We welcome our new team member Olly Skeet Browning! Olly has been the Language Access Development VISTA since August, 2025. He is serving a one-year term through the Serve Philadelphia VISTA Corps program. Olly will spend his term designing and implementing the “Language Access Toolbox”, a tool for streamlining the retrieval of language access resources.
We asked Olly some questions to get to know him better:
What brought you to working with the City?
I arrived at the Office of Immigrant Affairs through the Philadelphia Serve VISTA program. I moved to Philadelphia in the summer of 2024 to be nearer to my family, and spent time exploring the job market and getting to know the city. I found out about the VISTA program through a friend, and applied for the role of Language Access Development for its combination of community services and technology.
What does “Language Access” mean to you?
Language access means providing every resident with the same offerings and quality of city services, regardless of their preferred language. Effective language access proactively and thoughtfully incorporates language services into city policy so they become routine and comfortable. Language access means constantly assessing and addressing the language needs of the community of Philadelphia not only to uphold the right of language services for all, but as a way to celebrate and recognize the benefits of our identity as a multi-lingual and multi-cultural city.
What do you do outside of this work?
Outside of my work in the Office of Immigrant Affairs I enjoy exploring the city’s food and music scene, experimenting with new cooking recipes, and tinkering with all sorts of broken technology.
Your name means a lot to you: can you tell a little about why?
In all honesty, there is no deep personal story behind how I got my first name. That being said, my full name contains some peculiarities. My parents were adamant about the spelling of my first name being “Olly” rather than the more popular “Ollie”. They also chose to give me both of their last names without a hyphen (Skeet Browning). While this has resulted in many mix-ups with paperwork, I am grateful that both family names hold equal weight.
What is your experience of Philly so far?
My time in Philly has been great so far. There are so many qualities of this city that I am growing to love. Experiencing sports fandom as a cornerstone and (unifying) force for Philadelphians is a lot of fun. Another side of Philly that has been exciting to explore is the food scene. I grew up in a rural town without many options, so having many amazing restaurants nearby is a dream. Finally, and probably most controversially, one of my favorite parts of living here is the relatively reliable public transportation system. Getting to use public transit to navigate the city has been a lovely change of pace from the constant driving I am used to.
