Staff
Maria Vertkin - Founder, Executive Director
maria@found-in-translation.org
Maria was born in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia and lived in Kadima, Israel before immigrating to the United States. In addition to English, Maria speaks Russian, Hebrew, Spanish, and a little Portuguese. Maria studied Social Work at Regis College and began her career at the nonprofit Rediscovery. There she worked with adolescents transitioning out of foster care and led two pilot programs: a summer jobs program for at-risk youth and an innovative school-based program for homeless, unaccompanied high school students. She has also worked with survivors of domestic violence, was a mentor to girls at Big Sister of Greater Boston, a support group facilitator at Parents Helping Parents, a phone counselor on the state-wide Parental Stress Line, and translated for the grassroots media project Alive in Mexico to raise awareness of social justice issues in Mexico. For her service and dedication to the community, Maria has received several awards, including the 2009 Veronica Award from the Superstars Foundation, the 2010 Pearson Prize, the 2011 Women of Peace Award from the Women's Peacepower Foundation, and most notably, the 2011 Kip Tiernan Social Justice Fellowship, which has enabled her to launch Found in Translation.
maria@found-in-translation.org
Maria was born in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia and lived in Kadima, Israel before immigrating to the United States. In addition to English, Maria speaks Russian, Hebrew, Spanish, and a little Portuguese. Maria studied Social Work at Regis College and began her career at the nonprofit Rediscovery. There she worked with adolescents transitioning out of foster care and led two pilot programs: a summer jobs program for at-risk youth and an innovative school-based program for homeless, unaccompanied high school students. She has also worked with survivors of domestic violence, was a mentor to girls at Big Sister of Greater Boston, a support group facilitator at Parents Helping Parents, a phone counselor on the state-wide Parental Stress Line, and translated for the grassroots media project Alive in Mexico to raise awareness of social justice issues in Mexico. For her service and dedication to the community, Maria has received several awards, including the 2009 Veronica Award from the Superstars Foundation, the 2010 Pearson Prize, the 2011 Women of Peace Award from the Women's Peacepower Foundation, and most notably, the 2011 Kip Tiernan Social Justice Fellowship, which has enabled her to launch Found in Translation.
Julia Rozier - Program Director
julia@found-in-translation.org
Julia Rozier began her tenure at Found in Translation in Spring of 2011 as a childcare volunteer, and was quickly promoted up the ranks. Her interest in social justice and human rights led her to explore various aspects of international development, human psychology, and languages in college, culminating in her decision to pursue a career in the health field. After graduating with a B.A. in Biological Anthropology from Harvard College, she traveled to Tanzania to work with the non-profit 2Seeds, which engaged projects in agricultural sustainability. Since then, she has worked as an IT User Assistant at the Harvard Extension School where she could simultaneously take the prerequisite classes required to apply to medical school. She speaks French, German, a little bit of Spanish, and a little bit of Swahili. This multicultural background, combined with her semi-nomadic Navy upbringing, has made this position helping multilingual, multicultural, and immigrant women a dream come true. Outside of work and classes, she enjoys painting, running, and bad TV.
julia@found-in-translation.org
Julia Rozier began her tenure at Found in Translation in Spring of 2011 as a childcare volunteer, and was quickly promoted up the ranks. Her interest in social justice and human rights led her to explore various aspects of international development, human psychology, and languages in college, culminating in her decision to pursue a career in the health field. After graduating with a B.A. in Biological Anthropology from Harvard College, she traveled to Tanzania to work with the non-profit 2Seeds, which engaged projects in agricultural sustainability. Since then, she has worked as an IT User Assistant at the Harvard Extension School where she could simultaneously take the prerequisite classes required to apply to medical school. She speaks French, German, a little bit of Spanish, and a little bit of Swahili. This multicultural background, combined with her semi-nomadic Navy upbringing, has made this position helping multilingual, multicultural, and immigrant women a dream come true. Outside of work and classes, she enjoys painting, running, and bad TV.
Jennifer Channin - Interim Development Director
jennifer@found-in-translation.org
Jennifer brings to Found in Translation 7 years of experience serving the nonprofit sector, 4 of which were spent as a fundraising and development consultant to more than a dozen nonprofits in New York City. Her employment history includes the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, Rediscovery in Waltham MA, the American Friends Service Committee in Cambridge, and the Partnership for Public Service in Washington D.C. Jennifer has a BA in International Development from McGill University, a MDiv from Harvard Divinity School, and is a Unitarian Universalist minister. She is a dual-citizen of the US and Brazil, speaks English and Portuguese (as well as some French, Spanish, and German) and has lived abroad in English and French Canada for five years.
jennifer@found-in-translation.org
Jennifer brings to Found in Translation 7 years of experience serving the nonprofit sector, 4 of which were spent as a fundraising and development consultant to more than a dozen nonprofits in New York City. Her employment history includes the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, Rediscovery in Waltham MA, the American Friends Service Committee in Cambridge, and the Partnership for Public Service in Washington D.C. Jennifer has a BA in International Development from McGill University, a MDiv from Harvard Divinity School, and is a Unitarian Universalist minister. She is a dual-citizen of the US and Brazil, speaks English and Portuguese (as well as some French, Spanish, and German) and has lived abroad in English and French Canada for five years.
