Speakers’ Biographies - Annual Conference

Colleen Beres

Terra Translations

Steve Chu | 朱浩文

President, Treehouse Strategy
Founder and Executive Director, Glocalization Organization of Asia Pacific

Steve Chu has more than 20 years of diversified management experience in general management, sales, marketing, and operations. Through Treehouse Strategy, Steve and his associate as well as partners have helped their clients develop their sales and marketing strategies, develop new customers, expand into new markets, streamline operations, as well as implement business and technology solutions.

Diego Cresceri

CEO, Creative Words

Diego Cresceri is CEO & Founder of Creative Words, a Language Service Provider based in Genoa.

His clients include: – Multilingual translation agencies
– Italian companies aiming to internazionalize – Foreign companies aiming to enter the Italian market Graduated in Translation and Interpreting at the University of Genoa, before founding Creative Words he was a translator, Project Manager and Chief Operation Officer in a local translation agency. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of ELIA, the European Language Industry Association.
At Creative Words he is responsible for the company’s strategy and growth.

With a strong inclination to share, when not involved in his company he holds workshops and seminars on innovation, artificial intelligence and machine translation at universities, training schools and language associations nationally and internationally.

He enjoys spending his (little) free time with his two kids.

Rodrigo Cristina

Loving localization since 2005, Rodrigo is t’works’ customer experience localisation champion. With a background in business administration, and a limitless passion for all things localization, Rodrigo’s at heart a customer localization champion that believes that technology is, more than ever, shaping our industry.

Olivier Debeugny

Founder, Lingua Custodia

Olivier founded Lingua Custodia 8 years ago. Lingua Custodia builds very specialised machine translation engines to make financial translations faster, cheaper and better thanks to Machine Learning. The Fintech has offices in Paris and Luxembourg and is fast-growing in Europe. He also has more than 18 years of professional experience within the asset management industry, first with JPMorgan in Paris, Frankfurt and London and then with AXA Investment Managers in Paris holding various executive positions involving corporate project management, lean management, middle & back office management and client servicing. Olivier has a strong background in the management of international teams as well as a detailed knowledge of both the asset management and fintech universe. He interacted at CEO and board level to share his insights regarding marketing and client servicing strategies as well as operational efficiency and Lean methodology in the financial industry. He graduated from the Institut Commercial de Nancy (ICN) in 1995 and holds an MBA from INSEAD (2004), he is fluent in French, English and German.

John Di Rico

Wordfast

Eugenia Echave

CFO, Latamways

Chief Financial Officer at Latamways, a Latin American translation and communications company located in a tech hub offering language quality at industrial scale and competitive prices. With more than 15 years of experience in language services, I have been involved in areas such as administration, process development, customer service and complaint resolution, team leadership, multilingual content coordination and project management not only in Argentina but also in companies in England and Spain.

Bryan Forrester

CEO Boostlingo

Shelley Halaba

Sales Specialist, Qwerty Works

Shelley is an industry young gun who jumped in the language service world fresh of the University of the Philippines – Visayas with a major in Communications and Media Studies. She has been working with QwertyWorks, the pioneer language service provider in the Philippines which has been operating for 18 years now.
In almost 7 years, she has experience working with different role from Project Management, Vendor Management, Account Management and acts as a back-up Linguist for Philippine local languages. Currently a Sales Specialist for Qwertyworks coordinating with partners across the globe helping them reach South East Asian market.
She is eagerly and continuously learning, navigating through the Language Industry sphere advancing the just cause to bridge different global markets through language.

Sophie Halbeisen

Director of Business Development, Plunet

Sophie Halbeisen is the Director of Business Development at the Plunet office in New York. She is responsible for new customer acquisition and account management in North and South America. Sophie uses her expertise daily, advising existing and prospective Plunet customers on process automation and optimization. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Master’s degree in Finance; and has more than 10 years of professional experience in B2B sales, marketing, and consulting in the USA and Germany. Outside of Plunet, Sophie is involved in volunteer work, loves traveling, and has a great passion for the city of New York

Sara Maria Hasbun

Founder, Meridian Linguistics

Sara Maria Hasbun is the founder of Meridian Linguistics, a Hong Kong-based consultancy offering linguistic services (language data, linguistic annotation, and linguistic analysis) to technology companies.

Noel Hillman

Vice President of Sales, Kudo

Marina Ilari

CEO, Terra Translations

Marina Ilari, CT is an ATA certified translator with over 16 years of experience in the translation industry. She has worked as a translator, editor, and quality assurance specialist for many companies around the world with a special focus on creative translations and video game localization. She is the chief executive officer of Terra Translations and co-host of the podcast about translation, En Pantuflas. Contact: marina@terratranslations.com. Colleen Beres is the Director of Business Strategy for Terra Translations. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Loyola University Chicago in Operations and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Finance and Management & Organizations. Colleen has spent the past 15 years of her career utilizing qualitative insight and quantitative data to help safeguard businesses and organizations while promoting successful growth. Contact: colleen@terratranslations.com. 

