At Terra, the health and well-being of those who work with us are a top priority when it comes to talent management. Although we have placed great emphasis on wellness since the foundation of the company, with the accelerated growth we experienced in 2021 and with new perspectives gained during the pandemic, we created the Wellness Program to provide a comprehensive response to various staff needs.

The health crisis we experienced worldwide with COVID made it evident that for operations to work and people to prosper, professionals must enjoy good health. Taking into account that professionals spend a considerable percentage of their time at work, companies are increasingly interested in providing tools to improve overall well-being.

With a strong emphasis on physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being, our program is designed to address the diverse needs of our team, fostering a positive work environment and supporting individual growth.

Here’s a closer look at our wellness program.

What “Well-Being” Means at Terra

At Terra, we are dedicated to cultivating a culture of corporate well-being through a comprehensive action plan. We recognize that well-being encompasses four essential perspectives: physical, mental, emotional, and social. Our goal is to prioritize each of these perspectives through strategic initiatives that enhance the overall quality of life for our people.

Through our wellness program, we aim to achieve several key objectives. While the benefits of a well-being plan are diverse and sometimes unforeseen, our primary focus is on the following:

• Reinforcing our interpersonal relationships
• Establishing spaces for constructive dialogue
• Sharing practices and spaces with colleagues from other areas
• Preventing work-related stress and maintaining an excellent work environment
• Strengthening the spirit of teamwork and our sense of belonging
• Reinforcing the concept of self-awareness and self-care

Examples of Initiatives within the Wellness Program

The actions planned by our Human Resources department are driven by a holistic perspective of overall well-being. Our dynamic wellness plan evolves annually to cater to the specific needs of our teams. Here are some examples of the initiatives we implement:

• Weekly active breaks: These engaging sessions include activities like stretching and mindfulness. We also share resources such as informative articles on physical and emotional health through various communication channels.
• Coaching and one-on-one conversations: The members of our Human Resources team who are mental health professionals provide coaching sessions and personalized discussions to support the well-being of our team.
• Work climate meetings: Individual interviews and team-specific meetings are conducted to discuss and enhance the work climate, fostering a positive and inclusive environment.
• Workshops on Emotional Intelligence and Team Building: We offer optional workshops that focus on developing emotional intelligence and strengthening teamwork among our team.
• Diversity and inclusion: To consolidate a safe space where everyone can be their authentic selves, we have established a Diversity Policy. This policy encourages free expression through different communication channels.
• Annual meetings: Whether conducted virtually or in person, these meetings serve as opportunities to strengthen bonds and nurture a sense of teamwork.
• Coworking space: While Terra operates completely remotely, in 2022 Palermo Studio opened its doors to offer a coworking space where people from different teams can meet and enjoy each other’s company while working.
• Flexible working hours: We understand the importance of personal and family well-being. Therefore, we offer flexible working hours to accommodate personal or family medical issues and to support parents with school-age children.
• Personal days and birthdays off: Our team has access to personal days to attend to personal matters when needed. Additionally, if their birthday falls on a working day, they can enjoy a day off to celebrate.
• Social commitment: Through our Terra Cares program, team members can suggest non-governmental organizations (NGOs) whose mission aligns with their beliefs. We provide pro bono translation services to these NGOs, and our team has the opportunity to contribute as project managers, translators, editors, and more.

Our initiatives may vary from year to year, but the underlying principle of prioritizing well-being remains constant in all actions facilitated by our Human Resources team.

The Takeaway

Terra’s Wellness Program demonstrates our commitment to the well-being of our team. By addressing physical, mental, emotional, and social aspects of well-being, Terra creates a supportive and thriving work environment. As the program evolves each year to cater to changing needs, Terra’s dedication to our team’s well-being remains unwavering. By investing in the wellness of our team we hope to set the stage for mutual growth, engagement, and fulfillment within the organization.

The post Terra’s Wellness Program: Prioritizing Well-Being for a Thriving Workforce appeared first on Terra Translations.

In this blog post, we want to share the mission of SFF and how we will work together to help them reach their goals as an organization.

What is SSF?

