Interview with Edward van Luinen, November 21, 2022

Interview Summary

Edward J. van Luinen Ed.D served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa, from 1987 to1989 as a TEFL teacher for two high schools in Kissidougou. Edward explains how nervous he was for the first month at site standing before his many students wondering if he was good enough to be their teacher. With the encouragement of the school principals and his Guinean TEFL teacher counterpart, he went all into his job and very much enjoyed it. Ultimately, Edward fell in love with teaching, which identified his career passion to make companies, leaders, and teams better at Fortune 500 firms and now as CEO and Board Advisory of Global Talent Builders, LLC, a worldwide recruiting, change, DE&I, and workforce development company in Pasadena, California. Edward also explains that, while he was not yet out as a gay cisgender male volunteer and leader, he did not let this limit his experience. Edward maximized his volunteer service thanks to rich cross-cultural exchanges, heightened comfort with ambiguity, and proficient teaching and teacher trainer skills.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps Guinea Republic of Guinea Peace Corps volunteers Peace Corps goals French classroom training Senegal pre-service training International Baccalaureate students recruiter cross cultural communications teacher of English as a foreign language (TEFL) technical training language training non-binary thinking Sékou Touré Calvin College Calvin University, Bachelor of Arts (BA), French Language and Literature Michigan Dutch American diversity in Peace Corps Many Faces of Peace Corps LGBTQ+ gender equality Dakar, Senegal Master of Arts Michigan State University Africa paralegal Thies, Senegal Sahel peanut farming Kissidougou, Guinea Department of State French oral exam Fulani, Fula Maninka West Africa Federation of former French colonies in West Africa French West Africa Afrique-Occidentale française, AOF 1958 Pan-African Nationalism Conakry, Guinea bauxite boubou (Guinean fashion) natural resources bush taxis, taxi brousse British textbooks for West Africa beginner and intermediate English classes Doctor of Education (Ed.D), Organizational Leadership and Change, Pepperdine University Teachers College, Columbia University, Master of Arts (MA), International Education Development United Nations Oral Rehydration Therapy program Rural Health Assistant host family TEFL technical trainer reverse culture shock Avon Heineken Disney Sony Electronics Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board Advisory, Global Talent Builders, LLC Pasadena, California recruiting, change management, DEandI, workforce development advisory, planning, and implementation

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