A few weeks ago, Emma Raducanu became the first British woman to win a tennis singles Grand Slam in 44 years, but her success doesn’t belong to Britain alone. Born in Canada to a Chinese mother and a Romanian father, her confidence and poise on the court is matched in her media appearances, not least because she is highly articulate in more than one language. A lover of Romanian cuisine, she regularly visits her grandmother in Bucharest. An avid student of all things Chinese, she speaks fluent Mandarin.
Born in 2003, Emma Raducanu is a true 21st century woman. Talented, self-possessed, and multilingual; she embodies many of the qualities that make women such a powerful and positive force in the localization industry.
The tennis star was five years old and had just picked up a racket for the first time when Women in Localization was founded in 2008. With over 5,000 members, a portfolio of training and mentorship programs, and high-quality content that speaks to localization professionals in all corners of the world, W.L. has been a champion of female talent every day since. Under the leadership of Cecilia Maldonado, its positive impact has been an inspiration during a challenging 2021.
With a track record as a serial entrepreneur who has started a string of language service companies, Cecilia has added her dynamism and focus to Women in Localization. These qualities have also served women well at XTM International, and our own W.L. champion, Elizabeth Butters, embodies them. As Global Sponsorship Director for W.L., Elizabeth is a role model for the many women whose skills are cultivated and rewarded at XTM. She is quick to acknowledge the positive impact that W.L. has made on her life and career, and also recognizes the power of language technology to deliver equality of opportunity.
“Being a Global Sponsorship Director for Women in Localization has brought me into contact with inspiring role models and enabled me to celebrate the accomplishments of gifted female professionals all over the world. And I’m proud to say that my colleagues at XTM have enthusiastically celebrated with me. At XTM, commitment to equality of opportunity is woven into our operational fabric. Just as importantly, our translation management system actively promotes the empowerment of people of all genders and backgrounds. Every day, I speak with clients and partners who use our language technology to give a voice to those who have traditionally been unheard. In the twelve months from June 2020 to June 2021, for example, two thousand new language pairs have been added to machine translation systems, including many low-resource languages. In the hands of XTM users, machine translation is now the tool of the market leader and the champion of minority and endangered languages.”
When it comes to her fellow female achiever on the tennis court, Elizabeth sees clear parallels with the careers of her colleagues in Women in Localization and at XTM.
“Emma Raducanu’s success shows the value of continuously striving to do better. Immediately after she won the US Open, she started looking for a new coach, because she knows she needs to keep improving. At XTM, we don’t rest on our laurels, either. Two decades as a market leader has taught us that standing still means going backwards, and our development of Inter-language vector space, which calculates the accuracy of machine translation with unprecedented precision for over 250 language pairs, delivers a decisive advantage to translators, project managers and localization teams in all industries. Emma Raducanu is certainly a 21st century woman, and someone we can all be proud of. Speaking for myself, I’m also very proud of my involvement with Women in Localization and with XTM International. These organizations are dovetailing in pursuit of admirable common goals; enhanced communication and increased opportunity. Together we’re making good things happen.