Elizabeth Colon, president and founder of Metaphrasis Language and Cultural Solutions, Inc, will be awarded the Negocios Now 2017 Latina in Business Award at its annual Who’s Who in Hispanic Chicago gala event, to be held July 14, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
Metaphrasis is a rapidly-growing comprehensive language services company that understands the importance of culture and context in language and communication.
“As a child of parents who speak no English, I have firsthand experience with the struggles faced by those negotiating a new country and culture without being proficient in the language,” she said. “To help address that problem, I founded Metaphrasis in 2007 with the dream of providing the best translation and interpretation services possible. At Metaphrasis we take the time to get to the heart of the issue, using our extensive experience to effectively assess each situation so that we can fully understand where each person is coming from.”
Recipient of the SBA 2014 Illinois National Small Business Person of the Year award, Elizabeth is passionate about providing opportunities to other women so they may see success. She advocates and participates in a project called THE VOICE OF LOVE, an all-volunteer project spearheaded by Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma and Cross-Cultural Communications.
In 2012, Elizabeth hosted the national VOICE OF LOVE interpreter training at her Intercultural Center in Chicago. This free training series provided interpreters with the specialized skills to support quality services to survivors of torture, trauma and sexual violence. Elizabeth is a former board member and actively involved in the development of the program.
She embraces her role as a woman in business and recently earned her company a coveted WBENC certification and is an active member of NAWBO in the Chicago Chapter and she also has a fierce dedication to education, in particular, to those in her local community.
Elizabeth was accepted into the prestigious Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business program and now serves as an ambassador.
