The Team
The Team
Our collective Intelligence
Meet our Team
With the help of our partners from around the world, we are working to bring you a diverse array of languages to hear and learn. We are dedicated to the eco-intelligent design of the Lingua Bear™ toy, and to our mission of recording and helping to revitalize as many languages as possible, before they disappear.
It will take a conscious and continuous effort on many fronts to ensure their survival, and we are excited to make our contribution by providing a way to learn lesser-known languages while empowering their communities.
Lingua Bear Leadership
Board of Directors
Andrei Golub
Director
Andrei Golub was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated to the US in 1989. Presently, he is studying Public Administration at The Everegreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Before commencing this project, he studied languages and linguistics at the University of Utah, worked in Europe as a language teacher, and volunteered with Peace Corps in South America. He loves learning languages by living in other countries.
Dominique St Clair
Secretary
Dominique St. Clair co-facilitates meditation workshops all over the world. She joined the family business full-time in 2011 and has worked in The Netherlands, Ireland, India, Zimbabwe, Spain, Canada as well as all over the United States. She has volunteered countless hours of her time and paid the legal fees associated with acquiring our 501c3.
Mariessa Maughan
Treasurer
Mariessa Maughan participated in and funded the design process of the Lingua Bear toy. She is also the English speaker for the Guaraní character "Pitulí". As treasurer, she has played an important role in developing our fundraising campaigns and accounting.
Talent Plus dedication Equals
Associates
Fernando Rubio
Language Acquisition Consultant
Fernando Rubio works at the University of Utah and is the Director of the UOnline Curriculum Enhancement and Innovation for Undergraduate Studies. He is also the Director of the Second Language Teaching and Research Center in the College of Humanities, where he is a professor of Spanish Linguistics and World Languages and Cultures.
Tatyana Platonova
Script Localization
Tatyana Evgenievna Platonova is our translation and localization expert, as well as the female speaker for the Moscow dialect. She is a longtime participant in the project and has played a key role in its development. During the initial stage of the project, she was responsible for sewing the Lingua Bear prototype.
Tamrika Khvtisiashvili
Language Revitalization Consultant
Tamrika Khvtisiashvili was most recently an English Language Fellow in Palestine, where she taught Linguistics and Intercultural Communication courses. Prior to that she was an assistant professor at Alfaisal University in Saudi Arabia, teaching various courses in Linguistics, Anthropology and directing the University Preparatory Program.
Afsheen Fatemi
Language Processing
The language coordinator manages all language processing operations and trains project managers. Afsheen has 15+ years in community organization and international relations and helped write our language processing manual.
Carroll Wallace
Copy Editor
Carroll is a firm believer in interdisciplinary education and the arts as a progressive and instrumental tool in society. Her work and on-going curiosity include: Expression. Language. Informal Education. Movement Arts. Innovation. History. Politics. Ethics. Acting. Think-Tanks. History. Writing. Music. Laughing. Performance Art. Research. Film. Viola. Knowledge Exchange.
Brad Vanderford
Business Advisor
Brad Vanderford has a background that combines venture capital, international economic development and management consulting to SMEs. Brad currently provides advisory services to impact investment funds, tech-enabled and impact-driven ventures, and other organizations engaged in international economic development.
Rose Jakub
Community Outreach
Rose of Tábááhí (Edge Water Clan), born for Tódich'ii'nii (Bitter Waters Clan) is working on the script for the Navajo (Diné) language and is an active member of the Lingua Bear board, as well as many other organizations in her community. She works for the Granite School District in Salt Lake City where she teaches Navajo and mentors students.
Aaron Garrett
Legal Counsel
Aaron is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Utah Nonprofit Legal Services. He graduated from the William & Mary Law School in 2009 and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the William & Mary Law Review. For the first four years of his legal career, Aaron worked for a commercial litigation boutique law firm.
Ryan Parrish
Digital Technologist
Ryan is a Utah native who’s drive runs in the vein of web development, political policy reform, and environmental sustainability. With over a decade of full stack development experience, he developed the virtual Lingua Bear and maintains this site and the Lingua Bear digital experience.
Celtic Engineering
Engineering
Sean O'Leary has 20+ years of experience and operates Celtic Engineering Solutions. He has designed a mock circulation system that flew on two space shuttle missions (STS-85 and STS-95), has developed pressure displays for use in medical research, and worked on various DARPA projects.
Peluches Alacrán
Manufacturing Lead
Alfredo González is a Mexican Congressman and the owner of Peluches Alacrán, the factory where the Lingua Bear toy is fitted with electronic components and sewn. They are based in Xonacatlán, Mexico, a community located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains west of Mexico City.
KNHO
Media Production
KNHO is a collective of filmmakers, photographers, designers and musicians based in Salt Lake City, and operated by Mike Eldredge (left). They helped us create our fundraising video pro bono and we plan on working with them on future projects.
be part of a Movement, Intern with Lingua Bear.
Special Thanks!
Thank you for providing beautiful, royalty free imagery:
Iraitz Elguezabal Lejarcegui, Gayatri Malhotra, Jezael Melgoza, Corinne Kutz, @grandriver, Marvin Meyer, Hannah Wright, Jet Dela Cruz,
Tiago Celestino, Ultrash Ricco, Clovis Wood, Wim Van T Einde, & Afaf Azzahiri