At MasterWord, doing business with heart is a core value. This means being a force for good, not only through our mission of connecting people across language and culture but also by actively and purposefully using our talents, connections, resources, and time to make the world safer, more supportive, and equitable for everyone.
Each year, MasterWord supports numerous causes and charitable foundations; however, our primary focus is on three critical areas:
- Ensuring language access and language rights for all people
- Addressing the effects of trauma and vicarious trauma on the communities we serve
- Eradicating human trafficking and the online sexual exploitation of children
So, what impact did we make as a company in 2023?
The Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Community
Community forms the cornerstone of Deaf culture. Throughout 2023, MasterWord facilitated monthly meetups in Houston and continued its 8-year support for ReelAbilities, “the largest festival globally dedicated to utilizing the arts as a means to educate, celebrate, and transform perceptions about individuals with disabilities.” This support included providing sign language interpreters and engaging with community leaders.
Language Rights and Language Access
According to UNESCO, over 40% of the global population lacks access to education in a language they understand. This issue poses a significant educational barrier, impeding social and economic development, especially for speakers of underrepresented languages. A staggering 99% of the content on the World Wide Web is available in only 35 languages, despite the existence of over 7000 languages worldwide.
MasterWord actively participated in GCLR’s Global Language Advocacy Day (#GLAD23) on February 22. This year’s theme was “Language Rights Save Lives.” To honor this, we engaged our team members in a focused discussion about the vital role of language professionals in saving lives and how MasterWord upholds the language rights of limited English proficient individuals and the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community in the United States. Watch the video here
Echoing the words of our CEO, Ludmila Golovine, our commitment is that “no language gets left behind.” We believe that meaningful access to healthcare, education, and other essential social services, whether through qualified interpreters, written materials, or digital resources, is a fundamental human right. MasterWord is a founding member of the Global Coalition of Language Rights (GCLR) and is aligned with these goals:
- Supporting global efforts to increase access to vital information, services, and education for speakers of all languages.
- Promoting equal digital representation across language barriers.
- Creating proactive solutions to social, educational, economic, and environmental challenges that encompass not just mainstream languages but also Indigenous and underrepresented languages.
In 2023, we tackled two significant challenges:
- Expanding digital resources for indigenous Mayan languages like K’iche’, Mam, and Q’eqchi’
- Advocating for the safe and ethical use of rapidly evolving artificial intelligence in language access.
MasterWord has been an ardent supporter of UNESCO’s International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2023). This initiative highlights the precarious state of many indigenous languages aiming to mobilize stakeholders and resources for their preservation, revitalization, and promotion. In line with this, on July 7th, 2023, MasterWord initiated the Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project to support and increase the digital resources of languages spoken by over seven million Mayans.
Launch of the Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project
The Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project is an innovative effort to honor, preserve, and promote the languages spoken by over seven million Mayans. As a groundbreaking online resource, this series of open-source Mayan glossaries are facilitating access to essential information, education, healthcare, and legal services for indigenous speakers. It is also fostering a stronger Mayan presence online.
Hosted by MasterWord Institute, this project serves communities in Central America and aids Mayan speakers adapting to life in the United States. Many Mayan language immigrants are unfamiliar with services available in the U.S. and are often unaware of their rights. This initiative aims to enhance the consistency and quality of language access services for these newcomers.
Dr. Winston Scott, leading expert in Mayan languages and project director, explains, “This living document is curated by native speakers and language professionals actively working in the field.” The team’s vision is that “by establishing a collaborative process in the U.S. and Guatemala, our project will encompass all 22 of Guatemala’s existing Mayan languages and will be an authoritative and comprehensive glossary created by and for Mayan language speakers.”
Gaspar Tomas, a native Q’anjob’al speaker and glossary moderator based in South Carolina, expressed excitement about the project saying, “I love that it is an open-source community effort. This is an unbelievably valuable resource and I’m so excited to be a part of it.”
Beyond the glossary, the Mayan Languages Preservation and digitization Project has ambitious long-term goals. By partnering with tech companies and embracing advancements in digital technology, the project aims to provide Mayan communities with a full digital presence. The project envisions creating tools, digitizing resources, and developing educational materials to empower Mayan speakers, fostering a vibrant online community, and expanding opportunities for education and cultural preservation.
The Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project
The Mayan Languages Preservation Project is a pioneering initiative dedicated to preserving and promoting the Mayan languages. Through an online, open-source glossary and collaboration with technology partners, the project aims to empower Mayan communities by bridging the digital divide and providing access to essential information, education, healthcare, and legal services. https://mayanlanguages.wiki
Task Force to Address the Fair and Ethical Use of AI in Language Access
In 2023, AI technology, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), became a mainstream tool, demonstrating significant advancements in language capabilities and opening possibilities for automated interpreting software. However, this rapid development raised concerns about privacy, accuracy, and potential misuse, especially if used as a substitute for human interpreters without proper guidelines.
The Interpreting SAFE-AI Task Force
The Interpreting SAFE-AI Task Force, a collaborative group of industry stakeholders, advocates for fair and ethical AI in interpreting. Their mission is to establish, disseminate, and promote guidelines for responsible AI adoption in the field, ensuring technology’s benefits are maximized while minimizing potential risks. For more information, please visit https://safeaitf.org/.
