Creative fundraising for a more inclusive future: the story of Ludejo BV

How Ludejo BV go the extra mile, and how your company can support with fundraising too

CLEAR Global is a nonprofit, with the TWB Community of over 100,000 language volunteers at its core – fundraising is key. Along with our research and partnership programs and AI-based language technology solutions, we’re helping people get vital information and be heard, whatever language they speak. A considerable part of what we do at CLEAR Global is thanks to our sponsors and collaborators. Without them, our impact wouldn’t be the same. Both financial sponsors and in-kind sponsors help us to quickly respond to humanitarian crises. Right now,  the support we receive is helping provide urgent language services in response to the Türkiye-Syria earthquake, the Ukraine war, the conflict in Nigeria, and more. Our valuable sponsors help us harness the power of our community to do more good.

“I believe – and my team is completely behind this – in giving. Even, or perhaps especially, in difficult times. When you give, something keeps flowing. Giving provides confidence in a hopeful future for everyone. Ludejo is the company I established on a foundation of love. We are grateful to be in a position to support CLEAR Global financially. We will continue to support CLEAR Global with our time and our talents.”

Malon Hamoen – Ludejo’s Founder & CEO
Malon and colleagues fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
Photo credit: Technolex Translation Studios, Ukraine. 

All our sponsors ignite our hope for a brighter future, where speakers of all languages can access opportunities and make their voices heard. Our invaluable supporters provide us with the collaborations, expertise, and funding that are required to move our mission forward and help more people access information digitally in a language and format they understand. 

We love to celebrate companies that go the extra mile in their willingness to support our mission- not only fundraising but also looking for ways to engage the wider community to help us grow visibility and support across the world. One of them is Ludejo BV.

Since their very own foundation, Ludejo BV decided to fundraise to support our TWB community. 

It all started back in 2016, at the GALA conference in New York. Our CEO, Aimee Ansari, gave a speech about the need to ensure that language is not a barrier when it comes to the humanitarian sector. As Aimee explained the work that Translators without Borders, now CLEAR Global, does, one audience member was hooked. 

It was then that Andrew Hickson, now Media Production Manager of Ludejo BV, first heard about our work and just had to meet Aimee. As he learned more about the vision, to ensure that people get vital information, and be heard, whatever language they speak, he felt there was more to be done.  “When I got back from New York, I was very excited to talk to Malon about helping TWB.” However, we weren’t in a position to help financially. And Dutch isn’t really a language that requires a huge amount of time or investment for TWB. 

The beginning of a Fun(draiser) collaboration. 

Fundraising in 2017 –

Andrew, and Ludejo’s Founder & CEO, Malon, met Aimee once again at the Association of Translation Companies (ATC) conference in London. They got talking about ways in which they could help our nonprofit with the resources they had, and decided to commit to supporting our work by running fundraisers. They decided that the best way to bring language service providers (LSPs) together would be to organize a  fundraiser during the next GALA conference, which in 2017 was in Amsterdam, “a home conference of sorts.”

“I ran out of time and ideas for the fundraiser, so in a bit of a panic, I shaved off my beard. People seemed to like that.”

Andrew Hickson from Ludejo explained.
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global

This was just the beginning of a long, organic, and exciting collaboration. The fundraiser in Amsterdam was supposed to be a “one-off”, but with the coordination and support of GALA, the organization of these events became easy and natural. With GALA’s support and Ludejo’s vision of bringing together the LSP community to support our work, the TWB Fundraiser has become a GALA Tradition. Our work has been very much in alignment – both of our mission statements clearly outlined the need to improve multilingual information access.  Yet as a newly founded LSP, they didn’t have the resources to support us in the traditional way.

Ludejo’s fundraisers have emphasized bringing the LSP community together to support the cause and also to have fun!

For five years, Ludejo BV’s fundraisers have helped us spread the word about our work at multiple GALA events! The first one was in Amsterdam, in 2017. That was the time Andrew decided to shave his beard, and got other people to do the same, get henna tattoos, and dye their hair, all for a good cause!

Then, in 2018 –

The time came for another gathering in  Boston. 

The Boston fundraiser took place during the week leading up to St. Patrick’s Day. So the theme for that year’s fundraiser was easily decided. “A Bit of Craic for TWB” (or ABC for TWB for short” – and “Craic” is the Irish word for “fun!”). The team powered through intense Boston snowstorms to get to the unmissable fundraising event and managed to raise lots of money for a good cause!

  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global

In 2019 –

The GALA conference took place in Munich. According to Andrew, “Something about Germany makes me think of David Hasselhoff. So it just made sense to have an 80s-themed party.” The eighties-themed fundraiser was hugely popular and even followed up by a spin-off nineties-themed fundraiser at the EUATC’s (European Union Association of Translation Companies) conference in Tallinn in 2019. 

  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global

2020 and 2021 –

During the COVID lockdowns, we were able to arrange a “Best in Show” fundraiser for TWB with Geoffrey Bowden and the team at the EUATC. This T-Update conference took place online, but the fundraiser was still able to raise over $1000.  

