Greyt Big Talk w/ Danielle Drake

Danielle Drake is a native of Buffalo, NY and graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a BA in Communication and a certificate in Linguistics. She spent almost a decade in the fields of marketing, sales and corporate training in financial service companies and both commercial and residential real estate before relocating to Cleveland OH in late 2008. Soon after she began volunteering as an ESL teacher for adult refugees and was offered a job at the agency a few months later. She then obtained an adult ed. teaching permit and an advanced TESOL certificate from Cambridge University while continuing to teach ESL full time and coordinate the volunteer and intern program at a refugee resettlement agency.

In January 2013 she moved to Us Together Inc. and was the Resettlement & Housing Specialist before being promoted to Community Relations Manager. She oversees pre-arrival planning & housing for all new refugee families, tutoring and mentorship programs, community outreach and education. She is also the Public Affairs Chairperson for the Refugee Services Collaborative of Cleveland and serves on the housing committee and the refugee advisory council.