Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to Localization Today, where we explore how language, technology and community converge to unlock ideas for everyone everywhere. I'm Eddie Arrieta, CEO here at Multilingual Media. Today, we turn our attention to juntos, the association of Language Services of Latin America and the Caribbean. Regions where language services are expanded. Expanding rapidly and collaboration is helping build a new standard of excellence. Our topic, the Evolution and future of Language Services in Latam and the Caribbean. Building Excellence through Collaboration. To guide us through this conversation, we're joined by Caro Belandia, founder and CEO of Equal Access Language Services.
Cristina Barbiere is the vice President and sales of RFP Manager and RFP Manager, sorry, at Barbier International. And Indy Vega, CEO, CCI Group. Welcome, everyone. Thank you for joining us today.
All right. How are you doing?
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Doing great, thank you.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: Wonderful. And you know, we talked backstage about doing this in alphabetical order. We'll try to see how we do it. But for those that might not know you, Anna, Carol, Indy, how would you describe yourselves and what you do?
[00:01:24] Speaker C: Well, thank you so much, Eddie, for having me here and having all of us here.
I'm Carol Belandia. How would I describe myself? Well, I describe myself as a passionate advocate for language access in the US and the world, as you said. I'm the CEO and founder of Equal Access Language Services, and right now I am a proud member of the board of juntos, or juntos.
I'm right now based in the us In Europe. I am straddling the two continents, and to me, effective inclusion and compliance are key. That's kind of like my differentiator. I'm also a avid flamenco learner because I can't say yet I am a flamenco dancer, but I'm trying.
[00:02:12] Speaker A: Wonderful. Thank you, Cristina. Welcome again.
[00:02:14] Speaker D: Thank you very much. It's so nice to see you, Eddie, as always.
And, well, to describe myself, well, I currently work in Barbier International.
I'm vice president. I'm currently introducing myself to the sales world. I have not been in that area so, so long ago. It's just recently that I was announced.
But yeah, it's been. It's been a long journey in this industry.
It's almost 10 years in with Barbie International, before I was a lawyer.
But I'm really passionate about these industries.
You cannot imagine how big this industry is until you are in it.
So it is very, very amazing how we have grown and everything. And Juntos is part of that growth outlook. So I'm really excited to share about that soon.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: Thank you. Cristina, where are you in the world right now.
[00:03:15] Speaker D: Right now I'm in Guatemala, so I'm excited. Hopefully, that would be a future location for Juntos. Who knows?
[00:03:26] Speaker A: Wonderful idea. Indy, welcome.
[00:03:28] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you so much. I have to apologize to you and everyone else because I have been in Colombia for the last month speaking in Spanish 24 7, and I think this is the first time that I speak in English in a long time. So if I'm speaking a little bit slower or if I stumble a little bit, please, ap. Please accept my apologies. I was listening to you guys talk, and I'm like, oh, my God, this is English. That's great. So I am, as I said, I am in Colombia in a little town called Sachica.
This is where my parents decided to move. Imagine going to the middle of nowhere and just keep going a little bit further down, and that's where I am right now. How will I describe myself? I think, honestly, just a human that is trying to leave a positive footprint in the world. That's it. I try not to complicate it too much. I am in the professional space. I am first and foremost an entrepreneur, and it's wonderful to be surrounded by people that are so passionate about the industry.
So I love helping others in this journey of being business owners, and I'm really honored to be here with you guys.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: Thank you so much. And I'm sure there is no shortage of passion in this panel today for Latin Americans talking in English about Latin America. What a funny thing to be doing. But that is the way it is.
Recently, I was looking at 1.5 billion humans communicating English and the risks that are involved in that reality, the cultural risks of the erosion of culture. But that's a conversation for another day that I'm sure we. We love to have today. We're here to talk about Juntos. We're here to talk about Latin America. And the elephant in the room is Juntos. Cristina Carol, what does the name stand for? What's the vision behind it?
[00:05:28] Speaker D: So it's really like it has been on my mind since event one in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, because of Charles Speak. Like, he always approach it very, very in a way that it really explains itself.
