Hi, I’m Mimi Gingold, President of Cincinnati English & Cultural Enrichment, LLC. I live in Cincinnati, Ohio with my husband, Al Gerhardstein. Our three grown children Ben (29), Adam (26) and Jessica (22) live in Atlanta, Washington, DC, and Chicago, respectively. I’d like to tell you a little about myself and how I became interested in International outreach.

Professional Background

I am a retired educator, having taught all ages from kindergarten to adult in public and private schools for thirty years. Along the way, I taught ESL to classes of students from over twelve countries and earned certification in ESL. In addition to teaching ESL, I was a classroom teacher, a reading specialist, a designer of youth and family literacy programs, a grant writer, and a library/media specialist.

Education Background

I earned a BA in American Studies with education certification from Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin. My Master’s Degree in Education (MA.Ed.) is from New York University. I have many, many course credits beyond the Master’s level which have helped me to develop additional expertise in supervision, administration, educational technology, curriculum development.

Cross-Cultural Experience

My non-professional life has included cross-cultural experiences. Beginning way back in my high school days, I was an exchange student to Izmir, Turkey. During our child-rearing years, my husband and I hosted numerous adults and youth from China, France, Ecuador, Japan, Slovakia, Russia, Barbados, Azerbaijan, Trinidad, Republic of Georgia, and Turkey. Our family has been closely involved as sponsors of refugee families from Vietnam, Cambodia, Kosovo, and Sudan. I have worked with organizations such as American Field Service (AFS), Sister Cities, Int., Friendship Force, Cincinnati World Affairs Council, Catholic Social Services, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Global Service Corps, CISV—Children’s International Summer Village, and Winton Woods City Schools.

In the summer of 1997, my daughter and I taught English in a village school in Thailand. Over the years, I have been fortunate to travel in Japan, China, Thailand, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, Europe, and Turkey and to participate in study trips about the Holocaust, migrant laborers, Eastern Turkey and Kurds, and about the Amazon.

Immediately upon my “retirement” in 2004, I expanded my volunteer work. In the summers of 2005, 2006, 2007 I traveled in Liuzhou, Guangxi Province, China to co-direct CAMP SEE (Summer English Enrichment), a customized program I designed with Liuzhou educators for youth in Liuzhou schools and rural English teachers. Each of those summers I selected, trained, and led delegations of twelve to fourteen educators from Cincinnati to work at the camp in collaboration with Chinese educators. In the summer of 2006, I co-designed and co-implemented a Youth Culture Camp in Cincinnati for youth and chaperones from Liuzhou. During those years I also designed and directed a twelve-week English program in Cincinnati for exchange English teachers from China.

CECE GLOBAL is my new “baby”. With my many contacts in education and cross-cultural programming, with my experience and organizational skills, and with my life-long passion to improve cross-cultural understanding and friendship through education……., CECE Global is the logical next step for my retirement career. I have created a company. Cincinnati English & Cultural Enrichment, LLC will expand upon the volunteer work that I have been doing. My intention is to contribute its entire profits to a non-profit entity.