time with both
42:22 of you because you truly have impacted and my team and my company and so I'm
42:28 just very proud of y'all...
42:35 other questions for our experts other lived experiences that you want to share
42:42... is anyone on a language Justice Journey that you want to maybe ask some
42:49 questions about or share some successes or or some maybe first Pancake moments I
42:54 want to just make a little bit of space... for people to be brave and raise that
43:00 hand or put it in the chat... so to buy us a little time I'm hoping someone else
43:06 will join us so if you're feeling it in your heart just do it... so Lena you have very generously... offered
43:14 something to our attendees and so share with us... we're going to do a little
43:19 give away so Delaney this is your cue to get ready... what what are we raffling
43:25 off today so I think... you know as we talked
43:30 about early on it can be very intimidating to look at language Justice and just say so what is it how do we
43:37 start is it even you know for us... so what I... would like to offer are two
43:44 hours of Consulting on language Justice and that can really be... you know if
43:50 folks are already in it... it can be about an upcoming event or you know communication if folks are just thinking
43:57 about it... you know anything like that so that... that is part of the work
44:03 right as you said it's not just the the service of interpretation and translation... those are great tools but
44:10 part of it is just the the Consulting as well and working with folks so... I am
44:15 very excited to to share that with you all and... I I hope somebody that wins is really
44:24 excited too yes so Delany are you ready to do our magic I ready dokie so looks
44:32 like there's four people so... have outside of our
44:47 organization all right Melissa
44:53 congratulations thank you I'm looking forward to it yeah I'm... quite jealous
45:00 so I would actually love to hear what you guys talk about and and you know how
45:05 you might consider using your time and stuff and Lena thank you so much this is a really exciting and generous
45:12 offer so we have two more comments in the chat so Lauren says I'm with the
45:19 ventur cany Community Foundation love it... and we've been doing work for our highest quality early Ed child Hood
45:26 education initiative in both English and Spanish for inperson and zoom meetings definitely a lot of learning moments
45:32 over the last year that means you're doing something right if you're stumbling a little it means you're
45:37 actually trying something new which is scary but good work so proud of you guys
45:44 nice work... lety says I have worked with Lena at... a previous employment I am
45:50 now at radiant Health Centers excellent I just want to shout out Li
45:56 Alvarez because oftentimes in this work what you need is a champion and that is
46:01 a true champion for many things but particularly language Justice I think especially at a time where the words I
46:08 don't think were even recognized and we were just still doing awareness... and not so much work so thanks for for being
46:15 here liy H thank you I saw this on Lincoln and I thought oh I need to
46:21 reconnect and... as I mentioned in the chat... and we thought we were doing
46:28 everything correct and then when we had just communities coming and do a staff training I was like oh my gosh I was not
46:36 doing it even halfway correct and now I'm here at radiant health and
46:41 Irvine and... this agency's been around for 30 years and we have very little
46:46 things bilingo and so I'm working with Claudia right now to translate... many of our...