So the association of Language Therapists in Latin America and the Caribbean, of course, and it represented translation, localization, and interpreting companies in Latin America and the Caribbean for raising the bar of the standards, of course, in the industry and in a regional level by providing opportunities to five points. That is being in my mind since day one, as I said, for Charles.
So it's raising the bar of standards, Benchmarking, coaching, mentoring, learning. And of course, what we all love networking. We all love networking. And of course, in on site events like this one that is coming in Buenos Aires and virtual events. As you know, we run virtual events as well by webinars organized by Juntos.
[00:06:41] Speaker C: And I would just like to add that Juntos or Juntos means together in both Spanish and Portuguese. These are the two dominant languages in the region.
And that reflects really the core vision of the association, which is collaboration over competition. So as Christina said, JUNTOS was created to elevate those standards and make our region more visible and influential globally.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: Thank you. And for some, they call it coopetition, which is one of the terms that I really like. I'm not sure how it works out. It probably has. Sometimes there is more competition than cooperation, and sometimes there is more cooperation than competition, but definitely it's something that's very attractive. Indy, you're the newest member of the board at Juntos. What attracted you to the association? What have you discovered recently? What can you tell us about that?
[00:07:38] Speaker B: Well, it's so many things, honestly. But for me, it's sort of the perfect intersection between mission driven work almost and business strategy. I mean, when you see the quality of professionals and members of the board, I was so honored that they thought of me as someone that could bring something to the table. So that was like, okay, this is my opportunity to learn from true experts in the industry and also our companies expanding to Latin America. So this was that perfect opportunity to continue with that connection with Latin America.
And when I talk about mission driven work is because CCI Group, that's name of my company, we have been in business for over 13 years and we have a lot of experience working with the US Government. And we understand that there's a lot of companies within the region that would like that opportunity. So who knows, maybe the opportunity to be able to bring that knowledge. Because just like Carol said, this is about collaboration. This is not just about what we can gain, but also what we can give.
So I thought, okay, this almost is like the perfect combo for me. So that's what attracted me to be part of Puntos.
[00:09:06] Speaker A: Thank you. And this is a mission that, you know, some of us have been fortunate to be involved with it from the very beginning. I remember when I had the first conversation with Charles Campbell, I thought he was Argentinian, I have to confess. And then he's telling me he's from New Zealand, and I'm like, we hope that's not Argentinian. A perfect Argentinian accent. And you live in Argentina and Cordoba and all those things.
But you know, we had the opportunity and some of us have been going to every single Juntos event in the past few years.
Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, then we did Lima, Peru, then we did Mexico City.
And we'll talk a little bit about 2026. But Carol Anna, let's talk a little bit about those three previous experiences and what has happened. What has evolved since. Since Rio de Janeiro going through Lima and then in Mexico in 2025.
[00:10:00] Speaker C: Well, I've seen the tremendous growth of Juntos.
I remember going to Rio and it was a small event, 50 people. However, it was in a beautiful location because Juntos has always chosen an amazing location. So that was Rio.
The speakers were excellent as always. Then we to Peru. In Peru we had approximately 150 attendees and more sponsors. Wonderful speakers as always. Again, the city was magnificent. Then Mexico City, we had a higher number, similar though maybe 160 people. And it was a little longer the event and I think it was double the sponsors as we had. And so we noticed that there was more interest internationally to sponsor this event. And also the attendees were from all over the place. We had people from Europe as well as Latin America and the US and this year we are expecting almost double or at least a significant increase in attendees. We already have perhaps tripled the number of sponsors or at least double.
And yeah, that's what I have to say. It's been always in wonderful locations that speak to Juntos or Juntos idea of cooperation and also based in Latin America. The cities are accessible and each one of the cities that we have chosen speak to the idea of diversity and also intellectual exchange. And Buenos Aires is precisely one of those cities. And I can talk about it after Cristina mentions her input.
[00:11:56] Speaker D: It's been a long journey, as I told you. It's already been for myself. Ten years in this amazing industry. And it's been since event one in Rio de Janeiro, Peru and Mexico City that we have just filled this connection with all these experts. It has been really amazing to share and live the experience of the Juntos event on site event as well as leaving the webinars that it had been through Juntos.
