Our Volunteer Board
Board of Directors
The Canadian Language Industry Association's (formerly AILIA) members and Executive Committee have always been very clear about their desire to assume the responsibility of guiding the actions of Canada’s language industry network, through the close cooperation of various types of stakeholders in the sector, be the decision makers, business owners, heads of professional and business associations, or representatives from the public sector and education.
Executive Committee – 2024-2025
Peter Madahian, President |
Exacta Interpreting Inc. |
André Palaguine, Vice President |
Nations Translation Group |
Julio Montero, Secretary |
Megalexis Conmmunications |
Kim Pines, Treasurer |
Translations.CA |
Members of the 2023-2024 Board of Directors
Peter Madahian, President
Peter has over 12 years of progressive management experience in languages services with a focus on streamlining processes, implementations, and operations management. His business and functional knowledge of and the depth of skills in the area of business process analysis have enabled him to successfully lead Exacta on large scale implementation of interpreting services across Canada in support of customer requirements. Peter has over 15 years of experience in lean manufacturing prior to joining Exacta which has given him a first-hand understanding of the day-to-day issues faced by organizations, and the perspective necessary to assist clients when it comes to delivery of services. Peter’s formal education consists of Bachelor’s of Science degree in Psychology and Masters of Business Administration degree focusing on Manufacturing and Technology.
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Julio Montero, Secretary
Julio Montero is Megalexis Communications’ Regional Director in the Greater Toronto Area. Mr. Montero is a language industry expert with more than 25 years of experience. Mr. Montero’s past roles have ranged from advising governments on institutional reform to acquiring and overseeing high-value, public and private sector accounts in the language industry, in areas including insurance, legal, defence, telecommunications, automotive and government services. Self-defined as a client experience advocate throughout his career in professional services, Mr. Montero holds a civil law degree from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, and a master’s degree in comparative law with concentration on regulated industries from McGill University. Mr. Montero is also a Certified Translator and a Certified Localization Professional.
Mr. Montero served as a member of the Canadian General Standards Board’s Technical Committee for the development and subsequent review of the Canadian Standard for Translation Services (CGSB-131.10). He currently is Chair of the Standards Council of Canada’s Mirror Advisory Committee for the ISO Technical Subcommittee on Translation, Interpreting and Related Technology (CAC/ISO/TC37/SC5). More recently, Mr. Montero was appointed Convenor of ISO/TC 37/SC 05/ WG 01 - Translation Services, the technical working group that develops international standards in the translation industry.
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Kim Pines, Treasurer 2022-2025
Honorary Director/Advisor 2020-2022
Treasurer & Chair, Communications 2014-2019
A creative, strategic thinker & process and performance improvement leader, Kim Pines is a senior executive with progressive experience in the language service industry. Having studied business administration and marketing, she has a customer-focused background and in-depth knowledge of the consumer packaged goods and marketing/advertising industries in Canada.
Kim has been in the language business for over 35 years, and has been the President of Translations.CA for over 32 years. Kim has created a language services company specialized in corporate communications with best in class service.
A member of the Board of Directors since 2012 and Treasurer (2014-2019), Kim was Chair of Communication which included the creation of the Association's newsletter, website development and social media activity. In 2017 and 2023, Kim was an Expert Member of CGSB131.10 Translation Services Standard Technical Committee. Remaining on the Board as an Honorary Member, Kim became the Treasurer and part of the Executive Committee again in 2022.
André Palaguine, Vice-President
Chair, Communication & Events Committee
Nations Translation Group
Industry Leader & CEO at Nations Translation Group (Nations) with over 25 years of experience, enabling competitive business strategies to enterprises where content & marcom play a key role.
Throughout a successful career, with extensive experience in the language industry, André has held leading positions in business development at Lionbridge, CLS Lexi-tech, TransPerfect and TRSB, now CEO at Nations.
At Nations, André is leading the company to greater successes, a new era of innovating and evolution, with a strategic business expansion plan to transform, grow and invest in further development of new capabilities and technological solutions, providing high quality, professional linguistic services along with exceptional client experience.
In addition, André has been a board member since 2017. He has chaired the Communication Committee and the Advisory Board. In 2022, André began serving as a member of the technical committee reviewing the CGSB131.10 Translation Services Standard.
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Maryse Benhoff, Chair, ISO Standards
Maryse M. Benhoff is the President of BG Communications International Inc., a leading translation services provider headquartered in Montréal, Canada. She is recognized for being a pioneer in translation standardization and for championing the advancement of women in business.
Her lengthy and impressive track record in translation standards began in 2003 with her appointment as Canada's official representative to the Comité européen de normalisation (CEN Committee) during the development of the European translation standard.