SSF is a non-profit organization founded by a group of professionals with the aim of fighting climate change in Latin America. Their mission and vision are to address and fight climate change by raising awareness and working on mitigation and adaptation projects with key stakeholders. They also do some advocacy work to accelerate climate action.

Both Terra and SSF are committed to making a positive impact on the communities and the environment.

How It Started

Terra Cares aims to help organizations whose mission we believe in as a company or organizations that members of our team feel passionate about. This program opens the door to all Terra members to suggest organizations they believe we can help. In the case of SSF, it was María del Carmen, Organization & Methods Manager at Terra, who proposed this organization.

We came in contact with SSF through Nasha A. C. Cuvelier, Co-Founder of SSF. “When we spoke with Nasha at the very beginning of our collaboration, she mentioned that her team at SSF had been thinking about expanding beyond the Spanish-speaking community,” Cintia, Operations Lead at Terra shared, “However, the major drawback they had at that moment was that their budget didn’t allow them to have a professional linguist translate their content into English. Nasha mentioned that it was truly a blessing when Terra reached out to them to help them exactly with what they needed the most.”

How Translation Brings Opportunities to SSF

Terra translated the SSF website into English. With this update, SSF hopes to be easily found by international organizations and other NPOs whose missions are related to sanitary justice, the fight against poverty, gender equality, etc.

In addition, SSF recently worked on their 2023 Climate Change Annual Report and they presented it on April 27th, 2023. This report—created in collaboration with Uno.Cinco (a Chilean NGO) and with as many as 22 co-authors—has great significance, as it addresses topics like damage and loss, biodiversity, fair ecological transition, climate finance, artificial intelligence, and climate change—among others.

The Terra team had the honor to attend this presentation through Daniela, Victoria, Noelia (members of our operations team who have worked on their projects), and María del Carmen.

What’s Next for Terra Cares & SSF

Soon Terra will help SSF translate the 2023 Climate Change Annual Report into English. Having this report translated into English will allow them to go beyond Latin America and share it with international organizations like Climate Action Network. They will also present it next November at COP 28 in the United Arab Emirates, which is the biggest climate change conference.

When asked if she had a message for those who participated in the project, including both the project management team as well as the linguists involved, she said, “Thank you. Thank you so much! Without your help, we would have never dreamed about having a report in English. Widening our organization’s horizon is critical for us to accelerate climate actions. Thank you for being part of the solution to this global challenge with us!”

Our whole team is truly proud of having had the chance to do our part for a cause that greatly impacts our planet.

The post A New Collaboration: Terra Cares & SSF appeared first on Terra Translations.

Our Team’s Achievements

I have to admit, our team knows how to hustle and they’ve been recognized throughout the industry for their work ethic and skills. Here’s a look at a few awards and recognitions that came our way in 2021. 

Everyone at Terra is committed to providing the best possible services to our clients and we’re proud to share that we earned recognition in the Go Global Awards as a Top Placer for Professional Services. We also maintained our spot as a boutique language service provider in the Slator ranking.

We’re happy to report that Terra is growing in size. The Terra team now consists of 102 members and we’ve been able to keep growing while maintaining our essence. Our growth was recognized by CSA Research, as Terra was ranked the 2nd Largest Language Services Provider in Latin America in 2021 after ranking 4th in 2020.

At Terra, we are deeply committed to creating a positive work environment. Which is why we were so honored to receive the Great Place to Work Certification in Argentina and two impressive rankings. We ranked 5th as a Company that Cares and 8th as a Great Place to Work for Millenials in Argentina. 

How We’re Wrapping Up 2021

Whoo! After all that hard work, our team will be taking some time to rest, relax, and celebrate the holidays with our loved ones. On November 26th we came together to celebrate at our annual end-of-year event. Before 2020, we hosted this annual event in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but for the last two years have done so remotely because of the pandemic. This year, Terra team members joined a Zoom party with a detective theme where we played games and toasted to many more years together.

In 2021, we will continue to support organizations whose mission we believe in through our Terra Cares program. Some of the organizations we had the pleasure to collaborate with our Chicas en Tecnología, Médicos sin Fronteras, Asociación de Arte, Cultura y Educación, Asociación de Desarrolladores de Videojuegos Argentinos, and Indie Game Business, among others. All projects combined amounted to 213,781 translated words. We look forward to continuing this work next year and beyond.

