APLI 2024 Annual General Meeting and Workshop

Workshop Content Description

This workshop will explore the subject of compassion fatigue, something that interpreters are vulnerable to. It will look into the causes of compassion fatigue; its signs as manifested in six different areas, namely, physical, cognitive, behavioural, emotional, interpersonal, and spiritual; and how the condition can be effectively treated through self-care. It will share ideas on how to implement self-care in each of those six areas. The workshop is carefully designed to provide participants with practical insights and actionable steps, taking you on an empowering journey toward holistic well-being.

Speaker Bio:

Lola Bendana

Lola Bendana has a degree in international relations with a specialization in Latin American Studies and English-Spanish interpreting and translation. She worked in Costa Rica as a cultural/foreign affairs facilitator with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as head of international relations with the Nicaraguan Committee for Refugees.

After immigrating to Canada, she worked as a freelancer for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada offering pre-departure and intercultural effectiveness courses on Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

For over 30 years, Lola has been involved in revolutionizing the language industry. She has been an industry leader in providing high quality Translation & Interpreting Services. She has published books and numerous articles about interpreting and translation.

Lola has been member of the Board of Directors and led committees of multiple associations. More specifically: she served as

 Member of the Board of Directors (2004-2008) of the Healthcare Interpretation Network (HIN), co-chaired the Medical Terminology Committee, and chaired the Policy Committee where she led the project to create the National Standards of Canada for Community Interpreting (NSGCIS);

 Member of the Critical Link Canada Standards and Training Committee (2007-2010);  Member of the Language Interpretation Training Curriculum Advisory Committee headed by the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship (MCI) in collaboration with College Connect (2004-2006);

 Canada’s representative on the International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA)

 Executive Board Member (2009-2014) and past-President (2011-2014) of the International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA);

 IMIA delegate to FIT (International Federation of Translators) North America (2012-2014);  Member of the Board of Directors of the International Network for Terminology (TermNet) (2013-2014);

 Member of the ASTM F43 Committee on Language Services and Products (2011-2015);

 Chair of the Language Industry Association of Canada (AILIA) Translation Committee and member of the Interpreting Committee

Currently 2024 Lola is:

 Member of the Board of Directors (since 2003) and Past-President (2014-2016) of the Canadian Language Industry Association of Canada (CLIA, formerly AILIA), where she serves as Chair of the CLIA Advisory Board (since 2023);

 Member of the Canadian Advisory Committee to ISO Technical Committee 37 SubCommittee 5 (since 2007) where she participates as an expert delegate to create international standards for translation and interpreting services;

 Member of the Board of Directors and past-President (2016-2019) of the Ontario Council on Community Interpreting (OCCI);

 Advisor to the Language Access Coalition of Canada (since 2020);

 Expert member of the Technical Committee of the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) (since 2007) that created the Canadian Standards for Translation Services CAN CGSB 131.10 - 2008, reaffirmed in 2017; and Chair of the working group on revision of the standards (since 2021).

In 2007 Lola won the Language Industry Association’s (AILIA) National Award for Excellence in the Translation Industry.

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”.

Lola has a passion for psychology and personal empowerment, completed the Robert Holden Coaching Success Certification, the Neuro Strategies Core and Applied Certification Training, and is a Trainer with the Anthony Robbins organization and Member of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Power Group. Lola facilitates workshops about Building Strong Teams, Time Mastery and Self Care among other topics. Lola is a published contributor to the book "Chicken Soup for The Soul: Time to Thrive.

Host or Publisher Association of Professional Language Interpreters (APLI)