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The U.S. Department of State recently announced the selection of Maryanna Phillips Koehring, native of Franklin, for a one-week English Language Specialist project focusing on business English skills at ITMO University in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Koehring is part of a select group, as her project is one of 150 that the English Language Specialist Program supports each year.

Koehring has a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Holyoke College, and a Master of Arts in teaching English as a foreign language from World Learning’s School for International Training. After 20 years of teaching and training, she launched her own business, English for the Job, LLC.

The English Language Specialist Program is the premier opportunity for leaders in the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages to enact meaningful and sustainable changes in the way that English is taught abroad. Through projects developed by U.S. embassies in more than 80 countries, English language specialists work directly with local teacher trainers, educational leaders and ministry of education officials to exchange knowledge, build capacity and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions, and communities in the United States and overseas.

English language specialists are counted among the more than 50,000 individuals participating in U.S. Department of State exchange programs each year. The Specialist Program is administered by the Center for Intercultural Education and Development at Georgetown University.

For more information about the English Language Specialist Program or the U.S. Department of State, visit elprograms.org/specialist, call 202-632-6452 or email ECA-Press@state.gov.