Mr. Angel L. Ivanov – Interpreter, Translator and Human/Roma Rights Consultant

​

PROFILE      

I am an experienced legal (court), medical and local government interpreter and translator - please see assignments updates here. I hold a BA degree in Primary School Education, Romany and Bulgarian Languages from the University of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria and a MA degree in Human Rights from the University of Essex, UK. 

​

LANGUAGES

Romany (Romani or Roma) – native speaker of dialects from across Europe and Americas; 

Bulgarian (tier 1 & 2) – native speaker;

English – fluent speaker (written and oral); 

Serbian, Macedonian, Croatian and Bosnian – good level of understanding, reading and speaking;

Russian – limited proficiency.

​

WORK EXPERIENCE 

Director, Interpreter and Translator in Bulgarian, Roma (Romani or Romany), Serbian, Macedonian, Croatian and Bosnian Languages (September 2014 – Present)

Romany Interpreting and Translations (RIT), a registered sole trader and tradermark (Manchester, UK)

• Continuous interpreting and translation experience from 2003;

• Simultaneous, consecutive, conference, face to face, telephone and Skype interpreting;

• Audio and document translation (including transcription, proofreading and editing);

• Cultivate and develop a network of business contacts and concept;

• Maintain strong communication with clients and partners via email, telephone and social media;

• Work on numerous legal, local government and medical interpreting and translation projects for numerous private and public clients either directly or in partnership with different interpreting and translation agencies in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, etc. such as: courts, tribunals, probation offices, hospitals, GP surgeries, local governments, prisons, home office, immigration services, children and young offenders services, legal firms, schools, job centers, citizens advice bureau, home visits, etc.

​

Sessional Health Worker (April 2016 – Present)

TS4SE (Manchester, UK)

• Communicate, interpret and translate documents and video materials in Roma, Bulgarian and English languages when working with project beneficiaries;

• Assist TS4SE to develop and deliver training and information for health staff on health, cultural and other needs of migrant communities to improve their understanding of communities they work with, in particular Romani communities in Manchester;

• Assist migrant community members, Roma in particular, to improve health outcomes through understanding of how local primary care, accident and emergency services work, when and how to use NHS ambulances and Accident and Emergency, and explaining roles and professions within the NHS;

• Support the evaluation of project impact on community health, access to services and health staff understanding of the needs of migrant communities.

​

Community Engagement Officer (January – March 2016)

Pathways Community Interest Company (Crewe, UK)

• Communicate with and interview in Bulgarian language Bulgarian community members, transcribe and translate video interviews from Bulgarian to English languages;

• Desk and field research about community contact points and persons of BME backgrounds;

• Cultivate and develop a network of contacts, and reach out to BME communities in East Cheshire to find out more about potential health issues that exist within these communities;

• Development of an insight report for BME communities living in NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) footprint, including an asset mapping covering demographics, locality, characteristics and behavior of populations with regards to accessing health services and health information;

• Engage with communities to produce patient story films suitable for broadcast at meetings of CCG governing bodies, membership assembly, public engagement events etc.

The reason I left the organization is that I successfully finished the projects I was hired for.

 

Community Researcher (November 2015 – June 2016)

Parasol Project (Manchester, UK)

• Transcribe collected interviews in Bulgarian language and translate them to English; translate project materials from English to Roma and Bulgarian languages; 

• Liaise and interview with BME community members from Central and Eastern Europe;

• Participate in team meetings and contribute to research development and implementation;

• Write up a brief report on research findings which will be incorporated in the final project report;

• Communicate with partners and team members via email, Twitter and Facebook;

• Offer a feedback on final draft report.

 

Communication Officer and Secretary (April – November 2015)

Roma Voices of Manchester – a Romani Community Group (Manchester, UK)

• Interpret and translate project materials from Roma to English languages and vice-versa;

• Liaise and partner with Roma community members, NGOs, local authorities, service providers and international organizations;

• Inform and report to abovementioned parties about agreed activities, inputs and outputs;

• Write, keep record, update and monitor community group's meetings, communication (emails, Twitter, Facebook, announcements and press-releases), activities and reports;

• Plan, coordinate and develop vision, strategy and project proposals together with team;

• Conduct field research among Roma school leavers and process research data;

• Support Roma community development and public engagement (drop in sessions, capacity building, public activities and events).

The reason I left the community group was related to my personal preferences.

