Soudabeh came to Canada from Iran, where she was a nurse before changing careers to become an English teacher.

In November 2014, just a few weeks after her arrival in Winnipeg, Sou applied for a volunteer position as an English Conversation Class Facilitator at the Immigrant Centre.

“I starting shadowing a class in December and in January, I was teaching my own conversation class.”

After nearly one year of volunteering Sou was hired by the Immigrant Centre; however, she has continued to volunteer, teaching English conversation classes and as a translator.

Sou has also volunteered at Welcome Place, Red River College as an English Tutor, EAL Classroom Assistant in the Winnipeg School Division and fundraising chair for Teaching EAL to Adults in Manitoba (TEAM).

Even with a full-time job and her volunteer commitments, Sou also works as an Interpreter for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, and she teaches English at Success Skills Centre to internationally trained nurses, who are preparing to write the Canadian English Language Benchmark Assessment for Nurses (CELBAN) exam.