Members of INSTILS

Become an INSTILS Member

INSTILS currently has members from 16 countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, Finland, Germany, India, Namibia, Nepal, Pakistan, Solomon Islands, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, Ukraine, United States and Zimbabwe. Read below to find out more about the members of the Network.

Aftab Ahmad

Co-Founder & Program Director, Idara Baraye Taleem-wa-Taraqi (IBT)IBT WebsiteAftab Ahmad is the Co-founder of Idara Baraye Taleem-wa-Taraqi (IBT) in Bahrain, Swat, Pakistan, where he has worked for over a decade on the intergenerational sustainability of Torwali, an Indo-Aryan language of the Hindu Kush region. He has been instrumental in designing curricula for IBT's Torwali mother-tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) schools, supervising their operations, and leading female adult literacy programs within the same framework.

Darcy Allred

Waⁿdat Language Program Coordinator, Wyandotte Nation (Oklahoma)Wyandotte Nation WebsiteI am an enrolled Wyandotte Nation citizen who has worked as an online Waⁿdat language facilitator since 2022, and more recently took on a role as the Waⁿdat Language Program Coordinator. I currently assist in organizing online language program session offerings, curriculum and LMS development, and ILDA archival/database development (National Breath of Life + Myaamia Center apprenticeship).

Kathleen Anderson

Simon Fraser University

Virginia Aspinall

Indigenous Languages Community Liaison and Instructional Coordinator, Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) NVIT Website I am the Indigenous Languages Community Liaison and Instructional Coordinator (CLIC) for Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT). We are the only Indigenous Public Post Secondary Institute in BC, governed by an Indigenous board of governors. NVIT currently works with eight language communities, offering a certificate and diploma program in each. The four Interior Salishan languages can lead to a bachelor's degree in the Language Fluency Program at our partner UBCO. While there are other CLIC's in our communities, my position is newly introduced and unique in the way that I will be supporting all Indigenous languages that approach NVIT. The position is meant to create connections, sustainability, support, and cohesiveness. NVIT follows a Language Fluency Framework that is approved by the local language authorities in their respective communities. The framework promotes consistency and efficiency while maintaining the integrity of language fluency programming as intended by the Consortium. Additionally, I work with my own nɬeʔképmx language community as a support staff and learner. I have completed a Mentor-Apprentice program with my grandmother and am continuously seeking learning opportunities.

Tesfaye Negash Bayou

Assistant Professor of Linguistics (Documentary Linguistics and Culture), Kotebe University of Education (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) My work in Intergenerational Language Sustainability (ILS) is deeply rooted in my linguistic research and community engagement. I led the ""Documentation and Grammatical Description of Komo"" project (ELDP Grant IGS0194), which you can view on the ELAR archive. This involved creating a comprehensive audio-visual corpus of oral genres for the Komo language in Ethiopia, a vital resource to help the community re-energize and maintain these traditions for younger generations. Living among the Komo people for nine years, I observed firsthand the challenges of language transmission and the urgent need for documentation to support intergenerational sustainability.Building on this, I hope to use my membership in INSTILS to expand my ILS skills training. My goal is to develop practical, community-led training programs that equip local activists and teachers with the skills needed for language documentation, curriculum development, and revitalization. I am particularly interested in training community members in recording techniques, transcription, and creating accessible learning materials for children, ensuring that our work directly supports the intergenerational transmission of endangered languages in underserved communities like those I have worked with in Ethiopia.

Rodrigo Gonzalo Becerra Parra

PhD candidate, Department of Linguistics, University of AlbertaI have experience teaching Mapudungun in collaboration with native speakers, as well as developing teaching and learning materials. My research focuses on semantics and syntax using conversation and other types of connected discourse to identify structural patterns that can be applied to language revitalization efforts. Currently, I am also collaborating with a school in Chile to adapt their curriculum so they can pass the community language down to children as an L2.

