Supporting both displaced communities and language-learners
We empower forcibly displaced people as paid online conversation partners for students around the world.
We provide a robust educational experience for students to improve their foreign language skills, engage in rich cross-cultural dialogue, and think critically about forced displacement.
Our Story
With increasing numbers of forcibly displaced people, daunting projections of future displacements, and heightened levels of societal resentment towards these displaced communities, Conversations Unbound was founded in 2015 to provide livelihood support for forcibly displaced people, while also meaningfully engaging college students in this global issue.
For displaced people, Conversations Unbound provides the opportunity for them to increase their agency and economic opportunities. We work with individuals who are new to online language tutoring, providing them with the platform, training, and students to develop their skills as independent online language tutors. Some members of the conversation partner team who began their online teaching career with Conversations Unbound have leveraged their talents and are now full-time online language tutors for students around the world. Others used their experience with Conversations Unbound as a resume and skill builder for other career opportunities.
The organization also strives to reconfigure traditional power dynamics at play in humanitarian aid. Conversations Unbound centers displaced communities, who are traditionally seen as passive recipients of aid, as the language tutor. They are the producer and provider of knowledge. By privileging the expertise of our conversation partners, we aim to balance these traditional power dynamics — tutors and students can learn from each other by engaging in meaningful dialogue.
Conversations Unbound also provides a robust educational experience for students to improve their foreign language skills, engage in rich, cross-cultural dialogue, and think critically about forced displacement. Not only do students have the opportunity to strengthen their foreign-language conversational skills, but CU also provides opportunities for students to meet people who have different lived experiences. These one-on-one conversations allow CU students and tutors to find commonalities while learning to appreciate and respect their differences. In a world where hateful rhetoric about “others” is increasingly prevalent, CU works to break down the deeply entrenched "us versus them" mentality perpetuated through xenophobic narratives surrounding immigration and displacement.
Meet the Team
Elise Shea
Founder & President
Julia Segal
Program Coordinator
Sophy Smithson
Program Coordinator
Max Gaegauf
Finance Manager
Samhita Bolisetty
Program Coordinator
Tami Knight
Program Coordinator
Michael LaCivita
Program Manager
Gloria Chan
Program Coordinator
Sophie Boelk
Program Coordinator
Michelle Wu
Program Coordinator & Finance Assistant
Zoë Van Gyseghem
Program Coordinator
Leena Hanna
Arabic Translator
We work towards a diverse and inclusive organizational culture
CU acknowledges that our team is largely composed of individuals who have benefited from privileged statuses, whether due to our race, socio-economic status, citizenship, etc., and the intersections therein.
We also recognize that many on our team do not have a forcibly displaced background. Subsequently, we work diligently to raise awareness and educate the team on issues of diversity, inclusion, and cultural sensitivity.
Conversation partners at the core
To ensure displaced communities are always at the center of our work, our tutors are consulted regularly and have played a major role in the initiation, development, and growth of CU.
Our team works with our tutors to create programs that provide meaningful financial support despite some people’s limited access to financial institutions; respect cultural norms; and facilitate engaging cross-cultural dialogues.
We systematically turn to our Conversation Partners for feedback on how to best empower their communities and improve our programs for students. Additionally, we hold annual webinar workshops to provide a space to listen to our Conversation Partners' thoughts and bring our Conversation Partners and administrative teams together to collaborate and learn from each other.