In 2007, bringing her European experience back to Canada, she served on the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) where she was mandated to develop a National Standard for Canada's corporate translation sector (CAN/CGSB 131.10).
In 2009, she joined the Canadian team to ISO TC 37/SC 5 and became its Chairperson in 2014, position that she holds concurrently with her role as International Committee Manager of ISO TC37/SC2. Both of these positions had previously been held by the federal government of Canada since 1975. In January 2018, she was elected as the International Chair of ISO's TC37/SC5 for a six-year mandate (2018-2023).
Since 2009, Ms. Benhoff also serves on the Board of Directors of Canada's national Language Industry Association (AILIA). She is Chair of the AILIA Standards Committee, which oversees the revision of CGSB 131.10. In 2019, she was nominated by AILIA to sit on the Industry Advisory Committee on Neural Machine Translation established by the Translation Bureau of Canada, composed of some of the most prominent language industry experts in the country.
She has been a member of the Women Presidents' Organization since 2007 and WBE Canada (Women Business Enterprises Canada Council) since 2009. She was nominated to the Supplier Advisory Committee within WBE Canada in 2019 and was elected its Chair in 2020.
A thought-leader and industry insider, Ms. Benhoff also sits on the Translation Programming Committee at McGill University with a view to shape curricula and course content to align new professionals with market demands.
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Charles Lesperance, Vice-Chair, Events Committee
OXO Innovation & Communications Transcript
Charles Lesperance is President and CEO of OXO Innovation and Communications Transcript, two LSPs headquartered in Montreal. A lawyer by training and a member of the Quebec Bar, Charles discovered a passion for helping companies go global when he worked in international tax law at KPMG. Having co-founded OXO Translations in Montreal in 2013, he now channels this passion into helping clients communicate across borders and expanding OXO’s own frontiers. Charles plays an important role in decision-making for the company and is responsible for implementing its vision, overseeing operations, managing key accounts and developing new markets. Charles led OXO’s 2018 merger with the Brazilian company Ccaps and its 2019 acquisition of Communications Transcript and continues to seek opportunities for growth.
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Lola Bendana, Chair, Advisory Board & Interpretation Committee
Multi-Languages Corporation
Lola has been involved in the translation field for over 30 years; since 1997, she has been the Director of Multi-Languages Corporation. Lola has a degree with a specialization in English-Spanish translation.
She served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Healthcare Interpretation Network (HIN) where she led the project to create the national standards of Canada for Community Interpreting (NSGCIS).
She was voting member of the technical Committee of the Canadian General Standards Board that created the Canadian national translation service standards CAN CGSB 131.10-2008. She participated on its reaffirmation in 2017.
She won the Language Industry Association (AILIA) National Award for Outstanding Contribution to the translation sector.
Among other roles, Lola served as the President of the International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA), delegate to FIT North America, member of the ASTM F43 Committee on Language Services, member of the Board of Directors of the International Network on Terminology TermNet.
Lola published a book in collaboration with Dr. Alan Melby “Almost Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Translation” and a book in collaboration with Professor Helen Campbell “How to get it right when contracting Conference Interpreting services”.
Presently, she is a member of the Board of Directors and Past-President of the Language Industry Association of Canada (AILIA). Lola has been a member of the Canadian Advisory Committee to ISO TC37 since 2007 where she participates as an expert delegate to create international standards for translation and interpreting and is the current President of the Ontario Council on Community Interpreting (OCCI).
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Paul Penzo, Director and OCCI Representative
Throughout his career, Paul has held a long list of executive positions in translation and interpreting-industry associations. His knowledge and commitment have been instrumental in moving the industry forward for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Paul continues to stay at the forefront of the industry and is currently a Steering Committee Member of the Canadian Coalition on Community Interpreting (CCCI) and the Ontario Coalition on Community Interpreting (OCCI).
Paul's contributions are in vision-setting and crafting of the official strategic and tactical plans that will satisfy a balanced representation of industry stakeholders. Coalition participants include interpreting-service providers (commercial and not-for-profit), training organizations (colleges and community based), purchasers from different sectors (government, health, legal, social services), and interpreter associations.
Angela Sasso, Chair, Interpretation Committee
The Interpreter's Lab | Shifting Pictures
Angela Sasso is the Founder and CEO of The Interpreter's Lab, with a distinguished career spanning over three decades as an advocate for professional interpreter education and high-quality language services.
Ms. Sasso has also played a pivotal role in shaping industry standards. She initially contributed to the Health Care Partnership Project in BC from 1996 to 1998 and later engaged with the Health Standards Organization (HSO) in 2018 and again in 2022 on the CAN/HSO 11012:2018 (R2022):2022 - Access to Health and Social Services in Official Languages. Currently, she is actively involved with ISO, an organization where she has been a dedicated participating expert since 2010.
