Women in Localization (W.L.) has been a high-motivating, career-focused volunteer organization in the localization industry. It plays such an important role that it offers its volunteers great opportunities for learning and experience. This article features Mimi Moore and Jennifer Vela-Valido, who both recognize that they would not hold their current positions if it weren’t for W.L.
Mimi Moore, with 25+ years of experience in the localization industry, shared her perspective on the connection between being a W.L. volunteer and a Content Marketing Manager at SDL – a position Mimi says she wouldn’t have without her volunteer experience with W.L.
Mimi has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in History and Political Science and a Master’s from King’s College London in European Studies. Before joining W.L., Mimi had already been active in the localization industry, focusing her career on project management, account management and business development.
Introduced to W.L. by Advisory Board Member Liesl Leary-Perez, Mimi partnered with Marketing Board Member Erica Haims to grow the Marketing program. Now it is a team of more than 20 volunteers. Mimi is responsible for W.L. content, manages blog writers and edits blog posts. What she loves the most about her role is interacting with the writers and engaging in their production process. She finds it rewarding to see the writers gain skills and grow creatively as they create content, and when she hears that W.L. blogs open readers’ minds and enhance their perceptions about the industry.
Mimi genuinely loves what she is doing for W.L. and has contributed a lot of her time and energy to her volunteer position as a Content Manager and Editorial Director and in her current role as Program Director – Content. Through her volunteer experience, Mimi discovered her passions: “writing and working with people”. Thanks to W.L., Mimi demonstrated that she understands marketing processes and learned to manage content and writers. In the meantime, professionally, she expanded her network in the industry and gradually gained trust from many key players, which successfully led her to her role as a Content Marketing Manager at SDL.
She has been doing what she loves at SDL for just over a year. She has infinite gratitude for W.L.,“this organization, the inspiring leadership, the amazing women she has met and become friends with, and the opportunities that the organization offers”. She believes in the power of people and is devoted to helping others in any way that she can.
Jennifer has rich experience in the localization industry. She also attributed part of the advancement of her career to her volunteer experience with W.L.
Jennifer graduated from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with a BA in Translation and Interpreting. Then she got her MA in Multimedia Translation and Localization from the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona. After she got her Master’s, she immediately stepped into the localization industry, starting out as a multimedia translator and localizer. After gaining years of knowledge about how the business works, she took an adventurous step and founded her own translation and subtitling company in Spain.
In 2012, she attended an event held by W.L. in London and her views changed greatly. She excitedly volunteered to be the social media channels coordinator and started her journey with W.L.
Jennifer really enjoys the culture within the organization, where everyone commits to “sharing their experience and knowledge, helping other colleagues, and fostering professional growth”. Members also bond from time to time outside of work, such as going for a picnic or a short day trip, which makes her feel like she is a part of a big family.
After exchanging ideas with industry professionals in the organization and at events, Jennifer began to view the industry from a lot of different, yet important perspectives. Encouraged and inspired to pursue more excitement and challenges, she decided to take her career one step further: she took on her current role in Expedia Group as a Localization Vendor Manager.
The impact of W.L. is not only limited to Jennifer’s career. It has changed her life and worldview. Within the organization, she feels like she has “a tribe that encourages, a net that supports her, a group that can guide her, and a team that trusts her”, and W.L. is a “rare oasis in which you can find your true worth”. She became a more ambitious woman, with a genuine passion and belief in language and in life.
Being a volunteer for W.L. may not only help you find a better localization-related job, but more valuably, it also provides you a whole new perspective to look at this evolving industry and even into your own life. Join W.L. and start your transformative journey right now!