Like 2020, this year presented many challenges. We’ve learned that facing them together helps us grow stronger as a team. 

I want to extend a huge thank you to our team and our clients for taking this journey with us. We can’t wait to spend 2022 together! 

P.S. If you missed it last year, we shared what our team accomplished in 2020!

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Her Journey

Marina’s journey towards being the CEO of Terra began in school. She holds a degree in Literary Translation and is certified by the American Translators Association. In her 15 years spent working in the translation industry, she’s become an expert in translation technology and managing translation projects. She received acknowledgment for her business savvy and hard work in 2017. She was awarded the Women Owned Business Enterprise Rising Star Award. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation presents this award to a young business with great promise.

Success was not found without overcoming trials and tribulations. Despite these challenges, Marina has stayed true to her vision for Terra. “The greatest challenge I have faced since starting this company is growing it without sacrificing its culture,” Marina said. Terra began as a mother and daughter endeavor, and the first few hires were within their circle of friends and family, “This created a very special atmosphere within our team that we were able to maintain throughout the years… Our company culture is based on ‘family first’ values that are extended to every member of our team. We work diligently to make sure everyone feels that their voice is being heard and valued.” 

According to Marina, Terra’s culture encompasses the quality of the work we do, as well as the quality of our relationships with our employees, our clients, and our community. She believes that supporting our employees’ whole being serves as the basis of a strategic, financial, and successful human capital strategy. This strategy has happily paid off and has resulted in employee loyalty. We’re proud to report that we have a year over year retention rate of 98%.

A Passion for Giving Back

Marina is committed to giving back to the translation industry, the communities that Terra works within, and women empowerment organizations. Alongside her work as CEO, she participates in a variety of professional organizations such as the American Translators Association, Association of Language Companies, Globalization and Localization Association, and Women in Localization. 

“As an organization, we deeply care about supporting communities with diverse populations and people of Limited English Proficiency (LEP); it is our goal to create an opportunity for all people to have access to information in order to live fulfilled lives,” Marina noted. This goal inspired the evolution and establishment of the Terra Cares program, in which Terra provides pro bono translation services to select healthcare and legal focused non-profit organizations within our communities.

Where She Hopes to Head Next

When asked where she hopes Terra will be in five years, Marina stated, “I would like Terra Translations to be the number one translation service company in Latin America. What drives this wish to become number one in Latin America is because there is very little diversity in top management in the industry as a whole. From the top twenty largest language service companies, there is only one female CEO.” 

Considering that the majority of translators, interpreters, and linguists that perform the linguistic tasks within the industry are close to 70% women, Marina believes more women in the industry should be in leadership positions. “It has always surprised me that this women-driven industry would not see more diversity at the top. It’s important to bring more diversity to leadership roles in the industry, and I would like to be the person that brings that diversity to the Latin American region,” she said.

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The Event

After enjoying a quick breakfast, event attendees watched a video about the organization’s accomplishments. You can watch the video here, which Gabriela highly recommends doing. The new General Manager shared how MSF addresses issues like mass immigration, institutional violence, natural disasters, and epidemics. She shared that the organization doesn’t have any ongoing projects in Argentina. This is a good sign as it means there are no extreme cases in Argentina that require their assistance. Despite not needing aid, there is a very strong Argentinian presence in the organization. Terra is proud to contribute to this collaboration. 

Who Attended

There were a variety of distinguished guests at the event. Some of the attendees do collaborative work with the organization like Terra does. Other attendees contribute to the cause by donating money or goods required for missions. Some help spread the mission’s message or find volunteers. “It all adds up. That’s the message they wanted us to walk away with. All of us can do our part from wherever we are, regardless of how much or how little we have,” Gabriela noted. 

How We Work Together

Our Chief People Officer Natalia Quintás was the one to initiate a relationship with MSF as she felt the organization aligned with our specialty in medicine and life sciences. She believed we could lend our knowledge to a cause that benefits a lot of people in need throughout the world. MSF’s mission also aligned with the work we were already doing with Terra Cares. “We take pride in being able to contribute professionally to a high-impact mission,” Natalia said. 

