Alla Savelieva is from East Siberia, Russia. She completed her bachelor’s in philology and second language acquisition at Buryat State University and received her master’s in diplomacy and international affairs at Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. Pursuing academic and professional goals in international education, international affairs and non-profits, Alla spent a decade living in the South Caucasus. She is a passionate, CELTA-certified language educator, who has taught English to Russian and Azerbaijani students, and Russian to American students. Now as a graduate student of Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies (REEES), Alla also works as an instructor of Russian. Her research interests include project-based language learning, diversity and inclusion in language teaching, teacher identity, and REEES film and culture. Alla is an alumna of the Fulbright FLTA and Atlas Corps Leadership Institute programs. In the future, Alla aspires to produce research on U.S. collegial Russian language textbooks with a focus on diversity and inclusion.