Ilana Robbins Gross Email & Phone Number

San Francisco, Ca, Us

San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

SIYLI provides leadership development and training programs to businesses and individuals worldwide. As a Public Program Manager I lead outreach into strategic markets to identify, cultivate, and negotiate contracts with new program partners (e.g., major corporations, universities, training companies). Supervise public program coordinators who are working on ~35 global open-enrollment training programs, each ranging from 80-120 participants. Manage business-unit budget and model adherence to revenue and expense goals. Launched first open-enrollment programs hosted by certified teachers. Collaborate with product team and external stakeholders to develop new program offerings that forward the company mission and are viable in the market.

San Francisco Bay Area

Responsible for experience of global community of mentors and protégés numbering in the thousands. Ran user testing and analyzed qualitative and quantitative data to guide product development and shape program redesign. Directed community management team. Built and managed team of writers to create educational content for digital platform. Designed and ran virtual and in-person workshops for junior and executive-level members. Played HR role, including in recruitment and periodic assessment of employee satisfaction. Interviewed program participants, collected testimonials, and provided resources to marketing. Created and ran community board. Quickly tested and iterated on communication strategies to foster program engagement.

Teresina Area, Brazil

Designed and taught classes that actively engaged university students training to be English teachers. Curriculum focused on bringing English to life by exploring US culture and drawing comparisons to Brazil. Lessons included regional differences, social norms, religious practices, music and dance, and holidays. In addition, led twice-weekly conversation hours, conducted analytical writing seminars, and helped students prepare for TOEFL and GRE. Organized workshops at elementary and high schools to teach students to think critically about how and why we learn languages and gain new insights into the US and its relationship to Brazil. Lectured in Portuguese and English at language schools and community centers to help improve cross-cultural understanding.

Organized numerous community events; size ranged from 15 to 2,000 participants, including major local officials. Developed ongoing communication campaign that combined monthly newsletter (both digital and paper), website updates, Facebook and Twitter postings, strategic opinion pieces in local papers, and outreach at key forums; trained community members to help execute campaign. Nurtured relationships with local media sources, set up and prepared people for interviews, drafted press releases, and worked closely with community members to help them prepare their own press releases. Grew media hits per month from 0.5 to 2. Designed and maintained database to track over 3,000 members. Wrote grant applications that brought in over $80,000. Monitored organization’s financial well-being: maintained QuickBooks and expense reports, collected and tracked monthly dues from members, and led organization through successful audit.

Greater New Orleans Area

Taught pre-beginner ESL classes to 30 adults from a wide-range of linguistic backgrounds. Created lesson plans relevant to students that focused on real-life application of English, e.g., making bank deposits, filling out forms, preparing for hurricanes. Developed relationships with students and assisted them outside class in adjusting to life in the US.

Greater New Orleans Area

Conducted outreach to Latino community and recruited an average of 40 members and 200 farm volunteers a month. Organized programs in Spanish on topics suggested by Cooperative members, including nutrition, farming, family planning, financial literacy, and safety. Planned, facilitated, and simultaneously interpreted at workshops that focused on cross-community exchange. Coordinated relationships with partner organizations in both English and Spanish. Trained and mentored six office volunteers. Standardized office procedures for processing new members, coordinating volunteers, and tracking key indicators; wrote handbook to maintain systems. Created and coded new-member survey in Excel to evaluate organization and gather demographic data. Wrote successful grant applications, including critical sections of USDA grant for which the organization received $100,000.

Rio De Janeiro Area, Brazil

Designed and led classes for individuals and small groups seeking to improve business English; helped students get promotions and placements in offices abroad.

Middletown, Ct

Trained and supervised Wesleyan students teaching English to university’s janitorial staff: led weekly class on English grammar and teaching methodologies, held regular one-on-one meetings, and conducted classroom observation. Developed language curriculum for tutors that centered on students’ actual needs, including passing citizenship exam, accessing healthcare, and participating in parent-teacher conferences. Created tracking method for individual lesson plans so tutors could build database and share experiences. Served as liaison between janitorial staff and larger Wesleyan community, increasing campus and student awareness of challenges faced by staff.

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), History, Religion

Activities and Societies: Wesleyan ESL

Education record