irie givens, Founder & Program Director
Miles “Irie Givens” Iton is an interdisciplinary educator and multimedia artist from Miami, Florida. After receiving his MA in Creative Industries Design from Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University thanks to the Fulbright program, he parlayed his thesis project into the hip-hop EFL teaching startup Lo-Fi Language Learning. Today he is a TEFL training instructor and career coach for students of Lo-Fi’s Arts ‘n EFL program, currently hosted at New College of Florida. As Irie, his international recordings and ethereal concept albums can be found on most streaming platforms. Outside of curricula and multimedia production, he provides digital marketing services for likeminded organizations, expanding Lo-Fi’s operations into a digital education firm.
Naimul Chowdhury, EFL Teaching assistant
Naimul Chowdhury is an educator and language acquisition enthusiast who has taken the lead on keeping Lo-Fi Language Learning trainees caught up on their Bridge-TEFL coursework. As an International Studies graduate student of Johns Hopkins University and alumni ambassador for the Critical Language Scholarship program, Naimul sees the enormous potential for Lo-Fi Language Learning trainees to become a source of cultural exchange and competency for global youth. By learning about the diversity of peoples and dialects in the United States, children will be better equipped for engagement with people from all walks of life. Naimul will apply his Mandarin language proficiency to tailor their arts education lessons for Taiwanese youth.
Eileen Calub, EFL teaching assistant
Eileen Calub is a TEFL-certified English teacher and a lifelong language lover eager to assist Lo-Fi Language Learning trainees in completing Bridge-TEFL coursework. As a recipient of four Department of State / Defense scholarships for study abroad - the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (Mandarin Chinese), the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (German), the Critical Language Scholarship (Turkish), and the David L. Boren Scholarship (Turkish) - Eileen strongly believes in the mission of Lo-Fi Language Learning to empower artists and creatives with intercultural competence and teaching skills necessary to lead an EFL class with confidence. During the pilot program, Eileen will assist in preparing trainees to present teaching materials that highlight the diversity of American society and foster an inclusive classroom environment.
Donovan Brown, Communications Manager & Microcollege cofounder
Donovan Brown has dedicated his career to the service of others. He began as an English Volunteer in the United States Peace Corps serving in Sierra Leone, West Africa from 2017-2019. After returning from Sierra Leone, Donovan served as a community organizer in Jacksonville, Florida with I.C.A.R.E. (Interfaith Coalition for Action Reconciliation and Empowerment), where he led a mental health campaign that resulted in the police department committing to train infield officers in the nationally recognized Crisis Intervention Team program. Initially heading Lo-Fi’s digital & back-end operations as a hired hand from Duval Digital Marketing, Donovan joined Lo-Fi Language because he believes in its mission to empower educators and creatives to pursue their passion while using their skills to provide a stable means of income for themselves.
MA-Nogoy “maNA” FAYE, DIGITAL MEDIA ASSISTANT
Ma-Nogoy “Mana” Faye is a student at Baruch College who has taken the position of Digital Media Assistant at Lo-Fi Language Learning. She is currently a junior majoring in Economics and minoring in French, but has always had a passion for Education and Marketing. Mana developed an interest in helping others early on following her experience living in Ivory Coast for six years. At Lo-Fi Language, Mana helps out in any way she can in the graphic design, social media management, and video production sector. She joined Lo-Fi Language because of its unique take on English language learning and the potential for it to be an amazing new way to connect so many different types of people globally.