Kathleen Kervin Diamond Endowed Scholarship

Kathleen Diamond is a consultant, entrepreneur, and business leader in the language services industry. In 1979, she founded Language Learning Enterprises, Inc. (LLE®), a full-service language company based in Washington, D.C. She is recognized as an early pioneer in Telephone Interpreting, launching LLE-LINK in the early 1990s. Over the next 20 years, under her leadership, the company grew into a dynamic, multimillion dollar corporation, serving a wide range of clients, in both the private and public sectors, across the United States, and worldwide. In 2009, Ms. Diamond negotiated the sale of LLE to CyraCom International, a language service company in Tucson, AZ.

Today, Ms. Diamond continues her work advocating for the importance and relevance of language services. She served from 2009 to 2015 as a Founding Commissioner of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI); serves currently as Director on the Board of Association of Language Companies (ALC); and assumes the Chair position of ASTM Technical Committee F43, Language Services and Products, in 2018. Additionally, she has launched a consultancy business that focuses on helping companies grow by increasing value, maximizing resources, diversifying revenue streams, and building a strong succession plan. Ms. Diamond earned her M.A. and B.A. from the University of Florida, and is an alumna of IES Abroad, Nantes, France. She is fluent in both Spanish and French.

Ms. Diamond created the Kathleen Kervin Diamond Endowed Scholarship because she felt privileged to have had a year abroad, studying and learning language and culture. She would not have had such a fulfilling career as a founder, and owner, of a language services company without the impetus of that single year in Nantes. She learned French, but also learned how to think critically and be self-reliant. She learned that she was capable of doing much more than she had imagined. Ms. Diamond credits her year abroad with the fundamentals of learning alternative ways of thinking and says, “Through language we express ourselves. We become more fluent in our expression as we master a second and third language.”

Ms. Diamond feels strongly that students today, no matter their financial circumstances, should have access to study abroad. This scholarship provides need-based financial assistance to student(s) participating in one (or more) of IES Abroad’s language intensive study abroad programs, regardless of language and country of choice.

To be eligible for this scholarship, you must: 

• Enroll in a semester or full year IES Abroad language-intensive program. 
• Have an expected family contribution (EFC) of $30,000 or less. 
• Have a minimum GPA of 3.3 (out of 4.0).