About Us

Meet Our Founder, Kelly Minks

Kelly, Bilingual Bridges English and Spanish second-language teacher (image)

Bilingual Bridges was founded in 2017 by an Alaskan bilingual teacher, Kelly Minks. Her passions for multiculturalism, social welfare, and education have led her to live, volunteer, and teach in various countries, including: Argentina, South Korea, Vietnam, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, and India. When the 2008 recession hit the U.S., Kelly faced the risk of being laid off from her job as a bilingual social worker; however, she wasn’t willing to slow down. Her adventurous spirit soon led her to Buenos Aires, where she earned her CELTA teaching certification and began the next chapter of her life – that of an ESL teacher in Argentina, South Korea, and Vietnam.

Kelly returned to the U.S. in 2011 to begin studying for her Master’s in Bilingual Bicultural Education at DePaul University in Chicago. Upon graduating in 2014, Kelly began teaching in a Spanish/English dual language classroom in Chicago Public Schools, where she was charged with co-developing a two-way, dual language education program. She was later invited to join Indianapolis Public Schools, where she led the design and implementation of a newcomer-focused, ESL program in a rapidly diversifying elementary school.

As Kelly began to identify the holes in bilingual resources in high needs, low income public schools, she began brainstorming solutions and, once again, took a leap of faith and plunged headfirst into a new endeavor – the creation of Bilingual Bridges.

About Bilingual Bridges

Bilingual Bridges was officially launched in September 2017 as an Indiana-based language education company that would provide online courses to schools, organizations, companies, and families worldwide. As the company has developed, its multilingual team now offers courses in: Foreign Languages, English as a Second Language (ESL), Business Languages, Accent Training, Literacy, and Bilingual Academics. Each Bilingual Bridges’ teacher is fully vetted, holds a minimum of a bachelor’s degree (most of master’s degrees), has at least 5 years of professional teaching experience, and has a background of rich language and multicultural experiences.

Our Vision

Building bridges toward a globally connected future.

Our Mission

To create global partnerships by promoting bilingual, bicultural competency through virtual learning and collaboration.