From Volunteer Translator to Humanitarian Language Work: Supporting Multilingual Communication at the American Red Cross

Photo by Scott Dalton/American Red Cross. © The American National Red Cross 2024. All rights reserved in all countries.

By Renato Fuentes

While coordinating volunteer linguists requires careful organization and attention to quality, it also demonstrates the important role language professionals can play in humanitarian work.

During the 2025 California wildfires, our team received a request for an English-to-Spanish translation consisting of only a single sentence encouraging people to seek assistance from the American Red Cross during the disaster. At the time, it seemed like a routine task—one of many small translation requests that pass through the team each week. What began as a quick translation of a single sentence, completed with little context and no insight into its final purpose, eventually reached an audience of thousands.

It wasn’t until later that we learned the translated message had been placed on a large banner along a major avenue in California during the wildfire response. A translation of a single sentence that took only a few minutes to produce became a source of comfort and support for thousands, ensuring equitable access for many. What initially appeared to be a small assignment had suddenly taken on a much larger meaning.

Experiences like this serve as an important reminder for localization teams: even the smallest pieces of text can carry significant visibility and impact. When translation is used in public communication, especially during emergencies, the quality of a single phrase can influence how clearly and effectively information reaches a community.

For humanitarian organizations such as the American Red Cross, multilingual communication plays an essential role in ensuring that safety information, lifesaving skills, and disaster preparedness resources reach diverse audiences. Translation is not simply a technical step in the communication process but part of how organizations ensure that critical information is accessible to the people who need it most.

My own involvement with translation at the American Red Cross began as a volunteer. Shortly after arriving in the U.S., I was looking for ways to contribute to my community. With a background in language studies, volunteering as a translator seemed like a natural fit. I joined the American Red Cross as a Spanish translator and proofreader in early 2023, around the time the organization was launching a pilot initiative known as the Translator Hub. The goal of this initiative was to create a centralized structure for managing translation and localization requests and coordinating the work of volunteer linguists across the organization.

Since then, the Translator Hub has become a key part of how the American Red Cross coordinates multilingual communication across its programs. Through this system, volunteer linguists help translate a wide range of materials—primarily into Spanish, though other languages are supported as needed— from disaster preparedness resources and blood donation campaigns to community outreach materials and website content.

A Centralized Approach to Multilingual Communication

Within the American Red Cross, translation and localization efforts are coordinated by the Multicultural Communications team. This team works across departments to support multilingual communication for a wide range of programs and initiatives.

Although the team itself is relatively small, its work reaches across the organization. The American Red Cross operates multiple lines of service, including disaster response, blood services, support for military families, and community preparedness programs. Each of these areas produces materials intended for public audiences, and many of those audiences include people who communicate in languages other than English.

To help address this need, the organization has been working to centralize translation processes and resources. Centralization allows language professionals to work with shared terminology databases, style guides, and translation workflows. It also helps ensure that messages are consistent across different programs and languages.

In large organizations, translation requests can originate from many different departments. Without coordination, this can lead to inconsistencies in terminology, tone, or formatting. By developing shared language resources and centralized processes, the organization can maintain a more coherent multilingual voice.

The American Red Cross Translator Hub

Through the Translation Hub platform, staff members submit translation requests that are then assigned to qualified volunteer translators and reviewers. The system also provides access to resources that support translators in their work, including terminology databases, translation memories, and style guidelines. These resources help provide context and consistency across projects. They also allow translators to work with reference materials that reflect the organization’s communication standards.

Volunteer linguists work remotely and may select assignments based on their availability. Some volunteers schedule specific three-hour shifts during which they complete translation tasks, while others participate through a more flexible model in which assignments can be claimed as they become available. This flexibility is particularly important in volunteer environments, where participants often balance translation work with professional or personal commitments.

Types of Materials Volunteers Translate

The materials translated through the Translator Hub cover a wide range of topics and formats. Some assignments involve translating disaster preparedness materials to help communities prepare for emergencies such as home fires, hurricanes, floods, or wildfires. These resources often focus on prevention and safety education. Other projects relate to public health and community services. For example, translators may work on materials supporting blood donation campaigns, water safety initiatives, or community outreach programs.

Volunteers may also translate website content, informational flyers, social media posts, educational resources, and public awareness messaging. In some cases, linguists contribute to audiovisual projects by creating subtitles for videos used in training or community education.

Because these materials are designed for broad public audiences, clarity and accessibility are particularly important. Volunteer translators must consider not only linguistic accuracy but also how effectively the message will resonate with the intended audience.

Maintaining Quality in a Volunteer Environment

One of the key challenges in coordinating volunteer translation programs is maintaining high standards of quality while working within a flexible structure.

Volunteer translators often bring a wide range of professional backgrounds and experience levels. Many are trained linguists or experienced translators who wish to apply their expertise in a humanitarian context. To support quality, the program prioritizes recruiting volunteers who have formal training in translation, linguistics, or related fields, or who have demonstrated professional translation experience.

