The rich cultural environment of Priya Morioka’s background gave her a broad perspective on understanding cultural differences and set the stage for a successful career in international business.
Born in India to a globally diverse family, she was introduced to the importance of cross-cultural communication and its many dynamics from a young age. Growing up in an immigrant community, Morioka experienced first hand how language and cultural barriers can often significantly impact the outcome of a situation.
Pha She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Business and a masters in business from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. She was a William Davidson Fellow and on the Admissions Committee at the University of Michigan.
Priya Morioka’s success as a general manager and marketer, was honed by progressive responsibility in building businesses across consumer goods and food service in corporate roles at General Mills, Schwan’s Foods, Whirlpool and Caribou Coffee. She has lived and worked in the U.S., Canada and Asia, where her cross-cultural experience was invaluable.
Her work in the corporate world paved the way to following her dream of being an international businesswoman who helps people, and she has found that as a co-founder of Global Language Connections, a full-service language services company providing over 100 languages for interpretation, translation, cross cultural and business services. We work across sectors from healthcare, education, legal, government, retail, hospitality to social services. Our professional, trained linguists do more than just facilitate communication; they help connect different communities by eliminating language and cultural barriers.
In her current role, Priya Morioka continues to drive initiatives that align with her values of inclusivity and empowerment. As a co-founder of Global Language Connections, she has been instrumental in creating services that address the cultural and language gaps within the workforce. Her efforts help bridge these divides, providing platforms for immigrants to integrate successfully into their communities and contributing to economic growth.
As she connected the dots of the immigrant work ethic, growth rate, skill, and language gap to the workforce shortage with her knowledge of cultural communication, she saw the potential for accelerating immigrant and community success through culturally competent language and cross-cultural services.
One of Priya Morioka’s proudest achievements is being the first in her family to own a business. This milestone reflects not only her professional success but also her commitment to breaking barriers and creating opportunities within her community. Her leadership at Global Language Connections, where she serves as chief operating officer, epitomizes her vision of using culturally competent language and cross-cultural services to facilitate community success. This role allows her to connect the immigrant work ethic and skills with broader workforce needs, helping to accelerate both immigrant and community achievements.
When addressing language or cultural barriers in business and community, Morioka says she fosters a culture of creativity by creating space for collaboration across disciplines with input from interpreters, trainers, and corporate partners who are encouraged to share their ideas.
“We encourage team members to share what they see in the field and test solutions quickly, whether that’s a new training module, a technology integration, or a culturally tailored outreach method. By treating every challenge as an opportunity to co-design with our clients and communities, innovation becomes part of daily work,” Morioka explains.
Creativity is a thread that runs through almost everything Global Language Connections does. Morioka says it allows staff to see growth and mission not as competing priorities but as complementary ones. For example, when expanding services, the question of how can this growth also advance equity within the communities they serve is asked. This mindset, she explains, keeps the organization from chasing volume alone, while also looking for models that sustain financial health and at the same time, raising cultural understanding across the organizations GLC works with.
She shares an example of creative, out-of-the-box thinking by telling the story of when a hospital client struggled with patient outcomes due to lack of patient understanding of resources available to improve their health. “We worked with the client to provide bi-lingual cultural navigators, who were members of the communities they served. This built trust as well as facilitated access to the resources. The program received national recognition.”
How does GLC build a culture of trust where experimentation is safe? Interpreters and trainers know they can test new approaches—like role-play based training, exploring AI-assisted translation tools, or community language mentoring—and share results openly, Morioka explains. “We celebrate lessons learned, not just outcomes, which encourages steady innovation across the team.”
When asked what the most creative solution her team has implemented to address a workforce or communications challenge, Morioka acknowledges that recruitment was once a bottleneck—especially for languages of lesser diffusion. She smiles and says,, “But I can't share our solution, it's part of our secret sauce.”
In such a competitive and rapidly expanding industry, how does Morioka stay inspired to think creatively to maintain GLC’s unique impact? “I stay inspired by staying connected—to our interpreters, our clients, and the communities we serve. Every conversation surfaces new perspectives and unmet needs. Seeing firsthand how language access changes lives fuels my creativity and reminds me that innovation is not optional; it’s what sustains our unique value in the market.”
Balancing innovation with the realities of scaling services is not lost on Morioka. To achieve balance, GLC tests small before scaling, she explains. “ A pilot project allows us to evaluate both impact and cost, then refine before rolling it out widely. This way, innovation doesn’t overwhelm operations, but instead integrates smoothly into scalable processes that serve both corporate clients and underserved communities.”
Morio Morioka’s work extends beyond GLC. She is involved in various community-oriented activities and serves on multiple boards, most recently including the Governor Tim Walz Workforce and AEON. Her involvement reflects her passionate commitment to areas she believes are critical to creating equitable opportunities for all.
Priya Morioka continues to build and grow GLC, with a goal of leaving a legacy of innovation and empathy in business while bridging language and cultural divides to create pathways to greater understanding and collaboration. Her rich cultural background became the foundation for a successful global career that truly connects people and cultures to make a difference in the world.
