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.
Talent Plus Dedication Equals
Board of Directors
Lingua Bear Leadership
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 Evergreen 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 the Peace Corps in South America.
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 status.
Dmitri Smirnov
Treasurer Dmitri Smirnov provides financial oversight and support for budget and reporting matters. He is a CPA and MBA with over 25 years of financial experience in corporate and non-profit environments. He started as an accountant in 1996, retired as Corp Controller in 2022, and is now helping nonprofits with their accounting needs in Utah.
Mariessa Maughan
Board Member Mariessa Maughan is a graduate of the University of Utah and funded the design process of the Lingua Bear toy. She is also the English speaker for the Guaraní character "Pitulí". As the founding Treasurer of Lingua Bear, she has played an integral role in developing our fundraising campaigns and accounting.
Rose Jakub
Board Member
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.
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 Specialist
Tatyana Evgenievna Platonova is a retired University of Utah language teacher and our translation/localization expert. She played the female speaker for the Moscow dialect of Russian and is presently finalizing the Sevastopol dialect of Ukrainian. She is a longtime participant in the project, having played a key role in its early development. During the initial stage of the project, she was responsible for sewing the Lingua Bear toy prototype.
Tamrika Khvtisiashvili
Language Revitalization Specialist
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 recording 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 graduate of Denison University based in Ohio, and is a firm believer in interdisciplinary education and the arts as a progressive and instrumental tool in society. Her work and on-going curiosities include: informal education, inter-cultural knowledge exchange, movement arts, innovation, history, politics, ethics, acting, think-tanks, writing, music, laughing, performance art, research, film, and her main instrument—the viola. .
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.
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.
Celtic Engineering
Engineering
Sean O'Leary has 25+ years of experience working as an mechanical and electrical engineer 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
Toy 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 learn how to create and manage our media and we continue to collaborate with them today.
be part of a Movement, Intern with Lingua Bear.
Special Thanks!
Thank you for providing beautiful imagery:
Walt Lacy, 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