The Benefits of Membership in a Professional Association

by Marybeth Timmermann, MA, CT

Many translators and interpreters wonder if being a member of a professional association is “worth it.” I believe that the answer is a resounding “yes,” so I recently shared a series of LinkedIn posts exploring the benefits of supporting and belonging to professional associations for translators and interpreters. Here is a summary of the many benefits of membership:

Professional associations continually offer a plethora of valuable resources to their members, to potential language service clients, and to the industry at large. Many of these resources are free and easy to access on their websites. Here are just a few to check out:

The American Translators Association (ATA)‘s new, free, downloadable Language Access Card for limited-English-proficient (LEP) individuals to exercise their right to a translator or interpreter: https://www.atanet.org/client-assistance/know-your-rights-to-language-access/
The California Association of Professional Interpreters and Translators has an excellent resource page on identifying scams: https://capitnet.org/information-on-scams/
ATA’s client education resources about the basic differences between translators and interpreters as well as free, downloadable guides to buying translation and interpreting services: https://www.atanet.org/client-assistance/buying-language-services/
Blogs, articles, podcasts, and publications! I personally learned almost everything I know about running a small language business from the ATA’s Savvy Newcomer blog. Recently I’ve authored a few articles on this same blog as a way of giving back to the professional community that has given me so much!
Searchable directories to find professional translators or interpreters. Being listing in these directories is usually a members-only benefit, and it can really increase your visibility and help clients find you. They also serve as valuable tools for our clients to find the perfect language professional to bridge cultural differences and craft language solutions.

An often-overlooked benefit (perhaps because it is a more indirect benefit) is how members benefit from the advocacy efforts of their professional associations. Professional associations carry a weight and authority that no single individual can. Professional associations can be our voice at the table of decision-makers in the field. Some examples of professional associations advocating for you as a language professional include:

The ATA, along with the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters & Translators (NAJIT), the Wisconsin Association for Bilingual Education (WIABE), the Association of Language Companies (ALC), Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI), the American Association of Interpreters and Translators in Education (AAITE), Midwest Association of Translators & Interpreters (MATI), and the Wisconsin Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (WisRID) wrote letters to Wisconsin state lawmakers in response to SB 357 and AB 377 to warn them that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in lieu of qualified, professional human interpreters in Wisconsin’s courts poses a serious threat to the fair and efficient administration of justice. These professional organizations also make it easy for individuals to stay informed and contact their representatives with all the info and links available on their websites. Other professional associations also joined forces in supporting their effort, such as The Mid-America Chapter of the American Translators Association (MICATA), who hosted a free webinar by Christina Green discussing the AI legislation in Wisconsin and Ohio, and their potential impacts.
The Stakeholders Advocating for Fair and Ethical AI in Interpreting ( SAFE AI task force) and the Coalition for Sign Language Equity in Technology (CoSET) is organized by a coalition of distinguished experts in conference, medical, and legal interpreting, interpreter training, and language access. Supported by professional organizations such as American Translators Association, National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC), Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI), American Association of Interpreters and Translators in Education (AAITE), National Association of Judiciary Interpreters & Translators (NAJIT), AIIC – The International Association of Conference Interpreters, and the Association of Language Companies (ALC), Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc., Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT), Mano a Mano, an organization of trilingual (Spanish-English-ASL) interpreters, NAOBI Atlanta Incorporated (National Alliance of Black Interpreters Atlanta Chapter), ASL Education Center (AEC), TDIforAccess (TDI), Deaf In Government, the National Association for State Relay (NASRA), Canadian Association of Sign Language Interpreters (CASLI), and World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI), this coalition works tirelessly to develop much-needed recommendations for legislation and regulation of Large Language Models and generative AI in interpreting.
One of the most striking examples of successful advocacy was CoPTIC (the Coalition of Practicing Translators and Interpreters), founded by Lorena Ortiz Schneider, which successfully advocated for and won an exemption from California law AB 5, which threatened many California language professionals. Through the diligent efforts of this association, AB 2257 was passed in 2020, protecting the livelihoods of many translators and interpreters!

Advocacy at the industry level doesn’t just happen magically. It takes the leadership, volunteers, and paying members of these professional associations to educate lawmakers and potential clients, protect the rights of the people we work with and for, defend our livelihood, and ultimately bring about real change!

Another benefit of professional associations is the continuing education and certification opportunities that they offer to their members.

Certification, whether it be for translation or interpreting, is one of the best ways to elevate your game as a professional. With a certification from a recognized professional association such as American Translators Association, Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI), The National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters, or a state court certification, you are qualified for certain jobs that require a certified translator or interpreter (such as translating official documents or interpreting in certain legal settings) and can usually demand higher rates as a certified professional. Without professional associations, there would be no certifying bodies!Professional associations also provide continuing education opportunities, usually at a discount for their members. MICATA, for example, organizes an annual in-person conference and usually several additional webinars and/or workshops every year. This is a great way to improve your skills and get the continuing education points that may be required for your certification.

The last benefit of membership in a professional association is really multiple benefits: the confidence, credibility, and community you gain as a member of a professional association. These are less tangible benefits, but are crucial elements of running a successful small business as a language professional.

The confidence you gain when you are an active member of a professional association is immeasurable. Impostor syndrome is real, especially in an unregulated and often undervalued profession such as translation and interpreting. Membership in a professional association can boost your own self-assurance, which in turn can inspire more confidence in you from your clients. In addition, if you are a voting member of your professional association, you gain the confidence of having a say in the leadership of the profession on a local or national level.

Membership in a professional association also gives you credibility, especially in the eyes of your clients and potential clients! You can display your membership on your professional social media posts, website, and email signature, which adds to your aura of legitimacy. And by seeing that you are a member of a professional association, your future clients can immediately see that you take your work seriously and are committed to a higher level of professionalism. They are more likely to pay professional rates when they see that you are a member of a professional association.

Finally, the sense of community in professional associations for translators and interpreters is actually amazing! It is a special feeling to know you belong to something bigger than yourself, an organization of like-minded language lovers, who are there to support you, guide you, and celebrate you in big and small ways. I cherish my connections with my ATA and MICATA colleagues; I am continually learning something new from them and always look forward to seeing them in person. Running your own small business can be intimidating and isolating, but when you are a part of a professional association, you are not going it alone!