About Us

Who We Are

TRADUCOOP is a collaborative community of credentialed language professionals who are highly trained, fully bilingual native speakers of both Spanish and English. Our worker-owners must demonstrate at least three years of combined education and practical experience.

The TRADUCOOP team joined forces while working and studying at the Graduate Program in Translation of the University of Puerto Rico, one of the most competitive and prestigious institutions in the Americas. With support from the incubator programs provided by ICOOP (Instituto de Cooperativismo at the University of Puerto Rico) and La Cepa (Nuestro Barrio at Universidad de Sagrado Corazón), we registered TRADUCOOP as a worker cooperative in 2019, and the rest is history!

Our Process

 

  • We send you a free customized quote according to your project specifications.

  • Once your quote is approved, we divide and accomplish! Each linguist receives an assignment with specific instructions and deadlines.

  • Time to roll up our sleeves and get to work! Your project is designated an asynchronous communication channel where managers and linguists discuss challenges, share resources, and identify solutions.

  • We ask for your input on style, terminology, and other textual elements. Likewise, we document any unresolved issues or source text peculiarities and flag them for your review. Our projects are guaranteed for fifteen business days from the time of product delivery and include one round of customer feedback and revisions at no additional cost.

 

"I would like to emphasize that we are very pleased with your work. We thought it was really brilliant. In fact, we picked up some of your translations and updated other materials that we were developing for the IDJ on the topic."

Vallerie Blakely Vallecillo
Instituto del Desarrollo de la Juventud

Meet Our Worker-Owners

TRADUCOOP aims to generate equitable jobs and flexible working conditions for language professionals in Puerto Rico. 

A minimum of ten percent of our annual net savings is allocated to a fund for the community.

  • Marcela Otero Costa

    President, Board of Directors

    Marcela Otero Costa has been working as a professional Spanish to English (and vice versa) translator and editor since 2015. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a B.A. in Art History and a minor in Romance Languages in 2005 and an M.A. in Translation in 2018. Marcela specializes in art history, literary, and pedagogical translation. When she has a break from wordsmithery, she is traveling, cooking, or trying to keep her houseplants alive.

  • Joan M. Pabón Maxán

    Secretary, Board of Directors

    Joan M. Pabón has been working as a professional Spanish to English (and vice versa) translator and editor since 2015. She holds a B.A. in English Literature and an M.A. in Translation, both from the University of Puerto Rico. She gained valuable project management experience as a linguist and researcher at UPR’s Translation and Research Center, and her work has been showcased online and in print publications. Joan specializes in literary, academic, and financial translation. On her time off, she enjoys reading, practicing mindfulness meditation, and communing with nature.

  • Jaime Santiago Cajigas

    Treasurer, Board of Directors

    Jaime Santiago Cajigas has been working as a professional English to Spanish translator and editor since 2015. He holds a B.A. in Modern Languages and an M.A. in Translation from the University of Puerto Rico. He gained experience as a linguist working for UPR’s Translation and Research Center and as an interpreter at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Washington, DC. Jaime specializes in academic, instructional, and medical translation. He enjoys gardening and practicing yoga.

  • Milagros Marrero

    Chair, Continuing Education Committee

    Milagros Marrero has been working as a freelance translator since 2014. She holds a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a minor in Translation from the University of Puerto Rico and has also completed credits toward UPR’s M.A. in Translation. She has worked as translation assistant in the university’s Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research and has previous experience as an administrative assistant and as a remote interpreter. She enjoys reading about a wide range of subjects, watching documentaries, gardening, learning about open-source software, and studying sign language.

  • José Carlos Bonilla Martín

    Chair, Supervisory Committee

    José Carlos Bonilla Martín has worked as a freelance translator since 2017. He holds an M.A. in Translation and a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Puerto Rico. José Carlos specializes in translating texts from English into Puerto Rican Spanish, capturing the particular expressions that set Puerto Ricans apart. In his free time, José Carlos enjoys learning new languages, practicing photography, brewing a big cup of black coffee, reading Japanese comics (in Japanese), and baking cakes. José Carlos is also a Linux enthusiast and is quite fond of the Linux command line.

  • Colleen T. Dwyer

    Executive Director

    Colleen T. Dwyer has worked as a localization project manager, multilingual desktop publisher, and professional Spanish to English translator and editor since 2012. She graduated with a B.A. in Communication: Digital Media from Loyola University in Maryland in 2004 and an M.A. in Translation from the University of Puerto Rico—where she also worked as a professional fellow at UPR’s Translation and Research Center—in 2019. Colleen specializes in financial, academic, and art history translation. In addition to her love of travel and culture, she enjoys stand-up paddleboarding (SUP), rescuing sea turtles, practicing yoga, and exploring the rainforest with her dogs.