Who is SIL? What do you do?

Since I announced back in July that I was taking on a new role with SIL International, many of you have asked who or what SIL is, and what I will be doing as the Director of Bible Translation Software.

First, who is SIL? This information and video should help you understand the organization, the work, and the ministry.

Who we are:
SIL is a global, faith-based nonprofit that works with local communities around the world to develop language solutions that expand possibilities for a better life.

As of 2020, we are involved in approximately 1,350 active language projects in 104 countries. These projects impact more than 1.1 billion people within 1,600 local communities. SIL’s work brings together more than 4,300 staff from 89 countries who work alongside thousands more local partners and community volunteers worldwide. Our services are available without regard to religious belief, political ideology, gender, race or ethnic background.

Our Vision:
We long to see people flourishing in community using the languages they value most.

Our Mission:
Inspired by God’s love, we advocate, build capacity, and work with local communities to apply language expertise that advances meaningful development, education, and engagement with Scripture.

https://www.sil.org/about

Specifically, I work within SIL Language Technology, leading the Bible Translation Software teams.

Supporting literacy, development and translation through language and writing system software.

https://software.sil.org/

My teams develop and support many Bible translation and scripture engagement products including The Digital Bible Library, Paratext, Paratext Lite, Scripture App Builder, Scriptoria, Scripture Forge, SIL Transcriber, Story Producer App, and more. My responsibilities also go beyond software development and include the Natural Language Processing team, Software Testing team, and Talent Acquisition team.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of my new role at SIL. Along with that amazing work, I continue to be a husband and caregiver to Angie, father of twin daughters Emily and Rachel, tabletop game editor, ever hopeful writer, adjunct faculty at Taylor, hobby gardener, and inquisitive home chef.

If you have any further questions about SIL or the work I do, please feel free to ask in the comments or send me a message via any of the social media options.