Lucrecia Jarab

Translation Back Office

Lucrecia Jarab is the Head of Operations in Asia at Translation Back Office, a Translation Company with offices in 4 countries in 3 different continents and representatives in 10 countries worldwide. Born in Argentina and lived in 10 nations, currently based in Vietnam, she worked in the Translation and Localization Industry for 9 years. With knowledge and experience in different cultures, languages, international marketing, market research, vendor management, business development, and project management, her job has given her the opportunity to travel and experience different amazing cultures worldwide.

Ioannis Kassios

Managing Director, TECHNOGRAFIA LTD

Ioannis co-founded Technografia in 2007. As the Managing Director, he is principally responsible for setting the direction and executing the strategy of the company. Prior to founding Technografia, he worked for many years as a professional translator and brings his wealth of industry experience to his leadership position at Technografia.

Ioannis has studied in Athens and Cologne and holds a diploma in German Studies with expertise in translation. He translates from German and English into Greek and his main fields of expertise are automotive, heavy industry, engineering, mechatronic and electrical/electronic systems. When he is not busy managing and directing, Ioannis enjoys running marathon races and spending time with his family.

Anna Kozubek

Translator,  LBS Suite
Originally from Poland and graduated in Translation Studies in Strasbourg, she began her career as freelance translator and language assistant. Shortly after, she started working as a Project Manager in translation agencies in UK and in France, where she could experience LBS Suite as a user. A combination of solid background in multicultural environment and project management allowed Anna to develop knowledge of the current needs and problems LSPs are facing. After a few years using LBS Suite in project management context, she is now part of LBS team, and she is in charge of developing the product on an international level.

Steve Lank

Vice-President, Cesco Linguistic Services
Steve Lank is the VP of Translation Services for Cesco Linguistic Services. He has worked in the industry since 1987, first as a translator and project manager, and subsequently holding senior management positions in the U.S., Ireland, and Spain. He chaired the initial committee responsible for ASTM F2575 Standard Guide for Quality Assurance in Translation and is currently the technical contact for the update. He teaches in the University of Maryland’s Graduate Studies in Interpreting and Translation program and serves as a mentor in the ATA Mentoring Program and as a founding member of the ALC Bridge Committee. Steve earned his MA in Spanish T&I from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

Istvan Lengyel

Founder, BeLazy

István Lengyel is the founder of BeLazy (www.belazy.cat), the project management automation company that makes continuous localization efficient across the entire supply chain, and also works as technology consultant for Nimdzi Insights (www.nimdzi.com). Previously, he was one of the founders of Kilgray, the makers of memoQ, but also worked as a translator, and at an LSP. He holds several degrees in economics and translation, including a PhD in translation studies. He is passionate about technology being a platform to align interests.

Arle Dr. Lommel

Senior Research Analyst, CSA Research
Dr. Arle Lommel, Senior Analyst, CSA Research Dr. Arle Lommel is a senior analyst with independent market research firm CSA Research. He is a recognized expert in quality processes and interoperability standards. Arle’s research focuses on technology, quality assessment, and interoperability. Born in Alaska, he holds a PhD from Indiana University. Prior to joining CSA Research he worked for the Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA), Globalization and Localization Association (GALA), and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in its Berlin-based language technology lab. In addition to English he speaks fluent Hungarian and passable German, along with bits and pieces of other languages.

Bruce McLaughlin

Ceo, Sinogie Consulting
Bruce McLaughlin is CEO of Sinogie Consulting, a China-focused research and consulting firm. Founded in Hong Kong in 2001, Sinogie now has offices in Shanghai and Sydney. Sinogie’s core businesses are corporate investigation, industry research, and government policy analysis. Sinogie works closely with a number of Chinese government departments at the national and provincial level, as well as with government and non-government think tanks, industry associations, industry figures and academics to build an accurate picture of issues in China and how they will affect the company’s clients: Sinogie looks not at what the government or companies officially say, but at what is really happening, what is driving those events, and how they will play out. Bruce studied Chinese at university in Cambridge and Leeds in the UK, and in Tianjin in China. After graduating, he moved to Hong Kong, and first worked as editor of a China-focused business magazine. He then joined the consulting affiliate of the Hong Kong office of a major American law firm, eventually becoming lead consultant on corporate investigation and government policy analysis. On leaving this post, he established Sinogie. Bruce lived in Hong Kong from 1996 to 2007, when he moved to Shanghai to establish Sinogie’s Shanghai office. In late 2008, he moved to Sydney and established the Sydney office. He now travels regularly – pandemics permitting – between Australia and China. Bruce has been working with the Chinese government and corporate sectors for well over 20 years, and has been both an observer and a participant in China’s rapid evolution over that time.

Daniel Milczarski

Vice-President, Process and Technology

CQ fluency’s mission is to improve lives and as an industry leader in the translation of healthcare materials, CQ has focused on technology-enabled solutions for their customers. Dan leads CQ’s Process and Technology department – creating a harmony between project management methodology and technological implementations. His team aims to connect, automate and innovate by applying, customizing and developing a hybrid of technology solutions. With a focus on process efficiency and change management, the CQ Process and Tech Team has been a key differentiator in CQ’s rapid growth and customer-centric solutioning.