In 2021, Ms. Sasso assumed the role of International Convenor for ISO TC 37/SC 5/WG 4 and serves as the Project Leader for the Requirements and Recommendations for Interpreter Educators and Teaching Training Programs project. Additionally, Ms. Sasso holds the position of Vice-Chair of the Canadian Mirror Committee of TC 37/SC 5 and serves as the President of Critical Link International, an international organization promoting and advancing community interpreting.
Nancy Bourrassa, Chair, Sponsorship
A certified translator and terminologist, Nancy Bourassa is an 18-year translation industry veteran, including 8+ years at TRSB. Over that time, she has developed a keen understanding of the translation process, keeping a watchful eye on client accounts and guiding teams of translation professionals.
Nancy's academic background prepared her particularly well for her current-day responsibilities. She holds a diploma of specialized graduate studies in translation and a master’s in translation from Université de Montréal. She has also recently come full circle, returning to her alma mater as a lecturer in terminology and project management to help shape the future generation of language professionals.
Today, Nancy continues to make an impact on the industry, combining both language and project management experience as she oversees sales operations and helps deliver language services to leading businesses across Canada and beyond.
Kerstin Kramer, Chair, Membership Committee
Kerstin Kramer is the CEO and Founder of Premier Focus Translations, a full-service translation agency based in Waterloo, Ontario. Born in Germany and immigrating to Canada in 1994, Kerstin’s diverse cultural background and extensive experience as a legal translator guided her in establishing the company in 1995 and have profoundly shaped her approach to the translation business.
Under her leadership, Premier Focus Translations has been serving established businesses, government agencies, and various institutions across all major languages. The agency is known for its commitment to personalized customer service, leading to a high client retention rate and numerous awards and community recognition.
Committed to industry advancement, Kerstin recently joined the Canadian Language Industry Association (CLIA) to contribute to the development of the Canadian language services sector. Outside of her professional pursuits, Kerstin is an avid traveler who enjoys exploring new cultures, continuously inspiring her to provide exceptional translation services that help bridge cultural gaps.
Robin Ayoub, Director-at-Large, Past-President
Robin Ayoub is a prominent executive with over two decades of experience in the language industry. His career in the language industry started in 2002 when he was appointed Vice President of Business Development, Sales, and Marketing for Lexi-tech International. Under his leadership, Lexi-tech grew from a small company into a major global industry player, ultimately leading to its acquisition by CLS Communication in 2009 and its subsequent integration into Lionbridge Technologies in 2014, where Robin now serves as Vice President of Sales and General Manager for Canada.
Robin's impact is not limited to the language industry. Before entering this field, he was instrumental in transforming several tech startups into multimillion-dollar enterprises. His success across industries is a testament to his focus on high-level business development activities, driving organic growth, strategic acquisitions, and optimizing product mix offerings. These efforts consistently resulted in significant profitable revenue growth and positioned the companies he led as leaders in their respective markets.
In addition to his corporate achievements, Robin is a recognized thought leader through his work on the Localization Fireside Chat, a successful podcast series available at L10NFiresideChat.com. The series features Robin in discussions with industry leaders on critical topics such as AI's impact on the industry, and the future of language services. This initiative has strengthened industry knowledge and fostered a vibrant community within the global language sector.
As past president, Robin was elected as President of the Canadian Language Industry Association (formerly AILIA) in 2020 and re-elected in 2022, Robin continues to shape the future of the language industry through his leadership, innovative strategies, and commitment to excellence.
Honorary Board Members
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Sharon Steinberg, Honorary Director/Advisor (Past-President)
Sharon Steinberg has worked in the translation industry for more than 25 years. She was the Vice President Operations/Co-Owner of HSN Linguistic Services Ltd., a prominent Ottawa-based multilingual translation provider
In 2001, HSN was acquired by Lexi-tech International Inc., at the time, Canada’s largest private service language provider. Sharon was appointed to the position of Director of Operations for Lexi-tech International Inc.’s Toronto office. In 2009 Lexi-tech was acquired by CLS Communication, combining to create one of the world’s largest LSP with 19 offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Under Sharon’s leadership, the CLS Lexi-tech Toronto office grew from a sales office to become CLS Lexi-tech’s multilingual centre of excellence, while also managing the CLS New York Office (2014-15). In 2016, Sharon transitioned into a new role as Director of Translation at All Languages Inc. In 2017, she became Director, Multilingual Services for the Megalexis Group. Sharon has retired and is enjoying life to the fullest.