Daisy Garcia Montoya 
Education Reporter

Kansas City residents who speak languages other than English now have expanded support navigating City services, thanks to the growing work of the Office of Language Access (OLA). 

OLA was officially launched in 2024 after a campaign led by KC Tenants and Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation (AIRRKC) which advocated bringing language accessibility to City Hall. 

The effort that began in 2023 finally saw their advocacy come into fruition in Fall 2024 when the office hired their leader, Leidy Quitián Varón. 

Quitián Varón, who has worked with the City of Kansas City for 10 years and has a legal background in human advocacy, said that in January 2025 she began to hire the employees that would make up her team, including language service specialists. 

With the team formed, the office hopes to address the gaps in language accessibility by providing translation services for key announcements and notifications, interpretation services for events hosted by the City, and learning to use technology to provide better languages services across all city departments. 

Quitián Varón said that collaborating with all other city departments and educating them about these services, and how OLA can assist, is key in order for the City to successfully offer their services and eliminate accessibility gaps. 

“We are coordinating, with all city departments and with HR to make sure that if they have a new employee orientation, a person who doesn’t speak English, is applying, or for interviews, or for anything, they know how to contact us,” Quitián Varón. 

As this office continues to address the existing gaps, education takes the forefront as they continue to create community events to inform the general public of OLA and services it provides. 

Most recently, OLA hosted a Language Access Festival at Northeast High School in October to bring the community together to further emphasize the importance of inclusivity through language accessibility and cultures. 

The festival featured various organizations providing information to participants, such as Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center, Della Lamb Community Services, immigration attorney Jessica Piedra, among others. Additionally, the festival included live musical performances, face painting for children, snacks and a meal for attendees. 

The office hopes to host future workshops and events to further engage the community and bring awareness to their resources. 

“And again, our mission is to help everyone. We’re not talking about only those who don’t speak English, we’re talking about also native speakers that benefit from plain language, from ADA, from everything else,” Quitián Varón said. 

As part of this new accessibility initiative, residents who are non-English speakers can now more easily provide suggestions to the City through a multilingual interactive chat tool. 

For more information about OLA or how to request its services when interacting with City departments, visit: https://www.kcmo.gov/programs-initiatives/language