It's been some changes since the last event that we had in Mexico. I really want to share an insight, something that we have discussed in the Mexico event. We did hack some conference that were separated so we miss a little bit. Like we have some feedback from the attendees that they missed a little bit because they wanted to be at the same conference, at the same time. But you cannot just clone yourself. So it was very difficult to be in the. In both conferences.
So we didn't want to do that this event. So I'm going to assure you that will not happen in Buenos Aires. So you will be enjoying all conferences with all the attendees. And this will bring, of course, more networking and connection.
And I'm pretty sure, like, it's something that I have enjoyed since Juntos in Rio de Janeiro, Peru and Mexico, that everyone shares a lot of challenges that they have been through their companies with all of what is going on, right? AI, technology, sales, of course.
So it's going to be very interesting what we are going to be sharing in this Juntos event in Buenos Aires.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: And I like to pause here to talk a little bit more about Buenos Aires, to talk about Argentina. Indy is your first event of Juntos. For us, it's a little different, right. We've got some points of reference. We're excited about the new things. We can't avoid biting, compare and say, oh my God, the party here or these activities over there.
[00:14:15] Speaker C: Indeed.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: How are you receiving the program? How are you receiving the assignment from the board? How are you experiencing this stage in your experience with Juntos?
[00:14:28] Speaker B: Okay, this has been so far, the conference hasn't even started and it's been so fun just to read the papers that people have presented to, you know, to. To read what the speakers want to talk about. That has been wonderful and it's been a very challenging process because there's a lot of really good people, there's a lot of high quality speakers. So just that alone, it doesn't matter what part of the world it is. I was like, I'm in.
If this is what this is going to be like, I'm in all the way. I don't care where it is.
So that has been wonderful. I have never been to Argentina, so that's another plus. I love the fact that this association is so interested in bringing so much knowledge from the region and it shows by having these events in different parts of the. Of the region.
So we, not only we are learning, we continue to learn about the industry, but we're learning about all these countries and cultures where we are interacting constantly. Half of my team is in Argentina and I haven't met a lot of them in person. So this is. I'm going to be there for a whole month. So guys, if whoever is going to be there for a little bit longer, contact me, we'll do something because I'm going to be there for a whole month and I'm super excited.
[00:15:59] Speaker A: So that is really great. India, we were talking about also about your Colombian team which I'm going to be meeting at some point this year.
I'm really excited to also dig a little bit deeper into the program. Christina, you made some promises that this time we're not going to be splitting our hearts into two great experiences that we wanted to have. What can you tell us about the topics that you are seeing there before we talk about the city and what Argentina has up for us?
[00:16:28] Speaker D: Well we have right now we have already confirmed some speaker through social media as you have seen.
We have Natalie Kelly from Like is the author of Brand Global Adapt Local. So just what that title you can already have in mind. A little bit of what she's going to share is really exciting. I'm excited for that conference specifically. And also we have Juan Santiago, founder and CEO of Suntex Group is a global technology company using innovation to solve human and business.
So it's also keynote speaker. So we also will have Juan Santiago in the event for the specific topic that we will share about. Of course you will hear about branding, technology, AI of course is something that we couldn't miss this event specifically technology and sales is already in our lineup of our speakers. And just to share more about our speakers we have Elizabeth Miranda, also a keynote speaker that we already posted. Carla Itzkowitz that is already in an industry for a long time and you all should know her.
We have Fabiana Seed for Powerling that is also technology related.
David Brackett, Jessica Yakub that we already posted as well. Honey, allow to be that he will present with Carol so you maybe can share a little bit. But of course diversity topic it will be in Buenos Aires as well.
Luciana Ramos and many more that we will post soon. I promise we'll post soon the last speaker so you can have the full program and decide not to miss this event because you will regret it.
[00:18:33] Speaker A: Absolutely.
I'm already thinking about what are the things that need to happen for me to make it to Buenos Aires.
I can't leave this amazing group of people that have attended every single Juntos event.
I cannot avoid it.
