21. Visible, verifiable, valued: how ITI uses its platform to make membership matter every day

2.15pm – 2.55pm WEST, 9 June 2026 ‐ 40 mins

Room: Room 3, Level 2

Talk

As a professional body for translators and interpreters, the Institute of Translation and Interpreting operates in a sector with no statutory regulation, no protected title, and no legal requirement to hire a qualified professional. For ITI, that means membership has to earn its value every day — and their digital platform is a core part of how they make that happen.

Sara Robertson, CEO of ITI, shares how a seven-person team uses their membership platform to build professional credibility at scale and deliver genuine, day-to-day value to a dispersed membership of freelance professionals:

• Making the credential visible: how ITI's four public-facing directories give qualified translators, interpreters and language service providers a searchable professional presence — and why members cite them as a reason to join and stay
• Making the credential verifiable: how the Member Check tool supports certified translation requirements and serves as a policy argument for professional standards in the absence of statutory regulation
• Making professional development something members actually pursue: the CPD logging tool, the gamification of development hours, and what badge-chasing behaviour tells us about member engagement
• The honest lessons: what it really takes to run a modern professional body digitally with a small team, and what Sara would tell any association leader considering the same path

Speakers

Sara Robertson

CEO, Institute of Translation and Interpreting

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Sara Robertson

CEO, Institute of Translation and Interpreting

Sara trained as an architect at Edinburgh College of Art where she specialised in historic building conservation. She arrived at the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) in 2023 having spent 20 years working in various training, policy and leadership roles in the historic environment sector. Although not a linguist herself Sara is a skilled communicator and a passionate advocate for professionalism.

Alongside her professional endeavours, she remains deeply engaged in voluntary roles. She has enjoyed a long relationship with Europa Nostra, advocating for the conservation of cultural heritage at a European level. As the Chair of the BEFS Places of Worship Forum, she collaborates with colleagues in Scotland to find a future for the sacred spaces that hold immense historical and cultural significance for their communities. In June 2024 she accepted the role of Chair of Historic Buildings & Places, one of the national amenity societies.

With a career rooted in passion, dedication, and leadership, she is driven to make a lasting impact in the realms of conservation, heritage, and cross-cultural understanding.

: http://www.iti.org.uk
: ayrshirelass