46:54 handouts and... I met with some... a consultant
47:00 yesterday to get us on board here in Orange County so... lots of work to do
47:07 here and I'm I'm so glad that it's continuing and... it should be the
47:13 norm in my opinion... and and yeah... I previous to this I
47:23 was at the governor's office and even there I was having to Advocate at the governor's office for not just Spanish
47:32 but for Vietnamese for Korean for all the languages and so it's... people have
47:40 to understand it's just not about Spanish it's about... the norm we
47:47 shouldn't I I think we should not feel we're doing something special oh I love
47:52 that that's where I'm at with this at this point you know it's been you know
47:57 gosh 15 years at least Hena... this should just be the norm it should I I
48:02 should not feel I'm doing something special and so... I I really enjoyed the
48:08 dialogue that it's we're coming there we're getting there so thank you well and what I love is you're
48:16 you're planting seeds now you have become right and and I'm I know that at
48:23 whatever organization you're at you're going to plant those seeds and like maybe the trees are going to grow big
48:28 and strong and maybe they're not but like there's not going to be any trees if we don't start planting the seeds and
48:34 we all have an opportunity to like carry that in and bring it into the different
48:41 Avenues of our work just to start planting the seeds and maybe they won't take but we got to plant them yes and
48:48 and that was kind of the example when I met with...... find need the budget for all this
48:55 translation and proper interpretation and I looked at my boss
49:01 and I said 60% of our patients our clients are lent
49:08 neck and we have 1% of materials in
49:13 Spanish... and we had given they were given an example where a young girl went to our
49:20 table we our population is lgbtq and
49:26 HIV... AIDS... positive and they said a young girl went to the table she didn't
49:32 want her mom to see her at her table but she wanted to know more about
49:37 lgbtq and so she hurried up and grabbed the literature and made sure her mother didn't see
49:43 her because she didn't want to be outed and I said because we don't have anything in Spanish our Spanish speakers
49:51 are coming to the table and are not given the same respect of not being outed the staff is having to translate
49:59 right there on the spot from English to Spanish and people are seeing them at
50:05 the table and they're being feared that they're being outed so we're
50:10 contributing to the Spanish speaking not coming to our table and not receiving services so it's not about just language
50:18 Justice it's about Equity Access to Health Care
50:23 access to Mental Health Service services and so when I gave it to them in that
50:29 context that we're outing Spanish speakers or we're depriving them of service then they found me the budget
50:36 and now I have the budget... so it it it's it's more than
50:43 having the materials it's about not outing people yeah because we don't have
50:49 they don't have access... so... I had to
50:55 I had to tell them the story at their level don't out the young girl don't out the Spanish
51:02 speakers well you shifted it away from language equity and into the mission of
51:09 your organization right it it you made it not negotiable if our goal if we're
51:14 achieving our mission this is a piece of our mission because you would never write in your mission statement we're
51:21 okay without outing our clients right so nice work nice work thank
51:28 you all right Janette I see your hand raised welcome welcome to the party
51:35 Janette thank you I'm excited to see how this can
51:41 impact our school system and children and their families at a really young age
51:47... I think we have come a long way but in the schools it's still a special
51:54 program oh okay so a note up... my mom taught... in the public school system to
52:03 Spanish native Spanish speakers and it was a special program
52:09 and they did feel that sense of belonging and there was that community that they all felt with the food and the
52:16 language and the sharing but that was a special program and I'd like to see a day where where we can enter the school
52:23 system and you're not outed or you don't feel different because you speak Spanish
52:29 in my situation it was a long time ago when I entered the school system but my
52:34 parents both being Spanish speakers bilingual and from native spanishs
52:40 speaking families did not want us to learn Spanish as our first language
52:46 because of the perception that we would have in the school system and because the Educators were not... informed or
52:56 educated on how to teach Spanish speakers so we would be behind... in the
53:02 education we received so I think this is exciting and I look forward to that when
53:07 when... children can learn at that young age but also their families who don't
53:12 feel like they belong when they go to you know school events or back to school
53:19 nights and I really appreciate your work on this you can have a whole other
53:25 conversation Janette because I what you're talking about is so important that is one of our areas of focus is
53:31 education and you know what what you mention and thank you for for sharing that story because it's it's painful
53:37 right to have part of you be on hold because it's it's not and and we see
53:43 that still we see this with families who will not check off Spanish as a home language in fear that their student will
53:50 not receive you know the same education... and then just you know as as a parent
53:57 myself too there's so many important things particularly special education meetings IEPs 504s and to just be in
54:04 that space and think is this English I I don't I don't know if I understand it in English what does that look like across
54:11 languages you know across differences of culture and and just so I it's such a
54:18 such an important conversation to have and and a lot of great people doing work in education around
54:24 language yeah thank you so
54:29 much last call for questions of our guest stars and last call for lived
54:37 experience thank you so much for your hard work for your impact in our community thank you for joining us and
54:44 giving generously of your time effort and energy... I just really appreciate
54:50 you you both keep it up it's hard work and and it's important
54:57 thank you so much for the invitation and you know these these conversations are are where the work is is blooming also
55:04 right where we're learning from each other where we're hearing about each other's... approaches and... and
55:10 successes so I hope we'll keep the conversation open wonderful and we'll include everyone's information in the
55:16 follow-up email... so don't worry about that and... thank you all for joining us
55:23 today have a great week thanks everybody thanks for having us bye