This panel of MOSAIC team members will explore the role of multilingualism in their work with helping immigrants and refugees settle and start a new life in Canada.

As one of Canada’s largest settlement and employment services organizations, MOSAIC improves communities by welcoming and supporting newcomers.

 

1. Sara Rahnama

Sara is a passionate community builder, Sara was able to combine her two interests of social work and storytelling through her role of assisting newcomers in Canada. Her degree in Communication and extensive experience within non-profit industries equipped her with the necessary skills to build authentic and meaningful connections in the industry but also clients. While she grew up speaking German, Farsi, English and French – she was simultaneously trying to find the community she identified and connected with most. This search navigated her to her current role as a Settlement Outreach Worker, allowing her to welcome individuals from various nations and serve them in languages they feel most comfortable speaking but also ensuring they learn English to be able to find a common ground with the rest of society and communicate outside of their communities too. Sara is excited to further explore the depth of multiculturalism with her fellow panelists and learn from their encounters.

2. Alison Heath

Alison is the Manager of the MOSAIC Brentwood Language program and Surrey LINC program with many years of experience creating learning programs locally, provincially and nationally. As past LINC classroom educator she has worked with clients from across the multi-lingual globe, where translanguaging is a natural part of everyday life, and learning new languages. As an adult educator she brings a passion for community based learning and education. Additionally, she has extensive experience in curriculum development and program design where she believes the community is the primary and vital source of learning, where we learn from each other to change the world. Most recently, Alison has worked on projects supporting the needs of adult literacy learners in the digital shift, and co-authored the project titled Mental Health for Everyone – Thriving Through Transitions, a LINC aligned resource designed to address the unique needs of newcomer EAL learners.

3. Minab Yetbarek

Minab W. Yetbarek is an Eritrean-Canadian translator and writer. He is a member of the Literary Translators Association of Canada, and the Society of Translators and Interpreters BC. He has published a bilingual book of poetry, and several forthcoming translations of poetry from and into Tigrinya and English. He is a former refugee, loves languages, music, philosophy, and literature among other things, and works for the non-profit MOSAIC as a settlement outreach worker.

4. Helena Wang

As a multilingual career consultant, Helena has visited 17 different countries and spent parts of her life in China, France and Canada. Helena has a passion for multicultural programs and providing services for people with multilingual backgrounds. As an employment counsellor of MOSAIC, Helena witnessed how multicultural organizations help and improve the life of people in local communities. Helena received her master’s degree in Psychology from Peking University and her bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Paris. She has worked in an international business school in Beijing for over 12 years, where She respected students from different countries, appreciated their influence in local community and helped international students start their careers. Helena worked with employers from different countries who offered different business ideas and strategies, which has expanded the vision of a borderless global citizen. She believes that in the digital age, multilingualism can bring more career opportunities. In today’s world, everyone has their own multilingual journey.