Kelsey Odom Email & Phone Number

New York, New York, United States

New York, New York, United States

As a School Success Coach within the School Success Program at IRC, I support a caseload of refugee, asylee, and asylum-seeking families in need of assistance navigating the NYC school system through weekly phone, email, and video correspondence and in-person visits. I also collaborate with and advocate for clients within schools and related services to ensure their rights regarding language interpretation, benefit eligibility, and other services available to non-citizens are honored.

Brooklyn, New York, United States

Within the Family Defense Unit, I managed a caseload of 10+ clients with cases in Brooklyn Family Court and helped them navigate the family regulation system. I served as an ally and advocate for clients in court, conferences, and informal meetings to ensure that they are humanized, seen, heard, and given justice. I also made referrals for parenting classes, anger management, drug treatment, counseling services, and other services as court-mandated or client-identified. I provided emotional support for my clients as well as support around issues concerning benefits, healthcare, education and housing. I also coordinated and conducted weekly check-ins with clients, attorneys, ACS/CPS workers, and service providers, to encourage collaboration and knowledge-sharing among the legal team.

I connected 100+ grassroots leaders and nonprofit organizations with resources to build real, lasting change in their communities by providing crowdfunding coaching and support to our national network. I led and supervised the expansion of the organization’s Support Center and used my writing skills to generate new content in response to needs and feedback of customers. I also utilized my teaching and fundraising expertise to help create the ioby Field Guide to Fundraising: a toolkit training curriculum to prepare crowdfunders of all experience levels to fundraise with confidence.

Brooklyn, New York

Greater New York City Area

At Justworks, I provided expert-level and empathetic assistance to thousands of customers on a Stevie award-winning Customer Support Team via phone, email, and chat. I maintained knowledge on a wide array of subjects and product updates in order effectively explain complicated HR topics (payroll, benefits administration, retirement planning, taxation, Workers’ Compensation, and other compliance issues) to business owners and employees. I provided empathetic, compassionate, and knowledgeable care in confidential, sensitive, and challenging situations. Internally, I created and maintained the Customer Support Team’s first comprehensive list of internal and customer-facing macros that were informative, clear, and succinct, to increase efficiency and improve productivity. I also sat on a panel of 5 at a company-wide All-Hands meeting to discuss the importance of community involvement and taking action.

Toronto, Canada Area

At GVE, I helped double GVEOE's team of tutors by interviewing, training, and managing 150+ North American online tutors. I helped increase tutoring quality by evaluating tutors, delivering feedback, and monitoring improvement progress. I also developed personal connections over many communication platforms: email, phone, video conferencing, face-to-face. Internally, I decreased departmental time-waste, error, and inconsistencies and increased departmental efficiency and morale by creating, pitching, and supervising a department-wide reorganization initiative to support anticipated company growth. I also identified workflow problems and designed both temporary and long-term solutions in an ever-changing startup environment.

Toronto, Canada Area

I continued my teaching in Canada by teaching ESL online to school children in China using e-learning platforms and tools. I trained the students in listening and speaking exercises to bridge the gap in Chinese schools’ English curricula. I encouraged interaction and participation in a virtual classroom by students who normally receive little speaking time in school. I also represented GVE as a spokesperson in a promotional video released online.

Berlin Area, Germany

During my many years serving as a freelance EFL teacher, I managed diverse classroom settings by teaching children and adults, levels A1 to C2, private and group sessions, in homes, companies, and in private language schools all over Berlin. I created 60-, 90-, and 180-minute lesson plans using school resources and supplementary teaching materials designed by me. I also designed and taught Business English classes to satisfy specific skills needs for classes containing employees with different responsibilities within the company. For example, I developed and taught individual and group English courses in General, Business, Telephone and Communication, and Presentation Skills, to adult learners of diverse cultures and backgrounds ranging in proficiency from beginning to advanced. I also provided in-house, customized English lessons for groups of employees in companies spanning the fields of law, finance, retail, logistics, IT, advertising, and interior design.

Master Of Social Work - Msw

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), Linguistics

Activities and Societies: Student DJ at KVRX-FM Student Radio, Member of French House Cooperative, Volunteer for Blanton Student Guild

Certificate In Proficiency In French, French Language And Literature, 4.0

Took university credit French courses with other adult learners which focused on French Four Skills (reading, writing, listening.

Celta, Teaching English As A Second Or Foreign Language/Esl Language Instructor, Pass B

French Studies

Spent a semester abroad in Paris, studying French language, art, and architecture lectures conducted both in English and French.