Our Story
Translators without Borders (TWB) was originally founded as Traducteurs sans Frontières by Lori Thicke and Ros Smith-Thomas in France in 1993 to link the world’s translators with vetted nonprofit organizations that focus on health, nutrition, and education.
As humanitarian, development and social impact organizations try to ensure their work is truly driven by community needs and preferences, one area is often overlooked: language. When organizations decide that working in a country’s lingua franca is good enough, that means leaving behind a large chunk of the population, who miss out on services and opportunities simply because language is neglected. We help ensure language accessibility is one of the first priorities all social impact organizations focus on when thinking of community needs and developing programmes and projects.
In 2011, Translators without Borders was incorporated as a US nonprofit organization that aims to close the language gaps that hinder critical humanitarian and international development efforts worldwide.
As the need for our work grew, in 2021 we created a new organization, CLEAR Global, to help us build on the work of TWB.
Here’s how TWB fits within CLEAR Global:
CLEAR Global helps people get vital information and be heard, whatever language they speak. We accomplish this mission through innovative global research and programs, language technology, language services, an experienced, professional staff, and the TWB community.
A global community of over 100,000 linguists united in our mission to help people access vital information, no matter the language. Our volunteers donate their time and expertise to translate critical resources, such as health messages and crisis updates, into languages spoken by marginalized communities.
“I think that the nuanced and considered voice TWB brings to the humanitarian space is vital, and in relation to technology your approach could not be more significant”
Luke Stannard, Senior Education Technology Advisor,
Save the Children Norway
We work with social impact organizations by providing a variety of language services across over 200 languages, including translation and localization of written content, digital content and audiovisual content, research, training, and multilingual technology, voice data collection, and programmatic support. If you’re interested in working with us, get in touch.