AILA President’s Vision 2024

Dear colleagues and members of the AILA family,

At the end of the 2024 AILA World Congress in Kuala Lumpur, which celebrated AILA’s
60th anniversary and Diamond Jubilee, Azirah Hashim, the first President from Asia
handed the baton of the AILA presidency over to me, the first President from Latin
America. Though there had been other women presidents before us (Susan Gass from
2002 to 2008 and Claire Kramsch from 2014 to 2017), Azirah and I are the first ones from
the Global South and together with our now almost 40 national affiliates spread in all
continents, this is reason to celebrate with the maturity of a unique and truly global
organization like AILA.

2024 is an emblematic year for many reasons, one of which is the welcoming of Rwanda,
our African affiliate into the AILA family. One of my favorite African proverbs states that
‘If you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together’, and because I
want AILA to go very far I want to thank those who walked before me as well as those
who are walking with me starting with Azirah Hashim for her invaluable contributions
during her term as President as well as all AILA officers that walked before me. I am also
indebted to Laura Gurzynski-Weiss, Marlies Whitehouse, Glenda El Gamal, Low Ee Ling,
Limin Jin, Tarja Nikula, Susanna Nocchi, Markus Bieswanger, María Luisa Carrió-Pastor,
Avizia Long, Christina Gitsaki and Zahadin Omar, who served AILA in different roles
during my term as Vice-President. I am also very excited to welcome those who will walk
with me during my term as President: Vice-President Markus Bieswanger, Secretary
General Glenda El Gamal, Treasurer Rasmus Steinkrauss, Past President Azirah Hashim;
Research Networks Coordinator Grégory Miras, Publications Coordinators Susanna
Nocchi and Chris Jenks, and Members-at-large Tarja Nikula, María Luisa Carrió-Pastor,
Kendall King and Ee-Ling Low; as well as AILA Congress Coordinator Christina Gitsaki and
Webmaster Andre Duarte.

In Brazil we have a special category for people who are 60+, we call them the ‘the best
age’ and they get priority treatment in all public spaces. As AILA reaches its maturity and
‘best age’, I am happy to look back and see that most of the priorities listed by past
presidents have been addressed. We have strengthened our ties with UNESCO and
raised awareness of social issues that permeate the work of applied linguists such as
those listed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and that include but are
not limited to: peace building, the elimination of poverty and inequality, and the delivery
of quality education. In so doing we are mindful of the importance of language and the
work of applied linguists to create a more socially just, inclusive, equitable and diverse
world with the possibility of collaboration towards a peaceful coexistence. While we
celebrate these achievements, we look around and into the future and see a world still
plagued by different crises stressing the need to continue with these efforts if we are to
reach those goals creating societal impact through our work.

The Brazilian patron of Education, Paulo Freire, used to say that the reading of ‘the
world’ precedes the reading of the word. He also saw education as liberation and a way
to change the world, not as a transference of knowledge but rather as the creation of
opportunities for the creation of knowledge. Considering the role of languages in
education and in the creation and expression of realities and knowledges (yes, in the
plural!), I want to bear these ideals with me during my term as AILA President.
Still looking back, I can see we have also strengthened ties with our national affiliates
and regional networks, but there is still room to leverage these networks by creating
and expanding opportunities for applied linguists to work and network together. The
shift of presidency to Asia and now to Latin America coupled with the presence of
national affiliates in all continents is evidence of AILA’s capacity to adapt, expand and
include new voices and perspectives and this gives me hope for the future.

As I look ahead, I am humbled to accept the baton of President knowing that ‘I am what
I am because of who we all are’ (Ubuntu), or as the Brazilian proverb says ‘nenhum de
nós é tão bom quanto todos nós juntos’ – ‘none of us are as good as all of us together’
and it is in this spirit that I count on your support and look forward to working with all
of you in this journey.

Kuala Lumpur, Aug. 16th, 2024

Obrigada, Thank you!

Kyria Finardi