Shengxiao "Sole" Yu
Shengxiao’s life has been deeply influenced by her experience with and love for languages. Immigrating to the United States at age 12 as a monolingual Mandarin Chinese speaker, Shengxiao faced many difficulties while attempting to navigate through the complexity of an ELL program and the even more complex social world of pre-teens. Through her young eyes, Shengxiao saw languages as barriers that stood in the way of human connections. It wasn’t until studying Spanish and Latin American history in high school that her views of language were profoundly changed from barriers to bridges – bridges into the richness of cultures and human experiences.
Shengxiao has traveled extensively in Latin America and Spain and worked with grassroots communities and NGOs in Peru and Costa Rica. She has been an advocate for immigration rights in Chicago providing legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children from Central America, Asia, and beyond.
Shengxiao’s professional experiences have informed her views on social justice, and her commitment to building a world that shifts power to marginalized communities in an intersectional and inclusive way. She believes that language and culture education is a powerful way for people to see each other’s potential and honor each other’s humanity and ultimately bring about a more just and equitable world.
Inspiration
Expertise
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Small group facilitation
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Coalition-building
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Photography
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Social media
Experience
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Paralegal, immigrant legal service organization
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Socioeconomic development specialist, grant-making foundation
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Director of partnerships, global health and leadership development nonprofit
Education
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B.A. with honors, Major in Comparative Human Development, Minor in Human Rights, University of Chicago
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Quechua language and culture certificate, Centro Tinku, Cuzco, Peru