James Bednall

Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, Charles Darwin UniversityJames's WebsiteJames Bednall is a Senior Lecturer, ARC DECRA Research Fellow, and Coordinator of the Diploma of First Nations Language Work at Charles Darwin University. He is a non-Indigenous linguist, who has been working in collaboration with First Nations communities of Western and  Northern Australia to support language documentation, revitalisation, maintenance and advocacy projects for the past 15 years. In this capacity he has worked for community-directed language centres, Land Councils and community organisations, as well as at universities and tertiary education providers.

Anna Belew

Executive Director, Endangered Languages ProjectELP WebsiteAnna Belew works to support communities around the world in mobilizing their skills, knowledge, and experience to sustain their languages. In her work with ELP, she has facilitated free online workshops and courses on language documentation, revitalization, and rights for thousands of learners worldwide, as well as creating spaces for peer knowledge sharing, mutual support, and growing networks of relationships between Indigenous and endangered language communities globally. Her academic work has also explored sociolinguistic approaches to understanding language shift and strengthening language revitalization.

Claire Bowern

Professor of Linguistics, Yale Univeristy Claire's Webpage Claire Bowern is Professor of Linguistics at Yale University. She works on language documentation, archival material analysis and repatriation, and technology for language work with Indigenous Communities.

Christina Buffalo

Teacher, Maskwacîs Education Schools CommissionI may not work in an official language office or program, but I am thoroughly a nehiyawewin okiskinwahamâkew, a language worker and helper. I'm a long-time student of CILLDI; I choose to learn and work where revitalizing Indigenous languages is supported and I look for any opportunity to further learn, teach and prioritize the use of nehiyawewin (Plains Cree Y-dialect, Southern) specifically. I've worked with SILR through the Young Indigenous Women's Circle of Leadership for about 2 years and I've taught elementary nehiyawewin in the classroom for 2 full years. Prior to that, I used and promoted the increased use of nehiyawewin at Fort Edmonton Park while I worked there as an interpreter. I've also taught nehiyawewin online and at workshops in paid and volunteer positions, and I led a student club for teaching and learning nehiyawewin in my early university years, while I volunteered at the Indigenous Students Centre and took linguistics and anthropology courses geared towards language and culture, before ever deciding to become a teacher or take Native Studies. I have constantly been learning from, teaching, sharing resources and otherwise pestering family members, friends and coworkers to use the nehiyawewin they know and pass it on to their families. It is my hope to continue this passion throughout my career, to advocate for my own and for many other Indigenous languages.

Mirinda Burarungrot

Lecturer and Head of the Center, Center for Documentation and Revitalization of Endangered Languages and Cultures, RILCA, Mahidol University, ThailandCDRELC WebsiteDr. Mirinda Burarungrot is a lecturer at Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Chairperson of the Center for Documentation and Revitalization of Endangered Languages and Cultures (CD-RELC). Her work focuses on mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE), language revitalization, and intercultural education among ethnolinguistic communities in Thailand. She has collaborated with communities, educators, and policymakers to support the intergenerational transmission of endangered languages through the “Mahidol Model” of language revitalization. Her research and community-based initiatives emphasize the role of elders, youth, teachers, and local researchers in sustaining linguistic and cultural heritage across generations.

Héloïse Calame

Doctoral Researcher, University of Helsinki Héloïse's Website I work with the Indigenous people Moré (Bolivia) on the documentation of their language as well as description of their language from a sociolinguistic perspective. Part of this project is also to support intergenerational transmission and language strengthening/revitalization.

Ítalo Rolando Cantarutti Arias

Ph.D. candidate, Universidad Católica de Temuco & Subpoa (Sub-Directorate for Indigenous Peoples and People of African Descent) Program Coordinator for Linguistic and Cultural Revitalization, SubpoaPueblos Originarios Website Italo Cantarutti Arias’s main roles have included: Mapuche language instructor in various Mapuche communities in the Araucanía region of Chile (CONADI Language Revitalization Program); Director and Designer of the indigenous languages program at the community relations consulting firm Xponencial, working with Mapuche and Lickanantai communities; Bilingual Spanish-Mapuzugun intercultural teacher in public and private schools in the municipalities of Padre las Casas, Pitrufquén, and Nueva Imperial; Coordinator of the Bilingual Intercultural Education Network in the Municipality of Pitrufquén; Lecturer at the Catholic University of Temuco for Mapuzugun courses; Translator, transcriber, content developer, and supervisor of Mapuzugun-Spanish cultural content for various projects of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Public Works, and Ministry of Health; Proofreader of bilingual Mapuzugun-Spanish texts; Coordinator and Advisor for the Linguistic and Cultural Revitalization Program of the National Subdirectorate for Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples (Ministry of Culture); Phonetic Transcriber for Fondecyt (National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development) research projects on the phonetic acquisition of Chedugun and Mapuzugun; Bilingual Intercultural Facilitator/Liaison; Researcher in the areas of Mapuche ecolinguistics and intergenerational transmission of the Mapuche language.

