EUATC Board

Marta Aragão
President

Marta Aragão is the Founder of Descomunal. She serves as the President of APET, the Portuguese Association of Translation Companies. She is also a Board Member of EULOGIA (European Alliance of Translation Companies). Together with stakeholders from FIT Europe and EC DGT, she has been involved in developing a Visibility Campaign for the translation and interpreting professions.

Marta is a Founding Member of RML, a business network supporting women in top positions in high-performing companies, and ME TIME, a network for women entrepreneurs. With a degree in Translation, Marta has also worked as a university lecturer and is a regular speaker at events.

Heike Leinhäuser
Vice-President

Heike Leinhäuser is the current Vice-President and past-President of the EUATC. She is a long-term advocate of the localization industry at both national and international levels, notably through her role as a former President of QSD, the German association of translation companies. From personal experience, she has gained a nuanced understanding for the needs of the different stakeholders in the industry – from in-house translation departments to language service companies as well as freelancers. After years as a freelance translator and at Siemens Germany, where she gained in-depth expertise in the fields of change management and process optimisation, she founded what would become Leinhäuser Language Services, where she remains Managing Director and co-owner.

Dimitri Stoquart
Treasurer

Dimitri Stoquart is President of BTQA, the Belgian Quality Translation Association. Previously he was one of the Association’s two Vice Presidents. His company, Stoquart has been a member of BTQA for 10 years.

In the past, Dimitri has served as a Board Member at GALA and is still a member of the GALA Programme Committee.

Matouš Hájek
Board Member

Nina Ambrož Šušnik
Board member

Nina Ambrož Šušnik was elected as President of the Združenje prevajalskih podjetij (ZPSD) Association of Translation Companies of Slovenia in 2020.

She is Managing Director of Amidas, a leading Slovenian language service company founded by her father Dejan Šušnik. She has worked at most levels in the company and is a graduate of Gea College of Business.

EUATC Secretariat

Geoffrey Bowden
General Secretary (Outgoing)

In Geoffrey Bowden’s 40 year-plus language industry career he helped develop the UK’s Association of Translation Companies into one of the world’s most successful industry associations and was a founder of EUATC, where his energies are now wholly focussed. Along the way he supported the establishment of translation and localization associations across the world and is a recipient of the industry’s Eichner Distinguished Service Award, as well as being named as one of Nimdzi’s top 50 influencers in the sector.

Raisa McNab
General Secretary

As the EUATC’s General Secretary, Raisa McNab is the executive manager and language services industry specialist of the association. She also serves as CEO of the UK’s Association of Translation Companies (ATC). Raisa spans the boundaries between the language services industry, academia and the public sector, promoting collaboration and best practice.

Raisa’s experience as a translator and a production, quality and development manager at a language service company have given her a deep insight into the translation industry and the challenges it faces in a changing global landscape. Raisa holds an MA in Translation & Interpreting from her native Finland.

EUATC Ambassadors

Working with the EUATC Board are three special posts, EU, Academic and ISO Standards Ambassadors.

The EUATC’s EU Ambassador is one of the association’s key links with the European Commission’s DGT and represents the EUATC’s interests across a number of EC-supported forums including the language industry expert group LIND. The EUATC’s other representatives towards EU institutions are the President and General Secretary of the association.

The EUATC’s Academic Ambassador forges connections with academic institutions across Europe, facilitates collaboration activities, and works to foster the next generation of language specialists. The Academic Ambassador also advises and works together with the EUATC’s national associations to facilitate connections between the industry and academia at a local national level.

The EUATC’s ISO Ambassador supports the European language services industry’s ISO standards development, promotes transparency and collaboration around ISO activities across Europe, and works to strengthen the understanding, dissemination and implementation of ISO standards relevant to language service companies.

Dr Mirko Silvestrini
EU Ambassador

Mirko Silvestrini is President of EUATC’s Italian member Unilingue and CEO of Rapitrad. He graduated from Venice University in Foreign Languages and Literature. For four years he was President of the EUATC and, after that, Vice President also for 4 years. He is a member of the Board of tekom Europe advisory board for professional development and training.

Dr Juan José Arevalillo
Academic Ambassador

Juanjo Arevalillo chairs the Spanish Association of Translation Service Providers ASPROSET and was formerly treasurer of the EUATC and one of its Vice-Presidents. He is Chair of the Spanish Technical Committee 174 for Translation Services at UNE (the Spanish Standardisation Association) and participates in the European Union’s main research projects in cooperation with Spanish and international universities dealing with translation industry. Apart from running his own company, Hermes Traducciones with offices in Madrid, he is a lecturer on Translation and Interpreting grade and post-graduation at several Spanish and European universities.

Kevin Schmid
ISO Standards Ambassador

Kevin Schmid is the President of the German association of language service companies, QSD. He is the founder and General Manager of mpü focusing on the medical pharmaceutical and med tech industries. He is an active member of ISO TC/37 SC 5 for Translation & Terminology, and works with ISO standards experts within the EUATC’s national associations to develop standards for the language services industry.