As the year is quickly moving toward its end, I wanted to give insight on how Women in Localization rolled this year. As President of the 2018 Board, I observe and pay a lot of attention as our Members, Board, Committees, Partners, Sponsors and Advisors drive leadership in our globalization profession. I try to read the tea leaves while also keeping quiet and listening.
I recently sat down all alone – a rare occurrence! – with a cup of coffee, no kids, no noise, to make a list and reflect on what we accomplished this year. The list grew kilometric in just a few minutes. Once you pull it all together, it is to be celebrated and bow – I bow to the list! How did we get this focused, this purposeful and show so many results? Why do we want to belong and lead our industry so much?
In our list of accomplishments, I had an “aha!” moment. Holy smokes, this year alone we drove 64 innovation sessions. 64. Sis quatre. Six-four localization innovation sessions. The carefully planned events, led by local Chapters, discuss all aspects of globalization: technology, platforms, quality, vendor management, mentoring, innovation, and engineering, but they were also celebrating our women, with discussions on how to manage it all. We all know the answer to that one…run for the hills!
We continue our strategy to let more and new faces try leadership through our organization. Our Board sponsored 15 Committees this year. That translates into 15 new leaders who formed Committees to lead our business, to drive our goals, to cross collaborate and to take care of our ever-evolving organization. Dynamic as a noun explodes here. Some of those Committees have nearly a dozen people on them. The Committees are led by Executive Directors who are charged with leading their area and developing solutions for the organization. Some of these Committees have been around longer than others. For example, Marketing and Chapters are more established and help guide new Committees as they ramp up. We are also kicking off two new Committees, one for Mentorship and another for Global Growth. We are also thinking of starting a Committee for metrics… You see? We don’t rest. There are too many dots to connect and a plethora of incredibly capable women to lead. The Board connects all those dots to empower and train in leadership. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we get it wrong. But it is our values and ability to collaborate that gives us the framework to lead and steer our organization.
With 2019 right around the corner, we are now in succession planning mode. Who are the next leaders, do we move some chairs around?
We just celebrated our 10th year anniversary and became a non-profit. We launched Chapters in Singapore, Poland, Utah and Beijing. We opened an Office of the Chair that mimics all supporting key roles of a large organization. We participated in every single industry event with our awesome partners GALA, and Slator, and LocWorld.
Our focus for 2019 will be all about our Members. Get ready for that, as well as much more training for Members, and more opportunity to participate in our leadership fabric. And of course, as good globalizers…more Chapters!
I will announce a new President come January 1st and I am so excited to see new leaders shine through. If you are interested in an open position let us know. We are here to mentor, sponsor and help you with your localization dreams!
Anna N Schlegel
President, Women in Localization
@annapapallona