Marie Madelaine Chocolate Pasquayak

Indigenous Language InstructorI teach Tłįtsǫ and culture to JK to grade eight at Range Lake North School and Grades six to eight at William MacDonald Middle School in Yellowknife. i follow a curriculum that was designed by the department of Education.

Richard Ryan Christopher

Language and Culture Manager, Tsqescen First Nation I am working on Language Revitalization in the Shuswap language, working with elders and other language workers to secure language for future generations.

Bo Coates

I'd like to combine my experience of youth work with my background in formal and sociolinguistics to transfer language learning and guardianship skills back into communities. Interested in any internship or research collaboration opportunities in any work geared towards the wellbeing of youth through language and linguistics learning.

Danielle Dacanay

Linguist & Dictionary Keeper, Tłı̨chǫ Government Danielle's Website Danielle Dacanay is computational linguist specialising in morphology, language documentation (and revitalisation), and corpus linguistics, currently working for the Tłı̨chǫ Government in Behchokǫ̀, Northwest Territories, Canada. Her research primarily concerns the creation of computational resources for under-documented Canadian Indigenous languages; these include online dictionaries, morphological models, text corpora, plain-language grammars, spellcheckers, and more. She has also served as an advisor on Indigenous language policy, language revitalisation strategies, and the ethical use of digital language technologies for various organisations throughout western Canada and beyond.

Bao Ngoc Diep

Tulane University, Student

Samantha Disbray

Senior Lecturer, Endangered Languages, University of QueenslandSamantha's WebsiteI am a non-Indigenous ally and have worked in Australia in ILS for almost three decades. I have supported language teachers in school settings, mentored language workers on language documentation, resource creation and art-based projects and currently teach a range of skill areas the newly developed Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Language Revitalisation at the University of Queensland.

Mariana Domínguez González

University of Ottawa, Independent researcherMariana is an educational researcher passionate about Indigenous, minority, and heritage language(s) transmission and use. Her work explores how contextual factors have an impact on family language(s) choice(s). She holds a PhD in Education, a Master´s Degree in Applied Linguistics, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. She wonders and wanders to understand ways of knowing and being in the world.

Kate Donelson

Instructor, University Nevada Reno I'm thinking about late beginner/early intermediate learners and how to foster continuing development and how to serve those learners.

Ashley Easingwood

Curious lay person settler who is interested is supporting language sustainability. The teacher in me is always down to support language work.

Robert Elliott

Director, Northwest Indigenous Languages Institute NILI Website At NILI we are a training institute that hosts an annual skills training summer institute. WE offer year round workshops and trainings through NILI and through the NW regional NALRC.

Artem Fedorinchyk

Independent Researcher Language Diversity Supporters Having completed my PhD in language typology, I became a great supporter of language diversity. I have worked with Chuvash and Udmurt language communities in Russia, but due to the war had to stop these activities. Maybe my skills and knowledge will be of use somewhere else.

Darren Flavelle

Community Projects Coordinator, CILLDI CILLDI Website Darren Flavelle is a Métis scholar from amiskwaciwâskahikanihk (Edmonton), Alberta Treaty Six Territory, Canada. He obtained his undergraduate degree at the University of Alberta in Scandinavian Studies with a minor in Linguistics. He then went on to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for his Masters Degree in Linguistics focusing on the Documentation and Preservation of Endangered Languages. He began his PhD at Te Herenga Waka (Victoria University of Wellington) where he began writing a Grammar of Oroha, a South-east Solomonic Language. His Grammar is still a work in progress, as he returned back to his homeland to work for the Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute (CILDI). While working at CILLDI as a researcher, instructor, and the community projects coordinator, he co-founded Documentation Revitalisation And Generation of New Speakers (DRAGONS) Lab, and the International Network for Skills Training in Intergenerational Language Sustainability (INSTILS) with his friend, and mentor, Jordan Lachler. Darren continues to work with the Oroha Community in the Solomon Islands, while also working with communities in Alberta, British Columbia, Alaska, and Kenya.

