Lee Shainis's Page

What motivated you (or your organization) to become involved in peace and conflict resolution?

I co-founded a nonprofit called Intercambio de Comunidades, which works to build respectful communities and broaden opportunities for immigrants through language education, cultural exchange and friendship. We bridge divides between immigrant and non-immigrant communities through volunteer-taught 1-on-1 and group English classes, and I love to see cultural barriers being broken down through the friendships that form.

Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself or the work of your organization (no more than 3 paragraphs)

As Intercambio's co-founder, Lee recognized and researched the need for the organization as well as developed partnerships with related agencies. He designed and led the program's initial trainings, helped create our teachers' manual, and facilitated volunteer orientations and in-service trainings. Lee's prior experience includes the development of a volunteer program at a psychiatric treatment center and supervision of an afterschool program. His other volunteer work has included mentoring developmentally challenged individuals, facilitating writing workshops for prison inmates, and assisting at a homeless shelter.

Lee has a BA in Business Administration from the University of Michigan and studied Spanish in Costa Rica, where he volunteered at a home for the elderly. In 2005 Lee was awarded the Community Action Program (CAP) multicultural award and was also recognized by the Boulder Daily Camera with a Pacesetter award in Education. In 2004, Lee won the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the University of Michigan's School of Business, and in 2001, the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County awarded Intercambio a Nova Award in Education.

Please list the countries and/or regions in which you (or your organization) have direct and significant expertise

US, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Maryland

What is your current country of residence (or location of your organization)?

US

What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?

Executive Director at Intercambio de Comunidades

What is your personal or organizational website?

http://www.intercambioweb.org

What is one of your favorite websites in the field? (please provide one answer per box)

http://mpi.org

Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise (or the primary sectoral areas of your organization) ?

Culture, Dialogue, Education, Refugees,

Which are your primary skills areas(or the primary skill areas of your organization)?

Budgeting, Curriculum Development, Evaluation, Fundraising, Program Administration, Program Implemenation, Training

What are some of your current areas of research (if any)?

We are expanding the Intercambio model throughout the U.S., and we have even shared components of our model in Belgium and Mexico. We are currently researching communities of greatest need for Intercambio to create cross-cultural connections. If you know of an area of the country where there is an immigrant population interested in learning English and native-born residents who would be interested in volunteering to teach please let me know. We are also partnering with existing programs that are interested in strengthening the ESL component of their program or finding better ways to integrate their community.

If appropriate feel free to list several of your (or your organization's) publications

""What Every Immigrant Needs to Know" - This 45-page guidebook provides practical information about living and succeeding in the U.S. Offered in Spanish and English, the guide contains 170 essentials covering health, finances, housing, education, civic engagement, laws, and social values that were generated by cross-cultural trainers and research from reliable resources. The guide seeks to build cultural understanding and provide immigrants and refugees with critical information in one convenient place to ease the integration process.

See the table of contents and some sample entries at http://www.intercambioweb.or/docs/Part_of_guide.pdf. Contact info@intercambioweb.org to order copies or if you have any questions. 100% of proceeds benefit Intercambio.

We also have a customized 6-level English curriculum that is full of life skills and very easy for volunteers to use. We are distributing this curriculum throughout the country.