Stay Tuned
Stay connected to RWS with the Globally Speaking LinkedIn newsletter.
146: How do you unlock mutual understanding in crisis situations around the world?
Digital services (and digital access to information) are an increasingly important means of helping marginalized groups in emergencies. But, as you can imagine, there are many barriers preventing equal access to online information and apps. For instance, when international humanitarian organizations offer services in only international or official languages, many minority language speakers are excluded.
Aimee Ansari, CEO, and Ellie Kemp, Head of Research, Evidence and Advocacy at CLEAR Global did us the honour of visiting our Globally Speaking studio to share with us the first results of a research project on language in digital inclusion. Listen to their fascinating insights – such as the intriguing phenomenon of certain minorities using fintech solutions, like mobile money, in languages they don’t fully understand or can’t read.
They also explore how reliance on technology in a narrow range of languages can exacerbate the vulnerability of already marginalized populations.
Guests
Aimee Ansari was appointed CLEAR Global/Translators without Borders’ first Executive Director in 2016. The organization had a team of three full-time staff members at the time. Eight years later, CLEAR Global has over 100 team members and annual turnover has increased by well over 1000%. A natural “disrupter,” Aimee saw the potential use cases for language services and language technology innovations, hired an excellent team and put new thinking to work for the most marginalized. Aimee has over 25 years of experience in leadership positions in large humanitarian and development organizations. She led development programs in Kyrgyzstan, Yemen, and Bangladesh focusing on economic empowerment and microfinance. She has also worked in humanitarian crises from the Tajik civil war to the earthquake in Haiti, the conflicts in the Balkans to the Syrian refugee crisis and the conflict in South Sudan. Aimee has a worked with Care, Oxfam, Save the Children and the United Nations.
Ellie originally trained and worked as a professional translator, before moving into the humanitarian field during the Kosovo crisis in 1999. In a quarter-century of experience in humanitarian action and international development she has spent 12 years leading programs, teams and advocacy campaigns in Africa, Central Asia and the Balkans and another five advising various international aid organizations. She joined Translators without Borders (now CLEAR Global) in 2017 to lead its crisis response program and then its research, evidence and advocacy, before taking the lead on strategic partnerships in 2024.
Hosts
Marine is RWS’s Social Media Specialist, responsible for developing and implementing the company’s global social media strategy.
After graduating as a translator from German and English into French, Marine did her internship at RWS in Berlin as a translator and terminologist. After her internship, she continued to work for the RWS Berlin office as a technical translator for 5 years while continuing to learn about marketing and social media. She then did some consulting for RWS as a social media specialist and became RWS’s social media manager in 2021, managing the company social media channels and community.
Marine has a degree in translation and terminology from the UCLouvain in Belgium. In her free time, she enjoys learning foreign languages, doing sport and taking a walk in the sun to discover cute coffee places. She is based in Madrid, Spain.
Listen Everywhere
