Raleigh Team - Language Access Collaborative

Raleigh Team - Language Access Collaborative  (l-r: Omer Omer, Ellen Colón, Tierney Sneeringer, Jorge Gao, Luis Olivieri-Robert, Aracelys Torrez, Pete Weber, Jacob Barnhart)

Language Access Collaborative

Creating plans to expand communication with local residents in community languages


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Program Overview The Raleigh Collaborative Team

The Language Access Collaborative brings together teams of local governments and community organizations from nine N.C. locales to create plans to expand communication with local residents in community languages. The Collaborative is facilitated by the Building Integrated Communities (BIC) team at the Institute for the Study of the Americas at UNC Chapel Hill. 

The Collaborative is comprised of employees representing these local governments: Town of Apex, Buncombe County, City of Concord, City of High Point, New Hanover County, Town of Morrisville, City of Raleigh, City of Wilmington, and City of Winston-Salem. 

Program Overview

From January 2023 - January 2024 the Language Access Collaborative will host: 

  • 2 in-person Language Access Summits 
  • 6 virtual Workshop Learning Exchanges with Guest Speakers 
  • 2 virtual Exchanges with Team Presentations  

In addition to the workshops, between January 2023 – January 2025 each team will:  

  • take notes at each meeting to share with the public via website; 
  • conduct a staff language capacity assessment for the city, town, or county government they represent; 
  • present findings at a workshop and make a public presentation in their community;  
  • create or locate a community repository for all materials; 
  • write up a language access plan for their local government; 
  • present and secure approval for their language access plan; 
  • implement at least one recommendation from the plan (by Jan 2025); 
  • submit implementation grant proposal with budget to BIC (by Jan 2025). 

The Raleigh Collaborative Team

Name Title Email Department 
Aracelys Torrez Community Relations Analyst aracelys.torrez@raleighnc.govDepartment of Economic and Social Advancement 
Ellen Colón Senior Community Relations Analyst sueellen.colon@raleighnc.govOffice of Community Engagement 
Jacob Barnhart Senior Communications Analyst jacob.barnhart@raleighnc.govRaleigh Water 
Jorge Gao Creative Director jorge.gao@raleighnc.govCommunications 
Luis Olivieri-Robert Community Relations Analyst luis.olivierirobert@raleighnc.gov Housing and Neighborhoods 
Pete Weber Web Content Administrator pete.weber@raleighnc.gov Communications 
Tierney Sneeringer Cultural Outreach and Enrichment Manager tierney.sneeringer@raleighnc.gov Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources 
Omer Omer Director of NC Field Office, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants oomer@uscrimail.org Partner Community Organization 

Contact

 

Maria Guadarrama Hernandez
Office of Community Engagement
maria.guadarramahernandez@raleighnc.gov

Aracelys Torrez
Department of Economic and Social Advancement
aracelys.torrez@raleighnc.gov

Ellen Colón
Office of Community Engagement
sueellen.colon@raleighnc.gov

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Lead Department:
Economic and Social AdvancementCommunity Engagement