Staff

Maile Broccoli-Hickey, Founder & Executive Director

Maile has been involved in immigrant services in Houston and Austin for over 14 years. During that time, she has worked as an English instructor, interpreter, program manager, and advocate. Maile is a graduate of the LBJ School of Public Affairs where her research focused on adult language acquisition and immigrant rights. She also draws on the education she received as a secretary, food service, and factory employee in her work supporting Texas’ immigrant community. Maile founded ENGLISH @ WORK while waiting tables at Guero’s Taco Bar in 2005. (Read more about Maile’s journey in starting E@W here.)

Rebekah Schmidt, Program Manager

Rebekah began working with ENGLISH @ WORK as an Americorps VISTA volunteer in August 2009. After completing the VISTA program, she was promoted to the Program Manager position in September 2010. Moved to address the relationships between language, education, and human rights, Bekah has been teaching ESL and working with immigrant communities for over five years. She received her Associate’s Degree from Franklin College Switzerland in Lugano, Switzerland and her Bachelor of Arts Degree (with concentrations in Spanish and Sociolinguistics) from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

Kassandra Navarro, Development Assistant

Kassandra began working with ENGLISH @ WORK in May 2010. She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Communication and Global Studies from St. Edward’s University and studied International Studies at the Florence University of the Arts in Florence, Italy in a summer abroad. She previously interned at DiscoverHope Fund, Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation, and The Onion before coming to ENGLISH @ WORK. Born and raised in the border city of Laredo, TX, she is moved by the work ENGLISH @ WORK does as she has seen first hand how language can bring opportunity and prosperity.

Rebecca “Bex” Rinas, AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer

Bex is ENGLISH @ WORK’s third AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer. She comes to us after three years abroad in Germany and one year in Guatemala. She has always been interested in intercultural, lingual and historical education initiatives. She has gained experience in these fields by working on memorial site projects in Guatemala and Germany, teaching English for various organizations and working with deaf adults in a supportive employment program.

Bex has a degree from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in Communications. Now that she’s back in the United States, Bex looks forward to getting to know more about immigrant and refugee issues in Austin and supporting the community through ENGLISH @ WORK.

Tanlyn Roelofs, Literacy*AmeriCorps Instructor

Tanlyn is ENGLISH @ WORK’s 2011 Literacy*Americorps member. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from Southwestern University and studied abroad in Utrecht, The Netherlands with the School for International Training. While in The Netherlands, she focused her studies on immigration and the Muslim Diaspora in Western Europe.

After graduating, she received a Fulbright Scholarship in Berlin, Germany. She had an incredible year teaching English to high school students in a predominantly Turkish neighborhood in Berlin. She is excited to be working for ENGLISH @ WORK as a full-time instructor and looks forward to getting to know the rest of the E@W family.

Rafael Mendez, Citizenship Intern

In the summer of 2011, Rafael was our Student Support Intern and conducted student interviews for us, gathered student data, and trained other volunteers to conduct student interviews. This fall he’ll be working with us as a Citizenship Intern and will help us to research and implement U.S. citizenship activities into our curriculum for students who wish to take the U.S. citizenship test.

Rafael is originally from New Braunfels, TX and studied U.S. History and Education at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. After graduating in 2008, he followed his passion for food and began working in professional kitchens in Denver and Winter Park, Colorado and then returned to Austin in 2010. Having worked with many immigrants in the service industry, he has seen the challenges that limited English can present, both in and out of the workplace.