So I think it's very important that you have mentioned the diversity of the speakers and also the opportunities that we'll have to connect with those speakers. Carol, we're gonna be in Argentina. We're gonna be in Buenos Aires networking for those that like wine with wine. For those that don't have wine, other options will be available including Amazing foods and meats with the asados. Carol, what can you tell us about the city and about the decision of choosing Buenos Aires in Argentina, which is not an easy choice because we have so many alternatives in Latin America, which we will explore in the future, certainly. But what can you tell us about Buenos Aires and Argentina as a choice for vamos juntos 2026?
[00:19:29] Speaker C: Well, before I tell you about Argentina, I am going to convince you to go to Juntos because we should create one of these loyalty cards where you get like a stamp on your little passport and you need to have the Argentinian. Argentinian stamp. But and also, I just wanted to say, along with Cristina's question, that we're going to talk about language access, which is of course the topic. The topic that most interests me, and I'm very excited about that. So why do we choose Buenos Aires?
Well, if you think about Buenos Aires and all the literature that has come from there, it really is a city where it invites dialogue. I've been there a couple of times, loved it. And it has this rich cultural life, Buenos Aires specifically.
And I also think that one of the key aspects of Buenos Aires is that it's very inviting to the international community.
And like in any other city in Latin America, it has that.
That nice tradition of keep the conversation going even after an event occurs. Right. It's like we always have the most important conversations on sessions over coffee or over wine. Right. And the other thing is, it's not only Argentina, it's also the Pontifical Catholic University where the event is going to be held. And UCA is, is a very respected institution. It has very strong programs in communication, humanities. And Argentina is also a hub for translation work big time.
So I think that hosting the summit there sends a message, right, that language services are grounded in that knowledge and ethics that the university and the city exude.
And I'm very excited about visiting Argentina.
This is going to be my third time.
And I'm just blown away about the variety of the nature and the combination and city and countryside. I even have a book here that says En la Patagonia.
So, yes, I think it's a place. It's a wonderful place for those who want to just make a stop in Buenos Aires and get a feel for how this city operates and how it has influenced literature and humanities in all Latin America. I remember that one of my favorite authors when I was a child was precisely from Argentina, Julio Cortazar. So it's always been in the imaginary of everybody in Latin America. Right? You're kind of like asked to read in school, at least here in Colombia, or prompted to read Argentinian authors.
So as you can tell, I'm in love with Argentina. I need to get my citizenship there.
[00:22:36] Speaker A: Yes, yes, yes. Thank you so much for sharing. And I'm sure those that have already decided, because many people have already decided to go to Juntos, they've already registered and many more are in the process of getting their budgets aligned so that they can register.
Digging deeper into what JUNTOS means for the overall landscape in the industry. Carl, while we have you here, how is this initiative helping elevate language accessibility, collaboration, visibility in the region? And how relevant is language accessibility for associations operating outside of the U.S. yes.
[00:23:11] Speaker C: You know, when I started my work with Language Access, I had a very US centered kind of vision. Right.
[00:23:18] Speaker A: And.
[00:23:18] Speaker C: And I realized over the past few years actually that when we talk about language access, Latin America has a lot to say. Right. Especially one of the countries I have studied at least a little bit is Argentina and the linguistic diversity there. So we are talking about a set of countries that speak Spanish, English, French, Dutch, Creole languages, indigenous languages, and there is constant cross border immigration.
So there is language access.
Language access needs to be discussed. Also in this setting it has. We have to move from the idea that this is an issue that only US has or discusses or Australia or Canada, and bring the focus more to Latin America. So what JUNTOS does is to create that shared space where Caribbean voices are not the afterthought. Right.
And how we do that, we're bringing professionals, companies and everybody together under this umbrella.
And we want to really underscore that visibility of the diversity of languages in the region and how they impact.
So this is kind of like what I want to talk about, how linguistic diversity has impact in the communities of Latin America and sort of shift the focus.
[00:24:50] Speaker A: The relevance of language accessibility for those associations outside of the United States. Of course, very important in the States.
And there are many associations that are taking note of what JUNTOS is doing. And that's why you've been invited to events in Sambad, like in India, also in Saudi Arabia, to talk about the effect that all of this would have outside of the United States. And it should have actually outside of the United States.
[00:25:15] Speaker C: Yes. I mean, migration exists everywhere and language accessibility should be a cross border topic.
