About Us
Our Story
Like many people in our industry, we have to explain localization pretty much every time someone asks what it is we do for a living. We usually say something like this: nearly everyone you know has likely had a chance to laugh over a bad localization, even if these people were unaware that was what they were doing. Localization may be the global community’s most obvious secret. It, or its attempts, are all around us — in our user manuals, on our websites, in our software, on our menus. To call it translation is short-selling it. Translation may be involved, but even a good translation may fail to appeal to you, the end user. This is because cultural norms and assumptions are present in most content people consume.
Magazine Production
Marjolein Groot Nibbelink
Publisher, CEOMarjolein holds a degree in Communication from the University of Rotterdam and has long had an affinity for creative writing, photography and language. She realized early on that the Netherlands was too small for her and after traveling to 30+ countries over the span of 10 years she moved to the United States in 2014. When she lets her hair down, you can find her on her racing bike or camping in the wilderness.
Cameron Rasmusson
Editor-in-ChiefCameron Rasmusson’s international experience started at an early age thanks to parents whose work largely centered on eastern European countries. After completing his education, he moved to Sandpoint, Idaho, where he worked as a reporter, writer and editor for multiple statewide publications. Cameron has a passion for all mediums of arts and entertainment — particularly film and video games. Outside of work, he spends his time cooking, skiing, and dabbling in fiction writing.
Antonella Tiezzi
Graphic Designer, Brand ManagerAntonella Tiezzi is a 30-year-old Argentinian and graphic designer specialized in publishing. Her passion for books is what led her to work in this field. Lover of argentine mate, English literature and languages. Nowadays she enjoys running in the mountain with her friends, working at MultiLingual, and sharing barbecues with her family.
Andrew Warner
Staff Writer, Newsroom Manager (US)Andrew Warner is a writer, editor, and linguist from Sacramento, CA. He holds a degree in linguistics and English with a minor in Hebrew from UCLA and is currently working toward his M.A. in applied linguistics at Columbia University, where his research mainly focuses on speech perception and second language acquisition.
Operations & Communication
Nika Allahverdi
Marketing StrategistA lifelong language enthusiast, Nika is passionate about marketing, research, and the language services industry. She holds a master’s degree in Translation and Localization Management from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and a dual bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley, where she studied French, Spanish, and linguistics. Always learning, Nika has also studied language methodology through Stanford University. She brings her extensive knowledge as a linguist, researcher, and writer focusing on all of these areas of expertise.
Evelyn Najarian
COO, Marketing ExecutiveEvy is inspired by how learning languages opens doors to new cultures, perspectives and people. She holds a dual degree in French and Linguistics from UC Berkeley, and spent time after university in Bordeaux, France teaching English in elementary schools. As our world becomes increasingly connected remotely, Evy is eager to explore what the language services industry has to offer. In her spare time, she enjoys playing piano, film photography and going to the beach.
Sofia Casanova
Graphic Design AssistantSofia is an Argentinian Graphic Designer. She is passionate about Art in all of its ways and enjoys traveling mainly to learn about diverse cultures and languages. Outside of work she loves singing, playing the piano and spending time with her family and friends.
Brand Ambassadors
OScar Curros
Brand Ambassador, ReporterÓscar Curros was raised in a Galician-Spanish bilingual home. From his father, an English teacher, he inherited a passion for language learning. From his mother, a nurse, the care for dolent texts. His family missed him during the 11 years he lived in Brazil but appreciated the touch of capoeira he brought back to his native Santiago de Compostela. His latest linguistic leitmotif is ‘Slava, Ukraini!’ As a journalist and translator, his main interests are intercultural relations and literature.
Nicolás Maximiliano Martín Fontana
Brand AmbassadorNicolás Maximiliano Martín Fontana first worked with languages as an English-Spanish interpreter in the army during NATO and Eurocorps maneuvers in Andalusia (2000-2003). He went on to work in various positions at Lionbridge Poland, and later as a visual media translator for KVH Media for the Latin America region. Now, he’s a Sales and Vendor Manager at Comunica Translations, and a Business Development Manager at the Translation and Localization Conference, in addition to his role as an ambassador for MultiLingual.
Stefan Huyghe
Brand Ambassador, ReporterStefan Huyghe is Vice President of Localization at Communicaid Inc. where he focuses on running high-level operations, workflow optimization, database development, social selling and community building. He has over 20 years of experience working in the language industry is fluent in Dutch, French, German, and English.
Shaimaa Riad
Brand AmbassadorBorn in Egypt, Shaimaa was raised in Qatar until she was 11 when she returned to Egypt. She lives and breathes MSA Arabic as well as Gulf & Egyptian dialects/cultures. She localizes and translates from English to Arabic and specializes in legal, UN, and EU affairs, as well as general and documentary translations since 2006. She studied legal translation at the American University in Cairo, and is now the founder and owner of Transarabizers.
IT & Finance
MultiLingual TV
Kristen Glant
Chief Financial OfficerKristen comes to us with a background in finance and accounting. She began her career in public accounting, logging many hours performing audits and taxes. Next step was a stint in the software accounting consulting industry where she specialized in training and setting up financial reporting software for small and mid-size companies in the Pacific Northwest.
Aleksey Schipack
Chief Information OfficerWith over ten years of web development experience, Aleksey is Multilingual resident technical whiz. He’s there to support our team with every (un)imaginable request, helping to push the envelope on data visualization and processing. Oh, he knows a thing or two about localization too.
Oscar Betancourt
Video EditorOscar is a content creator and video editor with seven years experience. He started his career as a live audio technician at an early age and pursued it for more than a decade. His passion for technology and spectacle got him into photography and later on into video production. Nowadays he enjoys long sessions behind the editing desk, and being a consultant for the various and entertaining projects at MultiLingualTV.
Editorial Board
Miguel Á Bernal-Merino
GamesMiguel Á Bernal-Merino holds a doctorate in the localization of video games and is currently lecturing at the University of Roehampton in London. Miguel was instrumental in the creation of the Localization Summit within the Game Developers Conference and is one of the advisors.
Aki Ito
BusinessAki Ito has been involved in the localization industry since 1996. He previously served on the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) board of directors in 2005-2006 and as chairman of the board in 2006. He has an MBA in international marketing and a BA in international relations.
Nataly Kelly
MarketingNataly Kelly is vice president of marketing localization at Hubspot. She has extensive experience in the translation, localization and interpreting industry, and her book, Found in Translation, which she cowrote with Jost Zetzsche, discusses the importance of translation in society.
Barry Slaughter Olsen
InterpretingBarry Slaughter Olsen is a conference interpreter with over 25 years of experience. He is an associate professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS). He is also the founder and co-president of InterpretAmerica and general manager of Multilingual Operations at ZipDX.
Jost Zetzsche
TechnologyJost Zetzsche is a translator, a localization and translation consultant, and a widely published author of books and articles on the technical aspects of translation. In 1999, Jost cofounded International Writers’ Group on the Oregon coast.
Advisory Board
Tucker Johnson
Board DirectorTucker takes Renato’s crazy ideas and puts them into action. Specialized in vendor side operations, global team management, large program outsourcing, and supply chain governance, Tucker is happy to share his operational experience with Multilingual partners.
Renato Beninatto
Сhairman of the BoardRenato brings decades of experience everywhere he goes. With extensive experience in international consulting, market research, sales and marketing, Renato provides the strategic direction that helps Multilingual better serve clients worldwide.