Michael Gallaspy

PhD Student and language activist, University of California San Diego I am involved in Wyandot language reclamation through classes and talking groups, as well as my research into the syntax of Wyandot.

Lex Giesbrecht

Graduate Student, Department of Linguistics, University of Alberta

Allison Guthrie

Michif Language Research Assistant, Metis Nation of AlbertaTaanishi! I take part in many initiatives for the revitalization of Southern Michif language. Those initiatives include many grassroots projects as well as work with the Metis Nation of Alberta. One grassroots initiative is the hosting of weekly Transcription Hours where our group listen through recordings of Michif speakers, transcribing, as a way to improve our listening comprehension and increase our vocabulary.

Gord Holtslander

Language Technician, Stz'uminus Education Stz'uminus Education Website I work with Stz'uminus Education to find and develop technology solutions in our language and culture programming. I've worked with the NRC's ReadAlongs tool, developing content and teaching co-workers how to use this tool. I am working with the NRC's EveryVoice tool to develop a text to speech tool. I look at online learning technologies such as WordPress, Drupal, Moodle, MoodleBox. From the challenges online education presented during covid I explore independent community networking solutions. I work in Open-source media. I have taught co-workers how to create and edit videos using Kdenlive and more general media creation and manipulation with Ardour and Ubuntu-Studio I explore using the emerging single board computer technologies (Raspberry Pi) and as media tools in education and language gathering and documentation. These offer opportunities for lower cost community developed resources.

Marianne Huijsmans

Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, University of Alberta Marianne's Webpage I work closely with the Tla'amin, Homalco, Klahoose, and K'ómoks Nations to create a documentary record of their shared ancestral language, ʔayʔaǰuθəm, a Central Salish language. This documentation is actively used in ongoing language reclamation efforts, and I have been involved for the past year in teaching in a university-level adult fluency program offered through a partnership between UVIC and Tla'amin. I have also had the pleasure of teaching several courses for CILLDI and hope to continue learning from these experiences and supporting this important work.

Polly Hyslop

Assistant Professor, Alaska Pacific University I document my language and work with my Native community

Dr. Natalia Intja

Senior Lecturer, University of NamibiaDr. Natalia Intja is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Namibia and a dedicated researcher in the field of Indigenous Language Sustainability (ILS), with a specific focus on the documentation and revitalization of the Rukwangali language. Her work centers on the intersection of sociolinguistics, decolonial education, and the preservation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) within the SADC region.As a scholar and owner of a publishing house dedicated to indigenous language documentation, Dr. Intja’s work bridges the gap between academic theory and community practice. She has been instrumental in developing curriculum frameworks that prioritize linguistic justice, including the design of postgraduate programs for Namibia’s indigenous languages. Her current research explores the role of modern technology and digital communication in fostering intergenerational language transmission, ensuring that indigenous mother tongues remain vibrant in an increasingly digitized world.Internationally, Dr. Intja collaborates on projects focused on sustainable language futures, advocating for policy reforms that support linguistic diversity as a cornerstone of cultural identity and educational equity.

Rupert Jeffrey

Propsal writter, House of Carving of GitxsanHistory and culture combining language

Irene John

Cree Language, Early Childhood, One Arrow First Nation

Craig Kopris

Independent Researcher Since 2014, Craig Kopris has been teaching for CILLDI, in particular the grammatical analysis courses. He also spends his time working with various communities to help revitalize endangered languages, as well as to revive sleeping languages, such as Powhatan Algonquian. His primary, long-term focus is on Iroquoian languages, with a special place for Wyandot(te), which has led him to serve in the position of Tribal Linguist for Wyandotte Nation. His work has had some surprising offshoots, such as being involved in NBC's Peter Pan Live! and Carnival Films' Jamestown series. In earlier times, he was active in second language pedagogy, rule-based machine translation, and name analysis.

