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In the late 1990s, Lanza's president and founder, David Slade, was working for the National Head Start Association, helping Hispanic families and their children learn about and gain access to social services. One day, a colleague asked if David could help with a problem at work. As a human resource director she was directly responsible for a largely Hispanic staff that she could not effectively communicate with, let alone supervise, and problems resulting from language and cultural barriers were frequent and frustrating. In response, David developed Lanza's first customized Hispanic human resources training.
Lanza's first corporate projects involved providing services to companies with previously undefined issues that were outside the scope of conventional consulting and training companies. In need of customized classes and contextual, industry-specific Spanish language instruction, these early clients were voicing a need that, we soon discovered, was prevalent and largely unaddressed.
Officially founded in 1999, Lanza Language, Inc. helped its first client, a hotel management company, by translating their employee handbook into Spanish. Soon after that, Lanza provided a customized on-site English language class to the Hispanic employees at an assisted living facility. After consulting with the HR director in English, as well as directly in Spanish with the staff, Lanza developed the first set of complete, uniquely tailored services that were conveniently delivered on-site. Armed with this model, Lanza entered negotiations with Whole Foods, the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods. Five years later, Lanza is still working with Whole Foods, supporting their mission of empowering employees to make appropriate decisions, and creating a respectful workplace where people are treated fairly and are highly motivated to succeed.
Lanza's carefully developed, uniquely tailored services are still delivered on-site, and are customized for each industry and then again for each customer. By providing customized trainings in Spanish as well as on-site language development, Lanza creates culturally integrated workforces that are efficient and competitive, comfortable and safe.
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