Christian Preston

Christian coordinates the day program at the Open Door Saint Paul. The learning center provides free ESL classes to immigrants and citizens looking to improve their English in a diverse and encouraging environment. He spends his day managing, recruiting and supporting students and volunteer tutors. Before his current position Christian gained experience as the coordinator at Open Door Northeast and prior to that, he worked at Open Door Lake Street as a Coordination and Administration Intern, and volunteer GED tutor. Before moving to the United States in 2014 Christian taught ELL (English Language Learner) classes in Wuhan, China, and has worked in schools as staff or volunteer in both England and Norway since 2005. Holding Dual Citizenship for England and Norway Christian has a multi-cultural background, and has lived, studied or worked in France, Sweden, Papua New Guinea, Australia, China and the US. He was awarded the highest Pass grade for his Bachelors degree in International Communication from Linneaus University in Kalmar, Sweden. Christian is an avid cyclist and plans to cycle the 8 miles to Open Door – Northeast through much of the winter. He is considering cross-country skiing the other days. Music, basketball, reading, travelling, strategy board games and saunas are amongst Christian’s other passions, along with a strong desire to take part in learning and positive intercultural interactions. Literacy Minnesota’s values and mission immediately resonated with Christian’s belief in education, literacy and critical thinking as fundamental to successful cooperation and development on personal, local and international stages. He is a member of Literacy Minnesota’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.