Arimardan Kumar Tripathi

Head of Department, Research and Language Development, Central Institute of Hindi, Agra, India Arimardan's Webpage I am a linguist, academic, and researcher dedicated to the study and advancement of Indian languages through teaching, research, and technology. Currently serving as an Associate Professor and Head at the Central Institute of Hindi, my work focuses on computational linguistics, machine translation, corpus management, language documentation, and linguistic ecology. I have contributed to major academic and technological initiatives through institutions such as the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Microsoft India, and Visva-Bharati. Through my books, research papers, and language resource projects, I strive to preserve endangered languages and promote innovative linguistic research for the development and enrichment of India’s multilingual heritage.

Pamela Labonte

CILLDI My work bridges the fields of curriculum development and linguistics, specializing in community language planning. Through this interdisciplinary approach, I aim to help communities create practical, culturally responsive strategies for language learning, revitalization, documentation, and long-term language sustainability.

Jordan Lachler

Associate Professor of Endangered Language Sustainability, Department of Linguistics, University of Alberta Director, Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute (CILLDI) Co-Founder, INSTILS CILLDI Website Jordan Lachler is a linguist specializing in language documentation and revitalization. Over the past 30+ years, he has worked with numerous communities across North America and elsewhere to develop various types of language resources. As the Director of CILLDI since 2011, he has worked to expand ILS skills training opportunities for Indigenous communities across Canada. Along with Darren Flavelle, he co-founded INSTILS in 2024. He also has a strong interest in the use of language technology, and is co-Director of the project 21st Century Tools for Indigenous Languages.

Nabraj Lama

Co-Founder, Institute for Socio Cultural Research and Analysis (SCRAnalysis)SCRAnalysis WebsiteNabraj Lama is a Tamang Indigenist from Nepal dedicated to advancing intergenerational language sustainability through the preservation, documentation, and revitalization of the Tamang language and culture. His work focuses on supporting one of Nepal’s historically marginalized Indigenous communities by developing bilingual and trilingual Tamang dictionaries, producing educational videos for Tamang language learning, and documenting the tonal system of the language. He is also actively engaged in recording and preserving Tamang oral traditions, including folk stories and songs, and translating them into English and Nepali to expand accessibility and cross-cultural understanding. Beyond his work with the Tamang community, Nabraj has established a collaborative grassroots network aimed at strengthening the conservation and revitalization of Indigenous languages across Nepal.

Cora Lesure

Postdoctoral Associate, MITILI Program Support, Massachusetts Institute of Technology MITILI Website I support the MIT Indigenous Languages Initiative (MITILI) master’s program through student advising, as well as teaching, curriculum development, and formal Linguistics research. The MITILI program trains members of minoritized language communities in Linguistics in order to foster linguistic self-determination and to make the tools and resources offered by the field of Linguistics directly accessible to these communities. A core focus of my work and research is finding ways to make theoretical Linguistics not only accessible but meaningfully actionable with respect to community-centered language goals.

Jack Lockwood

Associate, University of Florida I led a training in University classes on how to operate FLEx and other language technology.

Jane Lorenzen

I am interested in doing work on my grandfather's L1, the Amrumer dialect of North Frisian.

Rachel MacKenzie

Indigenous Languages Coordinator, Native MontealNative Montreal WebsiteNative Montreal's mission is to contribute to the holistic health, cultural strength and success of Indigenous families, individuals and communities in the greater Montreal area.Our Indigenous languages programming creates a welcoming space where Indigenous peoples of all ages can reconnect with their languages and cultures through structured learning, community activities, and intergenerational knowledge sharing. We also organize an annual conference which has a focus on the preservation, revitalization, and celebration of Indigenous languages and cultures in an urban context.

