Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Irene Gotera, language justice advocate and a social entrepreneur who is passionate about language, justice, and equality, to the Restorative Works! Podcast.

 

Born in Venezuela, Irene is a refugee in the U.S. She is a former attorney with a Master's Degree in Civil Procedural Law. Upon relocating to the U.S., she pursued her linguist training and national certifications as a conference interpreter and translator and was later appointed as a staff interpreter for the New York State Unified Court System in the Family Courts. She founded Linguistic Justice® after experiencing the failure of the courts to provide meaningful language access, which became even more evident in the wake of COVID-19.

 

Irene explains how language justice is fundamentally and intrinsically tied to human dignity, the ability to access health care, navigating the law and legal assistance, access to education, and the ability to have one's voice heard in matters of their own wellbeing. She reminds us of the need to be intentional and explicit when creating inclusive spaces and to challenge preconceived notions of what "accessibility" looks and sounds like.

 

Born out of her desire to foster diverse spaces calling for language justice, Linguistic Justice® envisions a diverse and truly inclusive society where non-English-speaking communities are given the tools to participate and understand at the same level as their English-dominant peers. From a restorative practices perspective, she boldly seeks to contribute to creating a society where the right to communicate in one's preferred language is considered an explicit human right, fully protected by law as a fundamental component of our human dignity, freedom of speech, and the right to equal treatment before the law.

 

Tune in to learn more about Irene's work and perspective and visit https://linguisticjustice.com/ to learn more about creating equitable spaces for all through language access strategies.