LEAP Spotlight: Capt Lesly Toussaint

“I’ve been in the Language Enabled Airman Program (LEAP) for six years now and I speak Haitian Creole, French, and English. Professionally, AFCLC helped me develop insight and critical thinking within my primary AFSC. I’m able to fuse past experience, leverage understanding, expertise, and seamlessly incorporate this potent mix into my decision-making process. It’s lethal! Personally, LEAP took me beyond knowing and being aware of the cultural diversities. The program helped me redefine perspectives as it relates to culture. I remember on my immersion to Senegal for the African Partnership Flight (APF) I had to translate ‘live’ conversations between U.S. Generals and African Air Chiefs and it was not an easy task. Being continuously called upon to translate, elucidate, and in some cases, interpret certain positions helped reinforce my understanding of nuances, cultural idiosyncrasies, and further develop my accepting of other’s cultural perspectives.
The eMentor classes and the immersions allowed me to learn more about my own culture, people, and perspectives. I am now able to confidently assess my own cultural assumptions, prejudices, values and beliefs, and veer away from ethnocentric attitudes and exercise non-judgmental viewpoints. I have learned so much and this is all thanks to LEAP”.


-LEAP Scholar Capt Lesly Toussaint-