Joyce McDonough

Richard L Turner Professor in the Humanities, University of Rochester

Erin McGarvey

Graduate Student, Department of Linguistics, University of AlbertaErin is currently a graduate student at University of Alberta where she is working on her master's thesis. Her thesis is an Ethnography of a Summer Language Intensive Revitalization program run in St. Paul, Alaska between 2015-2017 where she qualitatively analyses daily reflections done during the running of the language teams summer language intensive program. She was an intern with Where Are Your Keys? in 2016 in Atka, Alaska, and again in St. Paul Island, Alaska in 2017. She also volunteered as a Summer Program Assistant with CILLDI between 2018-2023.

Helena Miranda

Campus Director, University of Namibia UNAM WebsiteAs campus director I approach ILS from a managerial point of view with a concern on the poor enrolment in indigenous languages by prospective teachers hence I established interventive approaches to improving this.

Sarah Moeller

Assistant Professor, University of Florida Application of AI/NLP to language documentation and description

Ignacio Montoya

Associate Professor, University of Nevada Reno As a PhD student, I was a volunteer for the Endangered Language Alliance, and I participated for two years in the Navajo Language Academy. When I came to the University of Nevada, Reno, I obtained a grant to establish a series of five workshops on training teachers of Indigenous languages. I also coordinated the establishment of Northern Paiute (Numu) classes at the University of Nevada and supported the classes up through this year. I am also the Director of CoLang 2026.

Talent Mudenda

Founder, Zimbabwe Indigenous Languages revitalisation project Talent Mudenda is a Zimbabwean linguist and Indigenous language activist specialising in minority language revitalisation. His work focuses on grassroots approaches to strengthening Indigenous languages, and he has experience in community-based language documentation, revitalisation, research, and skills training. He is particularly interested in developing practical skills that enable communities to take a leading role in sustaining and revitalising their own languages.

Steven Muntanga

Pastor Research and study of languages and cultures

Willard Muntanga

Luunga Visionary Trust Willard Muntanga holder of MSc in disaster management and livelihoods studies and MSc peace leadership.

Josiah Murphy

Adjunct Faculty, University of Hawai'i at Manoa Josiah's webpage. Josiah on Research Gate I have a background in EFL and ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and in language documentation, and partner with a colleague who works in SLA (Second Language Acquisition). We combine our frameworks to provide training for members of community language revitalization projects (and others). For example, we teach theory and techniques from language documentation, lexicography, language acquisition, and curriculum design. And then we guide the learners through a workflow from needs analysis to documentation to creating language learning materials. I also served as director of the Language Documentation Training Program (LDTC) at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, which introduces language documentation techniques to community members wanting to begin documenting their heritage languages.

Mike Mutale

Part-Time Lecturer, Zimbabwe Open University & Luunga Visionary Trust

Quegas Mutale

Director, Luunga Visionary Trust (LUVIT)LUVIT Facebook PageQuegas Mutale is a social science researcher who interest span in promotion and revitalization of the indigenous Tonga language. He is currently working on a paper on intergenerational sustainability of ChiTonga language in Zimbabwe. He published papers and book chapters on indigenous knowledge, climate change, environmental management and social protection. Quegas is the director ofnLuunga Visionary Trust (LUVIT), a community based organisation in Zimbabwe that works in revitalization of ChiTonga. He has a decade of experience working in donor funded Non Governmental Organizations programs in Zimbabwe.

Kelsey Nash-Solomon

Wolastoqey Nutokehkikemit, Under One Sky Friendship Centre I am a past graduate of our language program which is designed to reclaim language of our people the Wolastoqiyik~ People of the beautiful and bountiful river~The Wolastoq~ on the East Coast. I did this training in 2013-15, then I did my teacher training certificate and graduated with that from the University of New Brunswick in 2022. Now, with my knowledge I continue to gain through interactions and training with fluent speakers, I have been teaching our language to all ages from babies right up to elders in an all inclusive environment by offering 10 week different level classes that are based on Coffee shop lessons so to say. To be able to sit with someone over coffee, and share lessons with them in a space for 2 hours that is based on useful everyday conversations. With the knowledge i've gained, I have offered baby and Momma classes, for 10 weeks for language around baby and mama, feeding, changing, singing, chanting, introducing songs etc. For the youth, school aged i've taught Little Learners and their Families programs which were also designed for 10 weeks that honored the family as a whole. It allows families to reclaim language loss within the family values where child(ren) and parent(s) were able to learn and speak together and have opportunities to speak to each other through useful, everyday phrases focused on their names, referring to each other in the family dynamics as the mother, father, sister, daughter, son or brother, older or younger, their feelings, each other and how they could use language together in the home. I also, have intergraded myself into a few community elementary schools where I have the opportunity to teach and share knowledge around our language, our culture, our ceremonies, along with our songs, medicines etc etc.

