DANBURY, CT USA – 10 January 2014. Global translation charity, Translators without Borders (TWB) today announced the winners of its second annual Translators without Borders Access to Knowledge Awards. The awards, honoring six individuals or organizations who exemplify the mission to translate for humanity, are chosen by the non-profit’s boards of directors and advisors.
“We have had an extraordinary year of growth,” said Lori Thicke, president and founder of Translators without Borders. “In addition to translating more than 7 million words in the year, we also grew our training and translation center in Nairobi, greatly expanded our 100 x 100 Wikipedia medical article project, created the largest simplified English medical terminology database, and received funding to pilot our Words of Relief crisis relief network. None of this would be possible without the generous support of our donors, the dedication of our volunteers, and the commitment of our non-profit partners.”
The organization created the Access to Knowledge Awards in 2012 to honor volunteers, donors, and non-profit partners. The awards are given within each of the Translators without Borders’ six ‘pillars’: Organizational Excellence, Translator Community and Workspace, Training, Non-profit Partnerships, Financial Sustainability, Awareness and Communications.
The organization’s board of directors, program director and board of advisors nominate recipients and then vote on the candidates. In addition to six winners, a number of honorable mentions were also awarded.
The Translators without Borders’ Access to Knowledge recipients will receive a Translators without Borders T-Shirt, a lapel pen and a certificate of gratitude.
“I wish we could recognize by name every single person who contributed to Translators without Borders in 2013—there are so very many people who make it work,” said Rebecca Petras, program director. “And the real winners are the people who can better understand vital information because of the hard work of ALL our volunteers and support from ALL our donors. Thank you very much to everyone!”
The 2013 Winners of the Access to Knowledge Award
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.
Awarded to Josefina Zubillaga
Honorable Mentions
- Kalinka Hristova
- Anne-Marie Colliander-Lind
The Right to Knowledge Award Awarded to an individual (or company contributor) who has made a difference through his or her ongoing commitment to translation of humanitarian information.
Awarded to Ashutosh Mitra and Eric Ragu
Honorable Mentions:
- Jacek Sierakowski
- Vito Smolej
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.
Awarded to Marek Gawrysiak and Lucjan Szreter
Honorable Mention:
- Lesley-Anne Long
- Marek Pawelec
The Humanitarian Communicator Award Awarded to a non-profit who understands the critical link between language/translation and access to critical knowledge.
Awarded to Wiki Project Med Foundation
Honorable mentions:
- CDAC-Network
- Fairstart
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.
Awarded to Rubric
Honorable Mentions
- Moravia
- Kilgray
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.
Awarded to Gary Lefman
Honorable Mentions:
- Scott Abel
- Anna Harju
About Translators without Borders
Translators without Borders, a US-based 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, envisions a world where knowledge knows no barriers. The mission of Translators without Borders (initially founded in France in 1993 as Traducteurs sans Frontières) is to provide people access to vital knowledge in their language by connecting non-profit organizations with our community of translators, building local language capacity and raising awareness about language barriers. Translators without Borders volunteers translate millions of words each year, focusing on three types of humanitarian translations: crisis translations needed urgently to inform people in crisis, translations that support an NGO’s operations, and translations that directly support people in need. The organization is building language capacity in East Africa through its first translator training center in Nairobi, Kenya, where trainees focus on healthcare content in Kiswahili and acquire the skills for a career in translation, and is piloting its Words of Relief crisis relief network.
