When ‘el intérprete’ is also the ‘learner’: An Innovative Youth Empowerment Project for Immigrant Youth

Abstract

In this paper, we present a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) project that documented an innovative youth empowerment program at a community based organization. The program at the core of this paper is aimed at strengthening cultural brokering, empowerment, civic engagement, and leadership skills by engaging youth as bilingual interpreters at community events to facilitate the participation of adults with limited English proficiency. Through the research-practice integration reflected in our study, we highlight how immigrant youth, engaged in activities that facilitate reflective thinking about their roles as cultural brokers, can be powerfully supported in navigating across their multiple cultural worlds.