The more globalized we are in the world, the more the topic of language accessibility should become prominent. And really the more we look to each of the Latin American countries, and Cristina will tell me, will emphasize this, the more we realize the Linguistic diversity that every community has and also that the impact is similar.
Right. So when we were trying to, basically, I shouldn't say we are trying to, but the idea would be, at least from my perspective, that companies get, get this as an opportunity to help the community in different ways, not only focus on the dominant languages of the country, but all of those indigenous languages that cover multiple people across borders. So that's really the relevance and the impact and the interest that language access has for the region.
[00:26:20] Speaker A: Completely, completely understood. Carl, thank you so much for sharing your perspective. Indy, you've mentioned your presence in Latin America, your team growing in Argentina. I know of your presence in Colombia. The language services industry is evolving in Latin America and in the Caribbean. I've had many conversations with Colombian companies that don't know the industry exists. They exist within their own ecosystems and they provide all these services and work with all these larger companies, but they don't realize that there is this ecosystem. From your perspective and what you have seen, how's that evolution taking place in Latin America?
What makes this moment significant for the region as an opportunity?
[00:27:04] Speaker B: So just like Carol was mentioning, there's such a rich diversity in this region that it will be foolish not to learn from how these communities are already trying to communicate amongst themselves. Right. So I believe that Juntos is also bringing that platform to show that not only Europe, not only north, the US has all the, let's say, all the right answers when it comes to communication. So this is an opportunity for us to learn other ways to provide language access. And I think it's beautiful. That's one of the things that I have seen here in, in Colombia is that there's a lot of indigenous dialects and people have to communicate. And it's funny, I have seen things that I have never seen in the US I have seen them done here. And I think again, Juntos is giving that platform to show that Latin America is a strong player. Latin America knows how to provide language access. And.
And we are here to learn from each other.
[00:28:28] Speaker A: Absolutely. And Christine, of course, you know this firsthand. You're now in sales and you are forced to look at opportunities from Latin American to Latin American. What is your reading of this opportunity in this moment in time?
[00:28:44] Speaker D: Well, I think it's very important, the time that is happening. And of course this specific topic will open doors specifically at this time, as you are all aware of what is going on in our world right now, worldwide, like United States, Venezuela, a lot of things happening right now. So we all need this language access topic to be in our minds more than ever, I think. So it's really bringing me perfect timing for me to learn how to sell that. As you know, Guatemala has more than 22 languages, indigenous languages. So it's very important markets for us to be aware and to know how to sell it and how to also be fair to those people who want to communicate but doesn't know how to get their thoughts or their needs to the right people or the authorities. Right.
[00:29:45] Speaker B: And if I may add something real quick, I see that, well, we all know the impact that that technology, that artificial intelligence is having in our industry.
And this is making globalization happen even faster.
So companies want to expand globally. Now, the world is not as big as we thought it was.
So now companies are trying to venture to open their doors and provide their products, provide their services to. To other countries that they never thought about doing it before. So what I think is that there's also a need to be. The local companies see the need to be more professional. And that's how an association like Juntos can help those small companies in different countries to understand also how to provide language access and how to help those companies in their countries to expand global.
[00:30:46] Speaker C: And also, if I may, this increase or this speed rather, of the evolution of AI and technology is also an opportunity to underscore the parts of technology and AI, for example, that can only be covered, or rather the parts that technology and AI don't cover. Like, for example, the emphasis on values. I'm big on values and ethics. This is something I really like to do talk about. Because even if we have an expansive technology, we really need to understand what affects people the most. Right.
So we are right now in a moment where we can use technology to improve the lives of people and perhaps use that technology to prevent the loss of language of languages. Right. As you mentioned at some point during the conversation, Eddie, now we have a tremendous amount of people that speak English and perhaps some of the languages are disappearing. In fact, some of the languages are disappearing. So what's the role of technology in preventing that loss of language? And also what's the role, the role of the human to use technology so that we can actually appropriately tackle the trauma of many communities or the lack of equality of many communities.
So I think that's another opportunity that remains there to be explored.
[00:32:15] Speaker A: Fantastic. And they say that time flies when you are having fun. Definitely, time is flying.