To address these challenges, MasterWord’s CEO, Ludmila Golovine, along with 10 industry experts, initiated the Stakeholders Advocating for Fair and Ethical AI in Interpreting Task Force (Interpreting SAFE-AI Task Force). The task force’s mission is “to establish, disseminate and promote industry-wide guidelines and best practices for the responsible adoption of AI in interpreting, through facilitating dialogue and action among vendors, buyers, qualified practitioners, end users and other stakeholders.”
In 2024, the task force, now comprising nine committees and led by a 44-member assembly, plans to release a report outlining best practices for AI use in spoken and sign language interpreting.
Cody Francisco, MasterWord’s Director of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Services and a member of the initial launch group, emphasizes the technology’s current limitations for American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting, “the technology isn’t anywhere close to ready to handle the Deaf use of complex combinations of hand and arm movements, upper body positioning, facial expressions, and other ASL features.”
Throughout 2023, MasterWord provided substantial funding and administrative support to the task force, contributing to the success of this crucial initiative. The task force has since become the primary U.S. authority advocating for an ethical future where language interpretation technology serves humanity.
Trauma and Vicarious Trauma
A 2019 Nimdzi survey revealed that 72.6% of interpreters experience vicarious trauma at some point in their careers, with one in three needing to leave the profession, take extended leave, or avoid certain assignments.
MasterWord, working with thousands of language professionals and support staff, understands that training, best practices, supportive policies, and a nurturing culture can mitigate the harmful effects of vicarious trauma encountered in their work. In June 2023, having met the. U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) guidelines, MasterWord became the first language services company recognized as a Vicarious Trauma-Informed Organization (VT-ORG).
In Multilingual Magazine’s August issue, CEO Ludmila Golovine discusses MasterWord’s journey to becoming a VT-ORG:
As we learned more about trauma, we felt compelled to address it directly. We developed courses on trauma-informed interpreting and vicarious trauma for language professionals, drawing on the work of many experts in the field. There has been a clear impact on those who have taken these courses, many showing deep appreciation for strategies they can use before, during, and after challenging assignments. At MasterWord, we supported professionals with strategies to mitigate the effects of trauma through Wellness Connection events, professional collaborations, industry conferences, and online courses and tools.
For over a decade, MasterWord has campaigned to raise awareness and provide training on vicarious trauma and trauma-informed practices to language professionals. This initiative aims to alleviate the debilitating effects of trauma on them and those they serve. In a push to help other language services companies and professional organizations address the issue internally, MasterWord shares the guidelines for Vicarious Trauma-Informed Organizations in the OVC’s Vicarious Trauma Toolkit. Additionally, MasterWord Institute offers the necessary support mechanisms, tools, and training to help other language service companies and professional organizations achieve compliance.
Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is a global crisis, constituting a $150 billion industry with over 40.3 million victims worldwide and it’s growing exponentially. Ending modern day slavery and sexual exploitation is a top priority for MasterWord.
Supporting and Advocating for Survivors
Less than 1% of trafficked individuals are identified and are able to escape. The difficulty they face is compounded by a lack of public awareness around the issue and around what it takes to truly support survivors with a trauma-informed approach. Raising awareness and delivering education to law enforcement, healthcare, social services, and language professionals, has thus become one of the primary ways MasterWord is addressing this issue.
Attended by MasterWord, The Global Leader Summit on Human Trafficking, exclusively focused on addressing the question: “How can we increase the rate of victim identification throughout the world?” – London, August 2023
MasterWord is an active member and contributor to several major organizations and local initiatives working to increase awareness and reporting of human trafficking and sexual exploitation and to protect and support survivors:
- United Against Human Trafficking Coalition
- Texas Businesses Against Trafficking (TBAT)
- Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Taskforce
- RedM
- World Childhood Foundation
- Nomi Network
- Houston 20
Throughout 2023, MasterWord speakers, including CEO Ludmila Golovine, delivered training, presentations, and talks; answered the calls for interviews and expert panel discussions; and produced online training and materials to raise awareness and educate first responders in the Trauma-Informed Approach (TIA), especially in cross-cultural contexts. Key training topics included:
- Patient Centered Care when Working with Survivors of Human Trafficking
- Trauma-Informed Interpreting for Survivors of Human Trafficking
- How to Work with Limited English Proficiency & Deaf/Hard of Hearing Persons Exposed to Trauma
- Trauma-Informed Care Across Language and Culture
Work has also started on “United to Stop Trafficking,” a roadmap for collaborative cross-sector action against human trafficking, set for release in early 2024.
Businesses Have a Responsibility to Reduce Demand
In collaboration with the United Against Human Trafficking Coalition, Texas Businesses Against Trafficking (TBAT), and the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Taskforce, Golovine spent 2023 advocating for businesses and government agencies to implement zero-tolerance policies against trafficking and exploitation in supply chains. Now all MasterWord suppliers and venders are required to guarantee compliance with MasterWord’s zero-tolerance policy. Other organizations are set to follow suit.
Another key factor in reducing demand for the exploitation of children involves targeting illicit online activity.
Addressing Online Trafficking and Exploitation
The rise in online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is alarming, with cases surging from 3,000 in 1998 to 30 million in 2022. Technology, while contributing to this problem, also offers solutions in combating trafficking.
MasterWord has implemented NetClean ProActive software, which detects CSAM and assists in safeguarding against criminal activity related to child sexual abuse on company networks. The software works by identifying online material that law enforcement agencies have defined as CSAM and assisting organizations and law enforcement in identifying, reporting, and addressing the distribution and consumption of child sexual abuse material online. This technology is crucial in identifying and rescuing children from sexual abuse.