Irina is President and Founder of Adamant Global Alliance, a consulting firm that specializes in cross-cultural training and language interpretation. She is an experienced consultant in cross-cultural management and intercultural communication, a certified Lewis Communications trainer and CultureActive Licensed Partner. Her training services - executive coaching to individuals and companies - focus on cross-cultural integration, diverse teams and effective leadership, expatriate adjustment, and intercultural communication. She helps multinational companies and business leaders look beyond their cultural blind-spots and create a communication framework to improve efficiency using CultureActive. For the last 20+ years she has been supporting NASA’s International Space Station Program as a professional simultaneous interpreter, liaison, and cultural advisor. She acted as NASA Russian Operations Manager and Head of Branch offices for a US-based company in Russia. Her specialist areas are Russia, countries of the former Soviet Union, and USA, but she can deliver culture-specific training on most major cultures. Third-generation linguist A native Russian, Irina Yashkova acts as a cultural bridge and brings international experience and perspective through her life and work in Russia and United States. Being a third-generation linguist, she has always been interested in languages, communication, and other cultures. She was born in the Ural mountains, a natural divide between Europe and Asia; she grew up in Western Siberia and calls Houston, Texas, her home. She holds a BA in English and French Languages and Literature from Tyumen State University, Russia; an MA in Conference Interpretation (English and Russian) from Monterey Institute of International Studies, California; and an Executive MBA from Antwerp University, Belgium. Irina continues to coach, study, travel, research, consult, train and develop both her own and others’ cross-cultural acumen.