Kelsey Neely

Curriculum Development Officer, Endangered Languages Documentation Programme / Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and HumanitiesELDP WebsiteELDP provides training and support in language documentation and archiving for documenters at all career stages working on endangered languages around the globe. We provide training in-person, online, and via our freely-available online resources.

Ro’nikonhkátste Tony Norton

Graduate Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Language Instructor, KORLCC

Dunlop Otieno Ochieng

Senior Lecturer, Dean Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The Open University of TanzaniaOUT Faculty of Arts and Sciences WebsiteMy name is Dr Dunlop Ochieng, a Tanzanian linguist and Senior Lecturer at the Open University of Tanzania. I am also the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Chief Editor of the Contemporary Journal of Linguistics and Literary Studies. My research is on sociolinguistics, language contact, and language politics of the ethnic community languages, English and Swahili, in Tanzania.I have published several works, supervised nearly twenty postgraduate students, and presented at international conferences. With regard to intergenerational language maintenance, I lead a partnership with a cultural organisation called Shimulimuli Company Ltd, where we have a project for documenting the disappearing social and cultural heritage of Tanzanian ethnic communities (including language resources). I am also in the network of INSTIL, which stands for Insights in Skills Training in Intergenerational Language Sustainability. Through this network, I have learnt about other people's motivation, efforts and initiatives to sustain people's endangered languages, which I am planning to apply in the context of my country, Tanzania.

Aliana Parker

Learning Centre Director, First Peoples' Cultural CouncilFPCC WebsiteAliana Parker is the Director of the Learning Centre at the First Peoples' Cultural Council. She has a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics and over 15 years of experience learning from and working with First Nations communities and language leaders. During her time at FPCC, she has led and supported numerous skills training initiatives, including the development and delivery of many in-person and online training opportunities in a variety of strategies in language revitalization. She has also led the development of tools and resources to support community-based language revitalization efforts. Aliana is a non-Indigenous ally in this work and lives in the territory of the W̱SÁNEĆ nation.

Kirk Person

Senior Consultant, Literacy and Education, SIL GlobalKirk's WebsiteKirk's Email Kirk R. Person, Ph.D., has been based in Thailand since 1988. He is a Senior Consultant in Literacy and Education with SIL Global. He has conducted linguistic fieldwork throughout Southeast Asia, taught graduate linguistics courses at several Thai universities, represented SIL to the Asia-Pacific Multilingual Education Working Group (co-chaired by UNESCO and UNICEF’s regional offices), sat on the Royal Institute of Thailand’s National Language Policy Drafting Committee, and co-authored/co-edited UNESCO’s flagship publication, Languages matter: Global guidance on multilingual education (2025). He was an advisor to the Patani Malay-Thai Multilingual Education Programme, which received the 2016 UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize.

J. Randolph Radney, PhD

Higher Education Advisor, Tsilhqot'in National GovernmentTNG WebsiteUntil recently, I was the language manager for TNG. I am currently working on adaptation and acceptance for a BA program in Tsilhqot'in Fluency to be offered by Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (certificate and diploma) with a view to eventual accreditation by a provincial university. My own graduate work was in linguistics and philosophy.

Leonora Rotomane Houma

Solomon Islands National University SINU Website Supporting the development of Solomon Islands Language Centre at SINU. Through the work of the centre, work on ILS will be facilitated.

An Sakach

Associate Teaching Professor, Arizona State University

Jefferson Saransig

Student, University of Texas Austin I am a speaker of Inbabura Kichwa, spoken in Ecuador. I am doing my PhD in Linguistics and I am interested in language revitalization. I wish to learn from you to help organizations in Ecuador revitalize different languages

Owen Smith

Senior Undergraduate, Portland State University I hope to focus my ILS efforts around helping the Native peoples of the Pacific Northwest region. I am new to ILS training, but I am eager to learn as much as I can and help others with their languages.

