About Us
Meet Our Founder, Kelly Minks
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 around the world.
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 and began the next chapter of her life as an ESL teacher.
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
About Bilingual Bridges
Meet Our Founder,
Kelly Minks
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 and began the next chapter of her life as an ESL teacher.
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.