Language Access Opens a World of New Opportunities

As one of the most diverse cities in America, Sacramento is home to a wide range of cultures and languages. It’s crucial for people who have limited English proficiency within these communities to process information accurately as they navigate complex health care, education or social service systems, and William Glasser, CEO of Language World Services, has focused his career on bridging that gap. 

A lot of us remember that locally famous Time magazine article from 2002 that named Sacramento as the most diverse city in the U.S. Taking advantage of this rich linguistic and cultural diversity should be a key element of any local business’s overall strategy to leverage new sales and provide follow-up support to those sales. Understanding and leveraging this diversity also plays a key role in employee recruiting and retention.

According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau, almost 33 percent of Sacramento County households speak a language other than English at home. Of the individuals in those households, 13 percent do not speak English very well. Looking more broadly to statewide demographics, nearly 8 million Californians (19 percent) report speaking English “less than very well.”