AALC President Tea Dietterich voted onto GALA Board

Globalization and Localization Association Announces 2015-16 Board Members

17 November 2014

 

Four Directors Elected by Member Ballot

Seattle, Washington, USA – Members of the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) have elected four members to two-year terms beginning in 2015:

Manal Amin, Arabize (Egypt)
Tea Dietterich, 2M Language Services (Australia)
Robert Etches, TextMinded Danmark (Denmark)
Véronique Özkaya, Xplanation (Belgium)

Amin and Dietterich are long-time members of GALA who will be joining the veterans on the board.  Etches and Özkaya are on the current board and will begin second two-year terms. They will join three continuing board members from 2014: Diego Bartolomé (tauyou, Spain), and Serge Gladkoff (Logus International, United States), and Jesper Sandberg (Sandberg Translation Partners Limited, United Kingdom).  Board member Joël Sigling (AVB Translations, Netherlands) will conclude his board service at the end of 2014.

 “We are delighted to welcome Manal and Tea to the board, and that Robert and Véronique will continue their service in the coming years,” said Laura Brandon, GALA’s Chief Operations Officer. “They have already shown great energy and dedication to GALA and will no doubt help us to become even stonger and more innovative in serving our members and the language industry. We wish also to express our deepest gratitude to outgoing board member Joël Sigling for the outstanding service and leadership he has provided us these past years.”

For more information about the directors, visit GALA’s website.

About GALA

The Globalization and Localization Association is the leading global non-profit association within the language industry, providing resources and networking for companies working with translation and interpreting services, language technology, and content localization. GALA member companies are vendors and buyers of language services and technologies. They deploy sophisticated multilingual strategies and proven tools to take content and products to markets around the world. For more information, visit www.gala-global.org

 
About the New Directors

Manal Amin is the founder and CEO of Arabize and one of the very first Egyptian entrepreneurs in language technology. Manal has been part of many boards and councils in the IT and localization sectors locally and globally. Due to her outstanding achievements in the IT Services Sector, she was nominated and awarded the African ICT Champion in 2013. Manal was ranked 77th among the 200 Most Powerful Women in the Middle East by Forbes ME Magazine, September 2014 for her outstanding presence, enthusiasm, and entrepreneurial spirit.

Tea C. Dietterich is CEO of Australian Language Service Provider 2M Language Services and President of the Australasian Association of Language Companies (AALC). Tea is the former Vice President of the Australian Institute for Translators & Interpreters (AUSIT), current board member of ABIE France (Australian Business in Europe), sits on the Advisory Board of the Rosetta Foundation and works closely with the Australia China Business Council, Australian Council of Export, several international Chambers of Commerce in Australia and Europe as well as Foreign Affairs Departments.

Robert Etches is the CIO of TextMinded Danmark. After studying Medieval History and English Literature in the UK, love and life led him via India, Nepal, and the mountains of Colorado to settle in Denmark, where he founded my first company in 1989. A known voice in the industry, he is currently the Chairman of the Board for GALA, and a member of the Advisory Board for Translators Without Borders.

Véronique Özkaya is currently Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Xplanation, and vice-chair on the GALA Board. Prior to joining Xplanation, Véronique held senior management roles at Moravia, Lionbridge, and Stream International. She is a frequent public speaker at industry events. Her background in international politics and Public Relations: one of the many paths to the localisation industry!