One third of the residents of Silicon Valley are immigrants and two thirds of children under 18 have parents who are immigrants. This is the demographic profile of a major segment of our broadcast area and it is why we offer public media resources to support English as a Second Language (ESL) educators who work with these immigrant communities throughout the Bay Area.

Work Voices 12: Alicia De Toro - Environmentalist

May 10, 2013, 7:45 am • Posted by Maxine Einhorn
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Alicia De Toro

Alicia De Toro is from the Philippines and is employed as an instructor in the Environmental Studies Department at De Anza College. She describes her journey starting with her first job in the environmental field working in recycling in Santa Barbara. She taught different communities and businesses how to recycle and the cost benefits of recycling.

Alicia moved to intern in habitat restoration learning about restoration ecology. This included understanding the benefits to ecosystems of cultivating native plants.

Alicia offers inspirational advice about finding a rewarding path to careers in environmental justice and sustainability. She became an educator, but she advises students to visit city or country websites to get a sense of the different departments, resources and career opportunities in the non profit world or within other organizations that work with the environment.

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Work Voices 11: Elizabeth Sarmiento, Environmental Coordinator

May 3, 2013, 7:43 am • Posted by Maxine Einhorn
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Elizabeth Sarmiento

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Elizabeth Sarmiento is from Honduras and works as a project manager with Valley Verde, a non profit company based in San Jose. The company provides gardens and supplies to low income families, and Elizabeth and her colleagues teach the families about nutrition and growing their own food in a way that yields healthy food while having minimal impact on the environment.

Elizabeth describes her journey working odd jobs and attending evening classes to learn English. She transferred to Foothill College and joined the ESL program, eventually moving to De Anza College to study in the Environmental Studies Department.

She describes all the different employment options in the environmental studies field. For example, she talks about opportunities in water conservation and water resource management and in landscaping which is a huge field in itself. There is also the option to become an educator in any of these fields.

Elizabeth emphasizes that almost any job can promote sustainability and awareness of environmental impact.

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Work Voices 10: Marjan Javanmard, Building Auditor in Energy Conservation

April 3, 2013, 2:20 pm • Posted by Maxine Einhorn
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Marjan Javonmard

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Marjan Javanmard came to the US from Iran 12 years ago and now works in energy conservation for Solar City as a building auditor. She attended San Mateo Adult School for ESL classes and trained at Skyline College on the HERO Program (Home Energy Retrofit Occupations) – a training program in building systems for residential energy efficiency. Check out programs in the Energy Systems Technology Management (ESTM) Department at Skyline College.

Marjan describes the training course at Skyline College which offers “an overview of residential building science. Foundational principles in general residential construction and energy aspects of building envelopes, mechanical systems, appliances, water heating, lighting and more.” She recommends it for anyone with a basic knowledge of construction and a real interest in sustainability and conserving energy.

Marjan talks of the growing number of jobs in this area of green industry which, with government support, offers retrofit solutions to promote energy conservation. She stresses the importance of sustainable applications for future of the built environment.

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Work Voices 9: Siripat Nengchamnong, Restaurant Owner

November 1, 2012, 12:17 pm • Posted by Maxine Einhorn
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Siripat Nengchamnong is from Thailand and came to the US in 2005. She studied English at San Jose State University and took a Hospitality Management course at Mission College to prepare her for opening her own restaurant, the White Elephant in Santa Clara. Siripat describes how she enjoys the work because she loves to cook and to eat and to please other people with her cooking. She also loves to meet people from all over the world and compare experiences. But Siripat makes it clear that running a restaurant is very hard work indeed.

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Work Voices 8, Elena Olmedo, Sustainability Specialist

October 1, 2012, 11:29 am • Posted by Maxine Einhorn
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Elena Olmedo was raised in a bilingual home, her parents having immigrated to the US from El Salvador. She now works for an energy efficiency firm in Berkeley. She describes her interest in sustainability and how she navigated her way through the range of career options that this huge, emerging field offered her – whether in business, law or policy etc.

Elena talks about the green and sustainable business certificate program at City College of San Francisco and the understanding it provided of environmental issues relevant to business and industry. She then took advantage of all the resources available to her to explore possible career paths. For example she interned at two different companies to gain experience of green marketing practices and environmental policy issues, and attended conferences and lectures and read papers and journals to learn all she could about sustainability issues.

