A strong leader listens. A strong leader fights for what they believe in. A strong leader forges a path to success.
Linguava’s President and founder, David Brackett, recognized his interest in languages at a young age. What began as an affinity for languages as a child evolved into a passion for uniting cultures.
Driven to solve the lack of compassion in the interpretation and translation industry, David has worked tirelessly to find ways to give everyone a voice.
Linguava was really started out of pain – pain seeing that the industry was not going in a healthy direction for all parties, and wanting to do things right and really build that community. That’s what we’ve done since day one.
Early in his career, David saw the value in treating other interpreters with respect and recognizing their contributions to the community. Interpreters needed a support system, wherein their best work could be accomplished with facilitation from someone who believed in them. That’s how Linguava was born.
Linguava’s staff and clientele represent many different cultures, languages, and backgrounds. At Linguava, it’s important that all voices are represented and heard. One of the most rewarding parts of David’s job is “being able to see how many voices we have connected, how many voices we have given, how many people we’ve given voices to that otherwise wouldn’t have had one.”
David’s dedication to uniting cultures through interpretation and translation is part of what makes him an incredible leader in his industry. He recognizes the Limited English Proficient (LEP) community as an asset and value to society. Navigating legal and medical paperwork in another language can be overwhelming, but David’s goal with Linguava is to make that process less painful—offering a depth of empathy that most translation services can’t begin to touch. Linguava provides a human touch, kindness, and understanding with every project.
Having compassion is so important because you have to understand that each person’s individual journey is very unique, and many times we serve very marginalized communities that have come over here, and have waited 10 to 12 to 18 years in a refugee camp, trying to make it over here.
“Having compassion is so important because you have to understand that each person’s individual journey is very unique, and many times we serve very marginalized communities that have come over here, and have waited 10 to 12 to 18 years in a refugee camp, trying to make it over here,” said Brackett. “Their dream is to make it to the United States, and they get placed somewhere here in the country, and they have a year to get all their paperwork situated, and if they don’t, they’re not able to stay. We can’t understand what that’s like.”
David’s passion for multiculturalism has been the inspiration for a book that he is writing. “The book is going to be looking at leadership from a cultural aspect and celebrating each individual’s culture,” David stated. “It will be about celebrating them as a human being, not as a white person or a black person or an Asian person or Latino…one of the best ways we can do that is by learning about them.”
Now, more than ever, we must welcome other cultures rather than reject them for being different. We must be kind to each other and demonstrate compassion and empathy towards marginalized communities that have overcome obstacles many of us could never imagine.
Our work at Linguava is more than a job. Our colleagues are more than coworkers–they’re family. Our client’s struggles are our struggles, and we’re empathetic to the obstacles they’ve overcome in their lives. David’s vision for the interpretation and translation industry transcends into his vision for the world: to respect and learn from other cultures and to treat each other as equals.
