eSANE: Culturally Competent Outreach and Engagement

Review some everyday cross-cultural scenarios and discuss qualities and approaches that would yield positive outcomes. Explore ways to show respect and sensitivity and effectively engage with the diverse communities they serve.

Trainers: Laura Smith-Hill, Education Services Supervisor, LSS Center for New Americans & Valeria Wicker, Program Supervisor, LSS Multi-Cultural Center

For the past 25 years, Laura Smith-Hill has been an educator of Multi-Lingual Learners. She serves as Education Program Supervisor for the Lutheran Social Services Center for New Americans, where she and her team have served refugee and immigrant adults from over 70 countries. Laura has provided leadership to this English Language Acquisition Program for 13 years, providing comprehensive and innovative English communication, literacy, Citizenship and workforce development training for 600 – 1000 students annually. She has facilitated statewide and regional conferences and trainings since 2009.

Valeria Wicker has a Masters of Arts in Teaching World Languages from Tufts University and a Bacherlors of Arts in American Studies and Spanish from Wellesley College. At the LSS Multi-Cultural Center she is responsible for programming, as well as Community Interpreter Services. When not working she is facilitating a junior youth group, exploring the bike paths of Sioux Falls, knitting, gardening, or reading.

This training is hosted by CPCM under Grant No. 2019-MU-GX-K014, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations in this document are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.