Appointment of Lou McLaughlin as Eaquals Executive Director

The Eaquals Board is pleased to announce that Dr Lou McLaughlin joined Eaquals as Executive Director on 3 January 2017.

Lou has been involved in international language education for almost twenty years amassing experience in teacher training and ELT management in Ireland, the UK and a number of other countries including Spain where she was Director and DOS at IH Sabadell for almost seven years. After returning to Ireland in 2013, she continued to have an active role with International House, designing and tutoring on the online IH London YLCM, and working as an IHWO (International House World Organisation) inspector. During this time Lou also worked as an ELT Management Consultant for language schools in Ireland and abroad, assisting and guiding them in areas of academic and general ELT management. Lou is a frequent plenary speaker at international conferences.

Lou serves on the IATEFL Board of Trustees as the Associates Representative for IATEFL, the International Association for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language, working closely with teaching associations worldwide. Lou is also the founder and current president of ELT Ireland, which is the association for English language teachers in Ireland, working towards growing and strengthening the ELT network.

Lou holds a BA in English Language & Literature, Trinity TESOL Cert., DELTA, MA in ELT and a PhD in Applied Linguistics. She also completed the IH Certificate in Online Learning, TESOL Cert in ELT Leadership & Management as well as the more recent TESOL Leadership Development Certificate Programme. Lou

As the Executive Director of Eaquals, Lou has overall responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the Association as well as its growth and development.

In spite of the challenging economic environment, interest in Eaquals continues to grow both within Europe and beyond. We believe that Lou’s experience and expertise will lead Eaquals to a successful and secure future and consolidate our Association’s position at the heart of the drive for quality in language education.

Justin Quinn
CHAIR

BACKGROUND

Eaquals (Evaluation and Accreditation of Quality in Language Services)–was founded in 1991. It is the leading international provider of quality monitoring services to the language education sector, both in Europe and beyond.

It is an international non-profit membership association of language education providers whose main aim is to promote multilingualism and excellence in teaching institutions. Eaquals runs a rigorous inspection scheme for its members and holds regular forums to share best practice.

Eaquals has 140 accredited members and 30 associate members in 30 countries. Many member organisations teach English as a foreign language (ELT) but members teach more than 28 languages including all major European languages. Eaquals membership is steadily growing and there are now members in the Middle East, North and South Africa, Russia and south-east Asia.

For further details contact Lou McLaughlin – director@eaquals.org