We should meet in Buenos Aires, in Argentina. I've said it as a prophetic phrase. I have no confirmations of my attendance to Buenos Aires. In Argentina. But hopefully we'll make it. We'll make it happen. Before we go, is there anything you'd like to add? Where can we find more information? Those that are on the verge of deciding they are buying their tickets this week. They are registering today as they are listening to this conversation. What message do you have out there before we go?
[00:32:53] Speaker C: Well, just to say that first I think at the time of this recording you can purchase the tickets and that will include also the membership of this to the association.
May I say prices here. Is it okay? It's around 5, $550 for both and it all depends on when you buy it because we had early birthday special then I think that increases to $700.
And the other thing is that for sponsors we're making these incredibly accessible because we are focusing on sparking the interest of small and mid sized sponsors or mid sized companies rather I should say.
So the pricing for sponsorship is really accessible and there are a lot of spots still available like coffee breaks. There are some active sponsorships like coffee breaks, luncheons, dinners and there are others that other types of sponsorships where you can sponsor the event by deciding to add like an item to the, to the bag. So there, there is a broad range which makes it accessible for all sorts of all size, all company companies of all sizes to be. To become sponsors. So you can contact me@carol vellandiaqualaccesslanguageservices.com for sponsorship opportunities and I don't know if we can share the link to the event when you post this.
[00:34:19] Speaker A: We will do that.
[00:34:20] Speaker D: Yeah. Also just do quick lecture. We will have two workshops during March 12. So in case you want to arrive a little bit earlier than the event that is March 13th and 14th, we have two workshops. One is from Natalie Kelly and.
And the other one is Power Pal Barlow. It's about technology and the one from Natalie Kelly is how to build your brand. So it's very interesting in case you want to attend is going to be available as well in the Eventbrite site where you can find the tickets for the event and well, I think it's really just a message so you don't miss this event and hopefully we will get to see all of you out there.
[00:35:08] Speaker B: So from my perspective, I would like to say that in my business we limit memberships to only three every year. Right. Because I always say if I'm going to be a member of an association I want to make sure that I'm active in that association. And I know that sometimes people belong to this chamber, the other chamber and 100 associations. Right? But if you are hesitant about joining Juntos or coming to this event because you think that Juntos is so new, I want you to see this as a strength because it's going to give you the opportunity to have more meaningful connections with people. Because it's not such a large group like other conferences that I know we've been to in different parts of Europe that, you know, there are hundreds if not thousands of attendees and you just get lost in the crowd here. You're not going to get lost in the crowd. You're going to be able to have meaningful participation and that's what we want from this conference. So I am on LinkedIn. Please feel free to ask me questions if I know that anyone in the board here is really passionate about this event and we would love to solve any questions you guys may have.
[00:36:31] Speaker A: Thank you very much, Indy, Cristina, Carol, and I'm sure you won't get lost in the crowd. You will get lost in the asado. That's hopefully in all the wine, the tango, the wine, perhaps the football. I'd like to play some football and teach these Argentinians how it's done Colombian style. Now have another motivation. I know they are world champions, but they can still learn some things. Thank you, Christina. Thank you, Indy. Thank you, Carl for joining us today.
[00:37:03] Speaker C: Thank you, Eddie.
[00:37:04] Speaker B: Thank you, Eddie.
[00:37:08] Speaker A: Thank you everyone in our audience for listening to to localization today. Like I mentioned, a big thank you to Carol, Christina and Indy for joining us and sharing their perspective on how Latin America and the Caribbean is reshaping the future of language services, not just through technology and business innovation, but through collaboration, inclusion and purpose. We are going to put in the comments of this recording where you can register for the wonderful event Vamos juntos. Vamos Juntos 2026, which will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina on March 12th to the 15th of 2026. Did I say their dates correctly?
[00:37:51] Speaker D: Yes, yes, yes.
[00:37:53] Speaker A: To the 15th around the impact. Get there on the 10th and leave on the 20th. That's what you should be doing. Everyone catch new episodes of Localization today on Spotify, Apple podcast, casts and YouTube. Subscribe rate and share so others can find the show. Once again, my name is Eddie Arrieta, CEO here at Multilingual Media. Thanks for joining us and we'll see you next time. Goodbye.