Translation workflows include revision or review steps before materials are finalized. This helps ensure that translations are accurate, culturally appropriate, and consistent with the organization’s communication standards.

Even with these structures in place, volunteer programs rely heavily on collaboration and trust. Linguists contribute their time and expertise because they care about the mission, and maintaining a shared commitment to quality is an important part of that collaboration.

Opportunities for Translators

Volunteer translators can contribute to the program in several ways. Translation itself is, of course, a central activity. However, volunteers may also support revision and proofreading processes, helping ensure that translated materials meet quality standards before they are distributed.

Terminology work is another important area of contribution. Maintaining consistent terminology helps organizations communicate clearly across languages, particularly when working with specialized topics related to disaster response, public health, or community services.

As I mentioned earlier, some linguists contribute to audiovisual projects, assisting with subtitling for educational videos. Others may participate in transcreation efforts, adapting campaign messaging so it resonates more effectively with different linguistic and cultural audiences.

Because the organization produces such a wide variety of materials, linguists with different areas of expertise often find meaningful ways to contribute.

Becoming a Volunteer Translator

More than 90% of the American Red Cross workforce is composed of volunteers who are essential to carrying out its daily humanitarian mission.

For translators interested in volunteering with the Red Cross, the process typically begins with submitting a short application through the organization’s volunteer portal. Applicants whose backgrounds align with the program’s needs may be contacted by the Volunteer Services team for an introductory conversation. During this conversation, prospective volunteers are typically asked about their language pairs (the languages they translate from and into) as well as any specialized areas of expertise, such as disaster response, public health, legal, or medical content. The team also asks about their translation experience, including any formal training, certifications, or professional work. Finally, volunteers are asked about their availability, including how many hours they can commit and whether they prefer scheduled shifts or a flexible, on-demand model.

If the applicant is accepted, the onboarding process begins. This typically involves training, gaining access to the translation management system, and becoming familiar with the language resources used by the team.

Once onboarding is complete, volunteers can begin accepting assignments through the system. Because many translation requests are relatively short, volunteers are often able to contribute even if they have limited availability. Small contributions can still have a meaningful impact, particularly when they help ensure that critical information is accessible to multilingual communities.

Volunteers can expect a diverse range of assignments, from disaster relief documents and training materials to social media posts and public awareness messaging. Once onboarded, translators have access to the organization’s computer-assisted translation tool, terminology database, and style guide, which help ensure consistency and provide useful context for each project.

Turnaround times vary depending on the type of request. Training materials may allow several weeks for translation, while press releases and disaster relief documents often carry 24- to 48-hour deadlines due to their urgency. Short deadlines can be a challenge, but the program has processes in place to support timely delivery. Volunteers who have questions, whether technical, contextual, or linguistic, can reach out to a project manager, who will route the inquiry to the right person.

Most translation work is completed independently, though volunteers have opportunities to connect with the broader team and expand their professional network.

The typical workflow depends on the file type, but generally follows a sequence of translation, revision, and, where applicable, desktop publishing. For longer or more complex documents, a terminologist may perform a term extraction before translation begins. Depending on the material, the work may range from transcreation and adaptation of messaging for cultural resonance to machine translation post-editing.

Language Access and Humanitarian Communication

Humanitarian organizations rely on clear and effective communication to serve diverse communities. When important information is available only in one language, it can limit access for people who may already face barriers during emergencies or public health situations. Translation helps bridge these gaps.

Volunteer linguists play a valuable role in helping organizations communicate across languages and cultures. Their contributions allow safety information, health guidance, and community resources to reach a broader audience. For translators, volunteering can also provide a meaningful way to apply professional skills in a context where language access directly supports community well-being.

While coordinating volunteer linguists requires careful organization and attention to quality, it also demonstrates the important role language professionals can play in humanitarian work.

For many translators, volunteer translation becomes not only a professional activity but also a way to contribute to the broader mission of the Red Cross: ensuring that essential information is accessible to all communities, regardless of the language they speak.

Resources and Similar Stories

American Red Cross National Spanish Translator/Proofreader Volunteer Position
American Red Cross Guide to Getting Started as a Volunteer
Volunteer Story: Bridging Worlds: Deivid Ocampo’s Impact as a Spanish Translator at the American Red Cross
Volunteer Highlight: Alejandra Schwarz

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Renato Fuentes is a multicultural communications manager at the American Red Cross, where he supports language access initiatives to help ensure critical information reaches diverse communities across the United States. He helps manage the Red Cross Translator Hub, a network of volunteer linguists who translate and adapt disaster preparedness, blood donation, and emergency communications into multiple languages. His work focuses on strengthening multilingual communication workflows, improving translation quality, and supporting collaboration between staff and volunteer linguists to ensure accurate and culturally appropriate communication during emergencies. renato.fuentes@redcross.org