GALA to Represent Corporate Language Industry at US Senate Hearing on Language Training

(Live Broadcast on Monday, 21 May at 14:30 Eastern)

On Monday, 21 May, the Globalization and Localization Association will represent the corporate language industry at a US Senate Subcommittee hearing organized by Senator Daniel K. Akaka (Democrat, Hawaii).  The hearing, “A National Security Crisis: Foreign Language Capabilities in the Federal Government”, will focus on the importance of language training to US national security.  GALA will take part in the hearing as a voice for the corporate language sector, providing an overview of the localization and language industry and advocating that foreign language training is critical to economic prosperity in today’s global marketplace.

A live stream of the hearing will be available online on Monday, 21 May at 14:30 Eastern.

We are pleased to be represented at the hearing by designated local GALA member, Andrew Lawless (Dig-IT LLC), who has a strong familiarity with the corporate language sector as well as government language projects.  Watch for GALA’s official statement prepared by GALA board chairman, Hans Fenstermacher.

The other witnesses presenting in Monday’s hearing are:

Panel I

• The Honorable Eduardo Ochoa, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of Education
• The Honorable Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources, U.S. Department of State
  
• Dr. Laura Junor, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Personnel Readiness, U.S. Department of Defense
• Ms. Tracey North, Deputy Assistant Director, Intelligence Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice
• Mr. Glenn Nordin, Principal Foreign Language and Area Advisor, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, U.S. Department of Defense (representing the Director of National Intelligence)

Panel II

• Mr. Andrew Lawless, Member of the Globalization and Localization Association and Chief Executive Officer, Dig-IT Strategies for Content Globalization
• Dr. Allan Goodman, Member of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Task Force on U.S. Education Reform and National Security, and President, Institute for International Education
• Dr. Daniel Davidson, President of American Councils for International Education and Elected President of the Joint National Committee for Languages

Panel III

• Ms. Shauna Kaplan, 5th Grade Student, Providence Elementary School, Fairfax County, Virginia
• Ms. Paula Patrick, Coordinator of World Languages, Fairfax County Public Schools
• Ms. Michelle Dressner, 2010 Participant, National Security Language Initiative for Youth Program
• Mr. Jeffery Wood, 2010 Participant, National Security Language Initiative for Youth Program

The hearing is sponsored by the Oversight of Government Management, Subcommittee of Security & Governmental Affairs.

GALA is pleased to have the opportunity to represent our industry before the US Congress for the first time.

Laura Brandon
Managing Director
GALA