Last year, GALA gathered again after a pause, in San Diego, California. Ludejo made a great effort in showcasing our Ukraine Appeal and the impact we could have by supporting the affected people of Ukraine in their own languages. They wanted to bring everyone together not only to support our work but also to remind people that we had colleagues and other members of the LSP community facing a crisis and that it was our responsibility to not be indifferent to the situation. 

  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global

The Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) – another champion supporter of our work

GALA is another kind supporter of our work, who has been extremely generous in inviting us to participate in each of their conferences and has welcomed Ludejo BV’s fundraisers to promote our important work! 

GALA usually happens once a year, altering locations between the US and Europe. Ludejo’s fundraisers have become so intertwined with the regular GALA program that as of 2023, GALA has decided to now include our fundraiser as part of the agenda and registration process! 

In 2022 Ludejo turned five: and with their growth, they decided to become our diamond sponsor!

After 5 years in the industry, Ludejo has positioned itself as a leading voiceover and translation company, especially in the Dutch market. Malon and Andrew have wanted to support us as much as possible since their very beginnings, so in 2022, they decided to become a diamond sponsor.


We’re extremely grateful for everything Ludejo is doing to help us advance our mission of making the digital world more inclusive, giving people access to essential resources and tools in their language while growing our Four Billion Conversations movement. You can learn more about our aims to increase access to information globally on health, women’s rights, climate change, and forced displacement.

“Ludejo is one of our most valued sponsors. They consistently support our work, raise awareness, and advocate. And they do it in the most fun and creative ways. Their business model – prioritizing community support over profit – is truly inspiring and I hope will one day be the norm.”

Aimee Ansari, CEO – CLEAR Global / TWB
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global
  • fundraising for TWB and CLEAR Global

And they will keep bringing the fun to fundraisers

What Aimee says is true: they know how to run a fundraiser, and they couldn’t be more creative or committed! 

This time, in 2023

Ludejo will continue the tradition and run yet another fundraiser for us at the GALA event in Dublin. If you will be there, we invite you to save the date, March 14th, 2023! 

This time, they will be hosting a speakeasy-themed event, aiming to raise USD 5,000! Combined with a Great Gatsby dress code to make it fun, Ludejo will be inviting language and localization professionals to support TWB and CLEAR Global by sharing a simple and profound idea: we make the most of our impact when we can get our message across in the easiest way possible for people to understand. 

We truly hope that you can join them!

You’ll have a great time while learning with and from experts in the language and localization industry. And you’ll get to meet wonderful people like Malon and his team! 

Fundraisers like this one make a difference to us. They help us reach more people and multiply the impact we create at CLEAR Global, with the support of our TWB Community of over 100,000 language volunteers across the world. 

If you’re inspired by Ludejo’s commitment to giving back, talk to us and explore the opportunity to become a sponsor.

And if you’re already a sponsor, why not take inspiration from Malon and Andrew, and create your own feel-good fundraiser for us?

VoiceBox – Spreading the message through video

“As a company, we love the immediacy and accessibility of what we do. We are delighted to be able to help Translators without Borders in achieving its mission – you can’t put a price on that!”

Working in over 200 languages, VoiceBox, a multimedia agency based in the vibrant production and tech hub of Swansea, South Wales, is an expert in video content localization using multilingual voiceover and subtitling. In 2016, VoiceBox established a new working relationship with Translators without Borders for the provision of multilingual dubbing and subtitles for a series of videos.

The agency is currently working on two projects with TWB. One involves dubbing a video for young people, produced by Blue Seat Studio, focusing on the important theme of sexual consent into 12 languages from Finnish, Russian and Bulgarian to Greek, Italian and German. Another project involves dubbing a series of World Health Organization training videos, which are part of a public health emergency exercise program for communications professionals, into French and Russian.

Voicebox: Responding to the demands of a fast-changing world

VoiceBox’s Marketing Manager Ben Dobson explains that “video content can overcome barriers to literacy and provide useful solutions through subtitles or signing for the deaf or hard of hearing. This means our work guarantees both immediacy and accessibility. This is invaluable at times of crisis or disaster when important messages must reach the largest possible audience to support people in need. Our work with TWB builds on this capability.”

For maximum exposure of video content, we also focus on social media engagement and search engine optimization. Of course, throughout, quality of product is paramount. Our cloud-based operation uses 100% native-only artists to ensure linguistic authenticity. Our translators don’t just translate, they effectively ‘trans-create.”

Our wide range of clients includes companies and organizations of all sizes, from big names such as Disney, Coca-Cola, Intel, Google, Apple and the BBC to up-and-coming production agencies such as GinGenious. As a company, we love the immediacy and accessibility of what we do. We are delighted to be able to help Translators without Borders in achieving its mission – you can’t put a price on that!

Become a TWB sponsor

Click here to learn about the types of sponsorships offered at TWB. Annual sponsorship commitments are available from Bronze ($1,000) to Diamond Plus ($20,000), and many levels in between.

Blog AuthorBy Sarah Powell, Translators without Borders Volunteer