Our Story

The Language Justice Collaborative, previously known as the Language Access Coalition, was formed in 2016 to advocate for New York City to update and expand its language access policy. Each of our organizations has a long history of advocating for language accessibility for immigrant New Yorkers.

The coalition aims to fight particularly for speakers of languages of limited diffusion (LLDs), which include African languages, many Asian languages, and indigenous Latin American languages.

Why we Started

Lack of language access is one of the most significant barriers New York’s immigrant communities face when accessing critical State services.

New York State took an important step toward expanding language access when Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order No. 26 in 2011, which orders all executive State agencies to translate vital documents into the six most common state languages (“statewide languages of translation”) and to offer interpretation services to individuals in their primary language. However, even after the implementation of the Executive Order, significant language access barriers remain.

Our Proposal

Our goal is to ensure immigrants from Africa, Asia, and Latin America receive the essential resources they need to live a productive, healthy, and fulfilling life, and a community interpreter bank in tandem with language services worker co-ops takes us one step closer to achieving that outcome.

 FAQs

  • Language Advocacy is a movement that seeks to promote the importance of language learning and understanding in today's multicultural world. It aims to create awareness about the benefits of multilingualism and the positive impact it can have on individuals, communities, and even economies.

  • "Languages of limited diffusion" (LLDs) refer to languages that have a relatively small number of speakers and are not widely spoken or distributed in comparison to major world languages. These languages often have limited geographic, cultural, or ethnic reach and may not be widely understood outside specific communities or regions. Languages of limited diffusion are typically at risk of declining or disappearing as speakers assimilate into larger linguistic communities or as a result of cultural changes.

    The term is often used in the context of language policy and linguistic diversity efforts, highlighting the need to preserve and support languages that are spoken by smaller populations. Governments, organizations, and advocates may work to address the challenges faced by speakers of languages of limited diffusion, implementing policies and initiatives to promote their survival and vitality.

  • A workers' cooperative is a type of business organization owned and democratically controlled by its employees. In a workers' cooperative, the employees are also the owners, and they actively participate in the decision-making processes of the business. Each worker typically has an equal say in the decision-making, regardless of their position or level within the organization.

  • A community interpreter bank refers to a system or organization that facilitates access to language interpretation services within a community. The purpose of a community interpreter bank is to provide language assistance and bridge communication gaps between individuals who speak different languages and service providers, such as healthcare professionals, government agencies, social services, and more.