Elvire Mekoudjou, Project Manager

Elvire Mekoudjou comes from Central Africa, French-speaking Cameroon to be precise. Her interest in translation began because of her father’s admiration of a close family friend who spoke several languages and was working for an international organization. For Elvire, success would mean learning languages and focusing her professional sights on international opportunities.

Eventually, Elvire acquired her Masters in translation. She completed her schooling at the first Anglo-Saxon University of Cameroon. Following her studies, Elvire became a remote independent translator, acquiring clients in France, the U.-S., and Canada.

Elvire ended up choosing Canada as her home. She has since been hired by Wintranslation as a project manager. She is a remarkable team member who not only is instrumental in leading our Indigenous language projects but is a caring mother. She is building confidence and discovering skills she did not know she had, like negotiation abilities.

She describes her work with Indigenous translators quite eloquently. In Cameroon alone, there are more than 200 ethnicities, and she sees something similar in the many dialects used in Indigenous and Inuktut languages. ‘’You are an intermediary between two different cultural groups and facilitating the communication as project manager. In Cameroon, there are so many ethnic groups that everyone is a member of a minority! The last thing you want to do is show disrespect by appropriating the specifics of another group. I do bring this awareness to communications in my work.’’

Special Word in Cameroonian: Mekoudjou. My last name is predestined to what I do for a living. My name means the one who goes and listens. I understand this to be the role of a facilitator between people.