Translators without Borders honors volunteers, donors and nonprofit partners with Access to Knowledge Awards

DANBURY, CT USA – 01 March 2016 – Translators without Borders has announced the winners of its third Translators without Borders Access to Knowledge Awards. The awards recognize individuals or organizations that have contributed outstanding work that exemplifies the organization’s mission to translate for humanity.

The Access to Knowledge Awards were created 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, Non-profit Partnerships, Financial Sustainability, Awareness and Communications. The Translators without Borders Board of Directors, staff and advisors nominate recipients and then vote on the candidates. In addition to six winners, a number of honorable mentions were 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 WINNERS OF THE ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE AWARDS. 

THE EXCELLENCE AWARDAwarded to an individual who has gone above and beyond the call-of-duty in helping Translators without Borders meet its mission.

Awarded to Sue Fortescue

Honorable Mentions

• Marek Gawrysiak – TextPartner
• Ewa Gawrysiak – TextPartner

 

THE RIGHT TO KNOWLEDGE AWARDAwarded to an individual (or company contributor), who has made a difference through his or her ongoing commitment to the translation of humanitarian information.

Awarded to the European Refugees Rapid Response Team

Honorable Mentions:

• Eric Ragu
• The Nepali Rapid Response Team

 

THE EMPOWERMENT AWARDAwarded to an individual whose work has allowed us to significantly move the barometer in increasing language capacity within a critical region of the world.

Awarded to Nancy Matis

Honorable Mention:

• Simon Andriesen

 

THE HUMANITARIAN COMMUNICATOR AWARDAwarded to a non-profit who understands the critical link between language/translation and access to critical knowledge.

Awarded to Jus MacKinnon and Ji Lucas – Qatar Computing Research Institute

Honorable Mention:

• Humanity Road

 

THE DONOR AWARDAwarded to the individual or company or foundation/trust that has made a significant financial contribution to aid TWB in meeting its mission.

Awarded to Renato Beninatto, Moravia

Honorable Mention:

• Will Lewis, Microsoft

 

THE COMMUNICATOR OF THE YEARAwarded 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.

Awarded to Marleen Laschet

Honorable Mention:

• Bjarne Poulsen

 

About Translators without Borders

Translators without Borders envisions a world where knowledge knows no language barriers. The US-based non-profit provides people access to vital knowledge in their language by connecting non-profit organizations with a professional community of volunteer translators, building local language translation capacity, and raising awareness of language barriers. Originally founded in 1994 in France as Traducteurs sans Frontières (now its sister organization), Translators without Borders translates more than eight million words per year. In 2012, the organization established a Healthcare Translators’ Training Center in Nairobi, Kenya.

Translators without Borders has a constant need for volunteers to sustain the demand for translated content. Please visit our volunteer or donate pages to find out more about how you can contribute.

Please direct all media enquiries to Amy Rose Mc Govern, Director of External Affairs [email protected]