Guest Post: Launching CLEAR Global: Translators without Borders Is 10 and Ready for More!

by Jennifer Cajina-Grigsby

Translators without Borders begun when a small group of people translated information for aid organizations helping people hit by the Haiti earthquake 10 years ago. Driven to close the language gaps hindering critical humanitarian and international development efforts worldwide, the rapidly growing Translators without Borders team has achieved a lot since our founding. For example, we:

• Translated information following the earthquake in Haiti, tsunamis in Indonesia, cyclones in Mozambique, and hurricanes in the USA.
• Translated 1,900 Wikimedia medical articles in 83 languages, which helped over 40 million people access free and accurate health information.
• Created multilingual chatbots to give people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria accurate and reliable COVID-19 and Ebola information (read about Translators without Borders’ COVID-19 global response and glossary).
• Started creating language maps in over 60 languages for organizations to better prepare for multilingual communication.

This would have been impossible without the support of donors, partners, and our community of linguists, translators, and local experts: over 60,000 volunteers contributing time and skills for a world without language barriers. Some have been with us for almost 10 years. Their experience working with Translators without Borders allows them to polish their translation skills, learn about the language technology we’re building, and get a solid foundation for their careers in translation.

Translators Without Borders recognizes the work of its volunteers by giving recommendations, references, and milestone certificates when the volunteers reach a certain word threshold. We foster a relationship with our community based on reciprocity, fairness, and shared values. Our community members work when they can, producing content for people who speak marginalized languages.

Thanks to this community, our impact has increased over the past years. Since our foundation, we have significantly grown as an organization, but much is yet to be done. Thus, with Translators without Borders at our core, we have evolved our brand to CLEAR Global, which includes CLEAR Insights and CLEAR Tech: entities working together for a more just society. Our goal is to make sure that the four billion people who speak a marginalized language are listened to, and can get the information they need, want, and understand. That’s what CLEAR is all about: Community, Language, Engagement, Accountability, and Reach.

ClearGlobal website

To go with this brand evolution, we’re running a campaign to lead us into the next 10 years. We want to raise funds for building diverse, scalable language technologies based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Our teams and partners will use them to better communicate with local communities. We’ll implement solutions to help people who speak marginalized languages to ask for, receive, and share vital information.

As a nonprofit, we’re always seeking support. If our cause and growth resonates with you, you can join our community right now. If you want to do more to support our growth, you can also help us spread the word about our “10 years on. Ready for more” campaign or even make a donation. Every contribution counts and will contribute to improving other people’s lives.

About the author:

Jennifer Cajina-Grigsby, before joining Translators without Borders, worked as a freelance translator for US nonprofits. Jennifer has always been passionate about language diversity and how to help bridge the global language divide. Her desire to do more led her to Translators without Borders, a nonprofit helping people get vital information, and be heard, whatever language they speak.