Terra began working with MSF in January of 2019 and has completed over 100,000 words of translation work with them. We’ve translated a variety of projects like financial reports, newsletters, and medical articles. Our team is always happy when a new MSF project comes their way and they are aware of the responsibility it entails. Teammate Celeste Moreno feels it is an honor to be able to contribute to an organization that does so much for our world. “When I translate text for MSF, I cannot help but feel utter responsibility for what I’m about to transmit in words. I feel so overwhelmed by the life-or-death stories that help change the world.” Celeste said.

Fellow teammate Silvina Oddino is also proud of the work we do with MSF. “I assume that my mission as a translator is to communicate, to help people exercise their rights, or to assist medical professionals in their research to find a cure for a disease. But translating for MSF has been uniquely meaningful, it has given special significance to my mission,” Silvina said.

The Takeaway

Gabriela walked away from the event feeling proud of the work our team does. “The whole event was very emotional, to be honest. It’s incredible to be a part of this initiative. As a member of Terra, being able to help an organization with goals so admirable and generous makes me very proud.”

The post Our Rewarding Experience with Doctors without Borders appeared first on Terra Translations.

Organizations we support through this program include Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers, Aurora Walkers Point Community Clinic, and CORE El Centro.

Located in the heart of Milwaukee, WI, Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers offer family resources, behavior health services, and many more community health programs. Their mission of Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers lies in addressing the roots of poverty beyond the exam room in order to improve the health of patients any way they can.

“As the Director of Communications at a non-profit, I wear many hats and have many competing responsibilities, before even taking into account that all our communications and materials must be bilingual,” explained Alison True, Director of Communications at Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers. “Having Terra Translations’ help has been invaluable, freeing up much of my time previously spent on translations. But the truly critical part is the complete trust I have in every translation they produce. They are extremely professional and intelligent, picking up on nuances to continually learn, adjust and put out on-point translations without ever missing or delaying a deadline.”

Rooted in compassion and convenience, Aurora Walkers Point Community Clinic is a fully benevolent health clinic serving inner-city families who do not have insurance and cannot afford health care. Walker’s Point Community Clinic is the first state association-coordinated volunteer clinic in the country with special care that includes obstetrics and gynecology, family medicine, internal medicine, orthopedics, general surgery, diagnostic testing, imaging, and lab work.

“We have so appreciated the help that the folks at Terra Translations have provided,” said Steve Ohly, Aurora Clinic Manager. “We are a clinic that does not generate income as we see only low-income uninsured, with the exception of some Refugees with BadgerCare.  Much of our care is provided by volunteers from the community. Terra Translations has allowed us to improve the quality of our written materials tremendously and helped us to steer our limited resources toward access to medication and direct care of the underserved.”

Lastly, CORE El Centro is a non-profit organization offering affordable natural healing and wellness services in both Spanish and English. Stationed in Walker’s Point on Milwaukee’s south side, CORE El Centro serves adults and children of all income levels with a goal to inspire individuals, families, and communities to achieve optimal health.

“Terra Translations has been amazing since day one,” explained Samantha Sanchez, Fund Development and Communications Manager at CORE El Centro. “CORE El Centro has long dreamt of having our website in both Spanish and English. Our mission includes “creating access” for our clients, many of whom speak Spanish as a first language. Thanks to Terra Cares, that dream has started to become a reality! About a third of our website (our most visited pages) has been translated and can be accessed in Spanish or English by our clients.”

The Terra team was deeply inspired by these organizations and believed in supporting their missions of improving the lives of the community.

“Our heart goes into every translated piece of content that we produce through our Terra Cares program,” explained Marina Ilari, Terra CEO. “We understand that many non-profits have budget restrictions and struggle to offer bilingual communication material. We want to help change this.”

At Terra, we are driven to build the bridge over language barriers that can divide us or prevent individuals from receiving the help they need. If your non-profit organization is interested in extending its reach with the Terra Cares program, please send an email to info@terratranslations.com.

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