Giulio Monaco

Co-Founder,  Ablio

CEO and Co-founder of Ablio, Giulio started his career at IBM and has been working for over 20 years as a marketing manager in several European firms operating in the information technology and telecommunications industries in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the UK. As manager of international NGOs, he managed simultaneous interpreting services at countless international conferences and built an international network of professional interpreters.
Peggy Peng

Peggy Peng

Chrysostomos Psaroudakis

Founder, Creative People in Greece

Chrysostomos “Makis” Psaroudakis is the founder and owner of Creative People in Greece and Creative People IT Ltd in the UK. He studied in Piraeus, London, Jyväskylä and Cyprus where he had his PhD in IP Communications. He speaks fluent Greek, English, and French. Has more than 20 years of experience in IT Management of Banking and Finance, Defense, Transportation and Chemicals. Fond of high tech, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and complicated IT designs, Makis specializes in IT Infrastructures, Data Protection and Quality Assurance Systems.

William Rivers

President, William Rivers & Associates

Dr. Bill Rivers has more than 25 years’ experience in culture and language for economic development and national security, with publications in second and third language acquisition research, proficiency assessment, program evaluation, and language policy development and advocacy. Before joining JNCL-NCLIS, he served as Chief Scientist at Integrated Training Solutions, Inc., a small business in Arlington, Virginia, where he focused on strategic planning, management, and advanced technologies for language and culture programs in the public sector. In 2003, he was one of four co-founders of the Center for Advanced Study of Language at the University of Maryland.  During his career, Dr. Rivers has also taught Russian (beginning through advanced), graduate courses in language policy, qualitative and quantitative methods, Russian linguistics, and second language acquisition at the University of Maryland and at several universities in Kazakhstan. He has worked as a freelance interpreter and translator. He received his PhD in Russian from Bryn Mawr College and his MA, BA, and BS (Aerospace Engineering) from the University of Maryland. He speaks Russian and French.

Dieter Runge

Vice President, Boostlingo
Dieter began his career in the film and digital media and e-learning space in 1987, transitioning into the language services and language technology sector in 2000. Over the past twenty years Dieter has held roles in research and development, global operations and international sales and marketing with language service companies in the US, Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently, Dieter co-founded Silicon Valley based technology company Boostlingo. Boostlingo develops cost effective software solutions for the language services and telehealth industry and has released the next generation interpretation management and communications platform for on-site and on-demand telephonic and video remote interpretation solutions delivery. Dieter holds a B.A. in Radio, Film and Television studies from San Jose State University in California and an M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from McGill University in Montreal. Dieter currently splits his time bi-continentally between the Boostlingo base of operations in San Francisco and his Asia-Pacific home base in Sydney Australia.

Luz Sanchis

Master Translations

Translator and interpreter from Spain specialized in Mandarin Chinese, English and Spanish at Master Translations (MTS). I have studied and worked in Spain, UK and China for the past 10 years. Currently, I am employed at Master Translations in Xiamen, China, as a translator and business developer and I very often take part in most of the events in our industry. 4 years at stunning and prestigious University of Granada (Spain) and artsy Merseyside Liverpool John Moores University (UK) planted the translation seed in my heart, which has grown and bloomed at picturesque Xiamen University (China), where I finished my 3-year MTI in 2019. XMU is where I met Frank Wei, professor, founder and CEO of Master Translations. His acquaintance opened the doors wide to my career growth in China and the US as part of the amazing team at MTS.

Gilbert Segura

Founder, Voxabot

Too many years in localization–Dell for a decade, Amazon, Lionbridge, Welocalize, and a few in between and thereafter; working for clients big and small. Gilberto has been practicing multimedia, Machine Translation, Automation, Knowledge Management and sorting out all the confused tools to get it to work. He has seen most if not all the complexities that stand in the way of reaching a global audience and in some ways worked to overcome them or learned a lesson by failing.

Jerry Song

Edward Valera

Frank Wei

Founder, Master Translation Services

Frank Zhonghe Wei is Founder and CEO of Master Translation Services (MTS), a language company headquartered in Xiamen, China. He founded MTS in 2000 and manages its growth into a company with over 100 in-house linguists and seven branch offices in mainland China, Taiwan and USA. MTS ranks among top Asia language service providers. Frank has been actively involved in the language industry for 19 years, managing the company and communicating with clients from USA and Europe. He also takes part in the activities of language associations worldwide.

Christine Xaysakda | 翁诗琪

Graduated from UCLA and ISEE Paris Business School, Christine has built her business development career in technical industries between France and USA. Following her American experience, she decided to work with LBS Suite as their International Account Manager. With her multicultural background, she is passionate about languages and cultures. She speaks fluently Mandarin, Cantonese, English and French. 

Chunliang Zhang (Mr) | 张春良

Founding Partner & Senior Vice President, NiuTrans Co.
Associate Professor, Northeastern University, China

Chunliang Zhang is a NiuTrans founding partner, and the senior vice president of NiuTrans for operations of overseas markets and language service industries. He is also an associate professor in Northeastern University China working on translation technology.

Sponsors​

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