Heather Souter

Assistant Professor, University of WinnipegMichif Website and Southern Michif WebsiteMy name is Heather Souter, a Michif (Métis) from Vancouver, BC, with roots in Calgary, Lac Ste. Anne, and Edmonton. I am a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation and have lived in Camperville, Manitoba, for over 20 years, focusing on the language revitalization of Southern Michif and other languages my nation and kin. I am an activist scholar interested in Indigenous languages, multilingualism, and pedagogy, emphasizing participatory and transformative education. My approach centers on community-based learning, integrating Indigenous knowledge systems, and disrupting conventional teaching by valuing learner strengths.I develop digital language resources and engage in descriptive and applied linguistic research, exploring the intersection of technology and Indigenous language revitalization. My research includes adult immersion programs like the Master-Apprentice Program, Indigenous language pedagogy, community language planning and the morphosyntax and other aspects of Michif. I also co-founded Prairies to Woodlands Language Revitalization Circle Inc., a nonprofit in Manitoba. Beyond academia, I engage with communities through workshops, conferences, and events that promote Indigenous language use and learning.

Nainakala Tamang

Research Fellow, Institute for Socio-Cultural Research and Analysis I am working in a group for the preservation, documentation and revitalization of Tamang Language.

Zubair Torwali

Executive Director, Idara Baraye Taleem wa Taraqi (IBT)IBT WebsiteI am Zubair Torwali, a writer, researcher, indigenous rights advocate, and language activist from Bahrain, Swat, in northern Pakistan. My life’s work has been deeply rooted in the struggle to preserve, revitalize, and sustain the indigenous languages, cultures, and knowledge systems of the mountain communities of North Pakistan, particularly my mother tongue, Torwali.For me, language is not merely a tool of communication; it is a repository of memory, identity, worldview, ecological knowledge, oral history, and collective dignity. When a language weakens, an entire way of understanding the world is endangered. This conviction has shaped much of my work over the years.A central focus of my efforts has been language revitalization, especially ensuring the intergenerational transmission and sustainability of Torwali and other marginalized indigenous languages. A language survives not in archives alone, nor merely in academic descriptions, but in the voices of children, in homes, in songs, in stories, in schools, and in the daily life of a community. My work, therefore, has sought not only to document endangered languages but to help create the social, educational, and cultural conditions in which they can continue to live across generations.Through community-based initiatives, educational work, research, writing, and advocacy, I have promoted mother tongue-based multilingual education, language documentation, literacy development, and the creation of culturally relevant learning materials. I have been particularly concerned with reversing the pattern in which indigenous families emotionally cherish their languages while functionally abandoning them under pressure from dominant languages, economic insecurity, and exclusionary educational systems.My research and writing also engage with broader questions of linguistic justice, internal colonialism, indigenous rights, cultural erasure, and the politics of development. I examine how linguistic majoritarianism, centralized state structures, tourism, extractive development, hydropower projects, and market-driven cultural transformations affect indigenous communities, their lands, and their futures.I believe language revitalization cannot be separated from cultural dignity, ecological sustainability, and community self-determination. A language cannot thrive if the people who speak it are dispossessed, marginalized, or made to feel ashamed of who they are. Thus, my work connects language advocacy with indigenous rights, environmental justice, and decolonial thinking.At heart, my work is about continuity—ensuring that future generations inherit not silence, but living languages; not erasure, but memory; not imposed identities, but the confidence to speak, imagine, and belong in their own words.

Urtzi Urrutikoetxea

Staff member, GarabideGarabide WebsiteMyself a speaker of a minoritized language, I have been collecting, informing and participating at Indigenous language promotions for more than 20 years, in media, education and other fields

Tobias Weber

Postdoc, GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

Debora Young

Teacher, Masckwcîs Education Schools Commission I am a fluent Cree Language teacher who teaches Cree in an on-reserve juniot-high school.