At MCI, we often tell our clients that when people come together… magic happens. We saw this magic happen in our McLean office when Sebastien Tondeur, CEO of MCI was introduced to Ashley Dowling, Manager, AM&C Client Operations. Learning that Ashley is Deaf, Seb asked about her job and skills, and then suggested she support the MCI talents putting on the World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf – in Paris, France!
A few months later, Ashley jetted off to Paris for two weeks to join the France MCI PCO (professional congress organizer) team and their seeing-eye dog working this wonderful event.
Ashley’s gracious hosts included Céline Soulier, the epitome of grace under fire; her resourceful right-hand woman, Miléna Morel; the man everybody knows, Jawad Bargui; and the steady Charles-Edgar Tallut. They gave Ashley all the resources to accomplish supporting the General Assembly and World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf.
The first week, Ashley met with representatives from the local Organizing Committee, Federation Nationale des Sourds de France (FNSF), the Board of Directors and Committees of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) during pre-event meetings and preparations held in the MCI Paris offices. Ashley also spent time with local French Deaf volunteers organizing the preparation of badges. The second week, Ashley and the team then moved to the Palais des Congrès, two blocks away from Ashley’s Airbnb for the set-up and opening of the event. Ashley provided strong staff support for the events, especially at the welcome desk and working with WFD office staff, FNSF staff, and volunteers.
During the two weeks, Ashley met and assisted some of the 2,562 registrants representing 137 countries, experienced the hottest day ever on record in Paris (108.6 degrees Fahrenheit!), walked 162,914 steps (77.14 miles), and enjoyed the company of new and old friends. Communications took place using ASL, LSF, International Sign Language, written English, and lastly but not the least, written French (thank to Google Translate and WhatsApp!).
Her sign language skills were highly regarded as an asset for organizers and attendees alike. Both the MCI France team and the client were delighted to express deep appreciation for Ashley’s work and personality.
As our MCI talents at the World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf say, “When people sign together and work towards sign language rights for all… magic happens!”
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