In February, TWB announced the winners of the 3rd Access to Knowledge Awards. The awards recognize individuals or organizations that contributed outstanding work that exemplifies the our mission to translate for humanity.
The Access to Knowledge Awards began in 2012 to honor volunteers, donors, and non-profit partners. The awards are given within each of the organization’s six pillars: Organizational Excellence, Translator Community and Workspace, Training, Nonprofit Partnerships, Financial Sustainability, Awareness and Communications. The Translators without Borders Board of Directors, staff, and advisers nominate candidates and vote for 6 winners. In addition, a number of honorable mentions are also awarded.
“Without the assistance this past year from all our dedicated supporters, Translators without Borders would not have succeeded in helping as many people and translating as many words as we did”, said Aimee Ansari, Executive Director of Translators without Borders. “We reached the major milestone of 30 million words translated earlier this year. In 2015, we activated the Words of Relief crisis relief network to respond yet again to an urgent crisis (the European refugee crisis), and we continue to build the capacity and to train translators in our field office in Kenya. These are just examples of the work that is being done and we hope to continue to build on our successes. That is only possible with the generous support of our donors, the dedication of our volunteers, and the commitment of our non-profit partners.”
The 2016 Access to Knowledge Award Winners
The Excellence Award
Awarded to an individual who has gone above and beyond the call-of-duty in helping Translators without Borders meet its mission.
Winner: Sue Fortescue
Honorable Mention: Marek Gawrysiak – TextPartner and Ewa Gawrysiak – TextPartner
The Right to Knowledge Award
Awarded to an individual (or company contributor), who has made a difference through his or her ongoing commitment to the translation of humanitarian information.
Winner: The European Refugees Rapid Response Team
Honorable Mention: Eric Ragu and the Nepali Rapid Response Team
The Empowerment Award
Awarded to an individual whose work has allowed us to significantly move the barometer in increasing language capacity within a critical region of the world.
Winner: Nancy Matis
Honorable Mention: Simon Andriesen
The Humanitarian Communicator Award
Awarded to a non-profit who understands the critical link between language/translation and access to critical knowledge.
Winner: Jus MacKinnon and Ji Lucas – Qatar Computing Research Institute
Honorable mention: Humanity Road
The Donor Award
Awarded to the individual or company or foundation/trust that has made a significant financial contribution to aid TWB in meeting its mission.
Winner: Renato Beninatto, Moravia
Honorable Mention: Will Lewis, Microsoft
The Communicator of the Year
Awarded to the person who has creatively used marketing and public relations to build awareness of the organization and the need to provide content in the right language.
Winner: Marleen Laschet
Honorable Mention: Bjarne Poulsen