BOISE, Idaho — After creating a new position nearly a year ago, the City of Boise is on the hunt for a new Language Access Program Manager.
The person that currently holds that position, Eulalia Gallegos, is the first to take on this position.
What does the Language Access Program Manager position entail?
Gallegos focuses on ensuring equal access to city serves, activities, programs and facilities for bilingual or multilingual people, or those who prefer a language other than English.
"This position has really allowed us to focus on nurturing those community partners partnerships so that we know what our community members need," Gallegos said.
The City of Boise offers many different programs, but what if there's a language barrier?
"We've developed a translation management platform," Gallegos said. "We work with local linguist to provide translations in our top languages, including Spanish, Swahili, Arabic, Chinese – traditional and simplified – as well as many other languages."
Gallegos has held this position for over a year now, but is stepping down to continue her work as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Idaho in Chicano History.
City of Boise Senior Community Outreach Manager, Lana Graybeal, said the job Gallegos has helped build from the ground up has become a vital position in the city.
"She's also been integral to building relationships within the community with our partners who serve residents who prefer a language other than English, so that we have that trust and that connection to those communities as well," Graybeal said.
Gallegos said she is very grateful to have had this opportunity and help serve a greater purpose.
"For me, personally, this was an opportunity to build on the work that I felt very passionate about," Gallegos said.
The Language Access Program is only a year old, but its value has been noticed by city officials.
The City of Boise is looking for new candidates to fill the role and by doing so they hope to continue the work that Gallegos started.
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