Case Study
Rosetta Languages’ Push for Expanded Language Access
Served via Interpreting Work
Overview
Rosetta Languages, a small agency based in Malden, Massachusetts, understands that there is no true equity without linguistic equity. In working to become a high-quality collective of translators and interpreters across a number of languages, Danyal Najmi, Rosetta’s Founder and President, has always been firm in his belief that the voices of non-English-speaking stakeholders need to be actively heard and considered in decision-making that affects them. Partnering with Danyal and his team in over 20 meetings and events across different forms of community interpreting enabled us to address an acute need to serve Portuguese-speaking stakeholders in Massachusetts while actively embodying our purpose to expand language access to empower a society that is more accessible, inclusive, and representative of our diversity.
The Challenge: A Large Language Need Across Different Platforms
Accessing the services and information you need in a language you understand is a right, one that we work tirelessly to uphold and help relevant stakeholders exercise intentionally. Among the many languages spoken in homes throughout the United States, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts touts one of the largest populations of Portuguese-speaking stakeholders in the nation. In fact, this stakeholder group is so considerable in size that several county courts have gone as far as putting Portuguese-speaking language professionals on payroll to ensure that families have quality language access to fully participate in all aspects of public life.
Despite this somewhat rare gesture of appreciation of linguistic diversity in the justice context, the demand for assistance looms large in other areas—advocacy meetings, parent-teacher conferences, awareness campaigns, etc. Rosetta Languages is among the purpose-driven entities on the ground in Massachusetts working to level the linguistic playing field through both translation and interpreting offerings for Portuguese-language speakers. Recognizing an increasingly urgent need for adequate language access online, Rosetta needed to expand its network of trusted language-professional partners to meet the demand.
The Solution: Enabling Full Participation in Public Life
The advent of live interpreting capabilities online has proven to be a significant boon for expanded language-access efforts anywhere and everywhere. In fact, it’s what positioned us to make such an aligned and purposeful connection with Rosetta Languages—even from the other side of the country! There was no doubt that our mutual commitment to work toward a common goal would set us up for a fruitful partnership moving forward.
Understanding the gravity of our role in meeting the need in Massachusetts, we got right to work with Rosetta and have been serving the Commonwealth’s Portuguese-speaking stakeholders in a number of ways:
✔ In 2026 alone, we have coordinated to provide live interpreting between English and Portuguese, in both consecutive and simultaneous modes, in over 20 meetings and events.
✔ We interpreted in a myriad of community contexts—from IEP and special education meetings between parents and teachers to awareness campaigns on immigrant rights, from interactive city budget hearings to sessions on renters’ rights.
✔ We displayed logistical agility and dominion in navigating stakeholder needs through online platforms (Zoom, Teams, etc.) in delivering our interpreting services, including cohesive collaboration with our colleagues to seamlessly provide relay interpreting where necessary.
The Impact: Empowering Stakeholders to Exercise their Rights
✔ Positioned families to make more informed decisions around what’s best for them.
✔ Fostered closer ties in Massachusetts between residents and public service providers of Malden, Cambridge, and Somerville. These residents may speak different languages at home, yet they are still neighbors and are therefore interdependent on each other for the betterment of their communities as a whole.
✔ Represented the standard that all language professionals should meet, uplifting translation and interpreting (T&I) as a global profession.
✔ Strengthened credibility with key stakeholders, thus cementing our position as a valued language-professional partner for Rosetta Languages moving forward.
Partner Perspective
I have worked with Jeffrey on numerous remote simultaneous interpretation jobs, and he is an excellent interpreter. Not only is he a master at interpreting in both directions between English and Portuguese in real time but he is also completely familiar with the Zoom interpretation interface, including relay interpretation, and he always shows up well prepared for assignments. A true professional all around!
By acting on the importance of language access in individual stakeholders’ everyday lives through our partnership with Rosetta Languages so far, we’ve remained steadfast in upholding our top priority: empowering non-English-speaking stakeholders to actively and effectively exercise their rights to full participation in discussions that directly affect them.
How About You?
Are language barriers limiting your impact? Your mission deserves to be heard—clearly, accurately, and in real time. Whether in courtrooms or at conferences, language differences shouldn’t stand in the way of advocacy, collaboration, or decision-making. It’s at these crossroads where we operate best. Learn more about how we can build bridges to purposeful impact together through our Interpreting service.