November 2020 Newsletter
Dear friends,
No single year has thrown as many challenges at us as 2020. Amid the grief of twin pandemics—centuries-old racism and the novel coronavirus—we are swimming upstream. But earlier this month, the result of the presidential election infused me with new hope.
For the past four years, the outgoing administration has targeted immigrant communities with enthusiastic cruelty. Family separations, inhumane detention camps leading to the deaths and disappearances of children, attempts at the removal of protections such as DACA and TPS, systematic exclusion of immigrants from pandemic stimulus aid, ICE raids, the stripping of access to essential public benefits via the public charge rule, and more, amount to large scale acute trauma and chronic stress for the communities we serve.
Rolling back these policies of institutional violence will take hard work, and healing will be a generations-long process. But for now we celebrate, because a path toward a better world is made visible again.
I am overjoyed by the multiple glass ceilings shattered by Kamala Harris: woman, Black and South Asian, daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, and our Vice President-elect. I celebrate her historic accomplishment and what it means for all our young daughters who will grow up seeing themselves reflected in the country’s leadership.
As we go into the final stretch of 2020, I want to thank you for journeying alongside us, and throwing your support behind women, immigrants, health equity, and language justice.
Maria Vertkin
Founder and Executive Director
The Class of 2020 is now the Class of 2021
At the end of October—after an extended process due to COVID-19—we made final selections for our newest students. Found in Translation is excited to welcome another group of bright, eager, and passionate women into our community!
Unfortunately, due to recent staffing changes and a longer implementation window for our new online learning management system, we have decided to delay the start of our next training to January 2021. This means that our next class—and our newest students—will officially be called the “Class of 2021”, and not the “Class of 2020.” The training will run through the spring of next year. Over the next few months our program staff will be hard at work transitioning our curriculum to our new online learning management system, designing modules, recording lectures, and further bringing our award-winning training into the digital realm.
Not all programming has been delayed, however! We are excited to share that our partnership with Tech Goes Home began last month. Over the next few months, a small cohort of students from our Class of 2021 will benefit from intensive support in building their technological literacy and skills in advance of our online training. All members of our Class of 2021 will also receive continued engagement and supportive services in the lead up to the program start in January.
Read more about our program transition here.
Alumnae Adapt to a Remote World
Over the past few months our alumnae have kept up their professional development efforts through attending a host of virtual events on such topics as Translation, Working as a Subcontractor, Immigration Interpreting in a Remote World and more. In addition, with the assistance of Found in Translation staff and fellow alumnae, a couple graduates have recently secured interpreting assignments or jobs providing language access in two different local public school districts.
Alumnae have also benefited from our adapted interpreter services offerings, with 18 different interpreters carrying out 80 virtual assignments in 6 languages since July. While this is about half the business we recorded at the same point last year, it is substantially more than was possible during the early days of the pandemic and worth noting that most of these recent assignments are with newly signed clients.
Below are some of the photos sent in by our alumnae in their remote interpreting work this year:
2020Online Success!
We are incredibly grateful to our community for making our #2020Online Campaign such a success this summer. Through peer-to-peer fundraising efforts from our Board as well as individual, corporate and foundation support, we generated $27,403 in donations – surpassing our $25,000 goal! We appreciate each of our 97 donors for contributing to this campaign, and would like to extend a special thank you to Eastern Bank, People’s United Bank, Gather Here, and the Royer Family Foundation for their generosity.
Funds raised through this campaign will go towards our exciting transition to online programming, with a focus on the implementation costs of our brand new online learning management system and technology-focused supportive services for our incoming Class of 2021.
Thank You!
Alumnae Spotlight
This fall, two of our alumnae (Xiaoqiong Liu ‘19 and Marie Lourdy Ladouceur ‘19) were accepted into a new civic empowerment program called “Immigrants Lead Boston”, established through the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement (MOIA) and the Civic Engagement Cabinet. Over the next few months, they will be joining a small group of peers in a 12-week course to meet key City of Boston officials and learn how to effectively navigate local government. The goal is for participants to become leaders in their communities, sharing what they learned with others and becoming civically active on issues that matter to them.
Congratulations Xiaoqiong and Marie!
Now Hiring: Supportive Services Manager
The Supportive Services Manager is a full time program position that provides intensive support to a caseload of 30-40 graduates per year, and occasional, as needed support to members of Found in Translation’s alumnae community. In addition to case management responsibilities, the SSM supports the Program Director in facilitating the Medical Interpreter Training Program, and oversees volunteer recruitment and management of supportive service related volunteers. The role is both relationship-based and skills-based, and requires strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as a genuine passion for our mission.
Currently the role is remote due to COVID-19, but eventual availability for in-person work in Dorchester is required. The salary range for this position is $50,000-$58,240. Applications are due by November 27th.
For details, see our position description here.
Giving Tuesday is December 1st
“Now more than ever is a great demand for interpreters. With so many people of limited English speaking abilities affected by this virus having access to an interpreter can be the difference between life or death to a patient.”
-Found in Translation graduate
Interpreters can be the difference between life and death – by contributing to Found in Translation, you directly support language access in the Boston community. Thank You.