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Work Voices 7: Henri Gonnet, Solar Engineer

September 5, 2012, 10:21 am • Posted by Maxine Einhorn
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This is the seventh interview in our Work Voices series for ESL educators.

Henri Gonnet is from France and came to this country 25 years ago. He now works in the green tech field at Solar City, having been fascinated by the world of electricity, and in particular the growing world of solar energy. He describes how he went to Diablo Valley College, which offered one of the first solar education programs in the country. This program gave him a really comprehensive grounding in alternative energy.

Henri explains that to work in this field, it is important to be able to communicate clearly in English and understand math at a basic level. He also suggests taking the NABCEP certificate in order to be well placed for getting a job in the industry. He sees solar installation as the most accessible job in the industry, especially in the residential sector, where the market is strong. There is also employment in the commercial world which is very different. Henri describes how with this background experience, it is possible to move on to design, auditing, permitting or sales jobs, and he is optimist about opportunities for advancement after two or three years.

Henri Gonnet is clear that working in the energy field can be hard work and it is not for everyone. Because of the way the energy market is changing, he recommends this work “as the way of the future”, with the proviso that you should be really interested in electricity and renewable energy for it to be a suitable career option.   

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Work Voices 6 - Paweena Lizarraga, Lab Assistant

July 14, 2012, 8:00 am • Posted by Maxine Einhorn
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Paweena Lizarraga came to the USA from Thailand in 2006 and trained at City College of San Francisco on the Bridge to Biotech program where she received her laboratory certification. She explains that this one year course offers the necessary mathematics and science to prepare her for a career as a technician and lab assistant, and stresses that it is not necessary to have a science background for the course. It does help however to love science and scientific questioning, as clearly she does.

Paweena works now as a lab aid at The Gladstone Institute’s new research facility located at the UCSF campus in Mission Bay. She loves her work in stem cell research, and talks really positively about job opportunities in the biotech field in companies, government jobs or working for research institutes in academic institutions.

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Work Voices 5 - Carlos Garcia, Health Interpreter

June 20, 2012, 10:32 am • Posted by Maxine Einhorn
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Meet Carlos Garcia, from Nicaragua, who works as a certified health interpreter.

Carlos Garcia describes how he chose his career. While in hospital undergoing treatment, he helped translate for a fellow patient who did not speak English and couldn’t communicate with the doctors and hospital staff. He became what he calls an “over the curtain” interpreter. Through this experience, Carlos came to understand the importance of communication between a patient and health care professional, and how an understanding of medical terminology was a crucial in making this happen.

Carlos was trained at City College of San Francisco in the Health Care Interpreter Certificate program which is “designed to train bilingual and bicultural students to develop the awareness, knowledge and skills necessary for effective language interpretation in health care settings.” He is now a nationally certified medical interpreter and has worked in a freelance capacity in San Francisco since 2002.

Carlos talks in this interview about how ESL students can use their language proficiency to really make a difference.

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Work Voices 4 - Jose Puzon, Dialysis Technician

May 15, 2012, 9:30 am • Posted by Maxine Einhorn
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Meet Jose Puzon, from the Philippines who works as a dialysis technician.

Jose Puzon is from the Philippines and decided to train as a dialysis technician, deeply moved by the death of his grandmother from kidney failure and inspired by his cousin who was working in the field. He wanted to help others like his grandmother, and after the training he describes in this interview, he is now working at San Francisco General Hospital.

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Work Voices 3 – Rita Cai, Dental Assistant

May 10, 2012, 8:24 am • Posted by Maxine Einhorn
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Rita Cai is from China and describes how she learned English at Milpitas Adult School, and then went on to train as a medical assistant, eventually finding work as a dental assistant. She explains that she made this choice because she could not find work as a medical assistant at that time, but is confident that with a background in the medical field, ESL students will be able to find work however bad the economy may be.

A dental assistant ensures the dental office runs smoothly, learning front-office procedures like scheduling, billing and processing dental insurance, as well as prepping for surgery and helping with cleanings. It offers work in a growing industry.

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