    

Project Coordinator and Human Rights Researcher (Nov 2012 – Jun 2013)

Human Rights Centre Clinic, University of Essex, a Human Rights NGO (Colchester, UK)                

• Collaborate and liaise with managing staff, academic supervisors and European Roma Rights Centre to implement the projects, including organising meetings (internal and external) and documentation of activities in an internal intranet database, drafting and keeping records of agendas, minutes and reports and updating, monitoring and reporting progress reports of researchers to supervisors;

• Design, coordinate and implement two academic research projects on inclusive schooling and disaggregated data (the latter was published) together with team;

• Supervise researchers; research on projects topics and reports writing and editing/structuring.

The reason I left the organisation is that my colleagues and I successfully finished the projects.

 

Program Assistant (Feb 2012 – Sep 2012)

America for Bulgaria Foundation, a Grant-making NGO (Sofia, Bulgaria)

• Interpret to project grantees from English to Bulgarian languages; translate some project documents from Bulgarian to English;

• Assist simultaneously the Program Director and staff of the economically disadvantaged program with daily administrative tasks, including administrating and monitoring project grants and contracts, project budgets and spending, disbursements of the funds, new project proposals, reviews of the ongoing project implementation, memos and writing of monitoring reports and database maintaining;

• Support Director’s activities, including diary, meeting and travel organising in an intranet database and correspondence (post, email and phone) with colleagues, grantees, board members and partners;

• Report to and feedback Director about project development and monitoring, and keep records of meetings, agendas, correspondence, reporting and monitoring documents;

• Support grantees with recommendations and technicalities in finalising and submitting their financial and narrative reports.

The reason I left the organisation was to pursue my MA degree in Human Rights at the University of Essex.

 

Consultant and Executive Bureau Member (Sep 2011 – Sep 2012)

Forum of European Roma Young People, a Human Rights NGO (Budapest, Hungary)

• I used linguistics skills in Bulgarian, Roma, Serbian and Macedonian languages to communicate with the organization's members;

• I was involved in decision making, organising and implementing human rights projects, events and study sessions geared toward mobilising and capacitating young Roma across Europe.

The reason I left the organisation was to pursue my MA degree in Human Rights at the University of Essex.

 

Research Fellow and Consultant (Sep 2009 - Dec 2011)

European Roma Rights Centre, an International Public Interest Law Organisation (Budapest, Hungary)

• Use linguistic skills in Roma, Bulgarian and Serbian languages to communicate with and interview interviewees and partners;

• Collaborate and liaise with managers and relevant stakeholders to plan, conduct and implement research project (upcoming publication);

• Maintain a retrieval database system, report progress narrative and financial reports, organise meetings with stakeholders, communicate and reach out to partnering institutions;

• Coordinate and arrange business meetings; prepare and process travel and expense reports;

• Draft and translate official communication (letters of concern and factsheets) to government stakeholders and other parties;

• Conduct desk and field research (plan locations and budget, setting meetings with and interviewing stakeholders) and narrative report writing, including collecting and analysis of raw data, writing of a few drafts, addressing comments given by supervisors, and editing and finalizing the entire narrative report.

The reason I left the organisation was that I successfully finished the projects I was hired for.

 

Consultant (Jan 2009 – May 2009)

Roma Education Fund (REF), an International Grant-making NGO (Budapest, Hungary)

• Collect and process data based on project indicators from project proposals, report reviews and final narrative reports;

• Analyse and synthesise indicators geared toward assessing activities of past REF grantees from CEE.

The reason I left the organisation was that I successfully finished the work I was hired for.

 

Junior Task Coordinator (Apr – May 2006 and 2007)                                           

Bulgarian Center for Development and Training, an Advocacy NGO (Sofia, Bulgaria)

Center for Inter-ethnic Dialog and Tolerance, a Human Rights NGO (Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria)  

• I used linguistic skills in Roma language to teach a Roma language course;

• I co-assisted in coordinating an English language project; I learnt to follow supervision, reach out and recruit project participants and I gained skills on collecting and processing data.

The reason I left the organisation was that I successfully finished the work I was hired for.

 

Junior Task Coordinator (Sep 2003 – Apr 2006)

AIESEC and Balkan Foundation ‘Diversity’, Human Rights NGOs (Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria)

• I used my linguistic skills in Roma and Bulgarian languages to communicate with project partners and students; transcribe interviews and translate them from Roma to Bulgarian languages and vice-versa; translate my academic reports from Bulgarian to Roma and vice-versa;

• I assisted the implementation of student’s projects, conferences, workshops, study expeditions, seminars and training. I learnt about the importance of coordination, cooperation and lead taking.

The reason I left the organisation was that I successfully finished the work I was hired for.

 

EDUCATION

University of Essex, Human Rights Centre (Colchester, UK)                   

MA Degree in Theory and Practice of Human Rights (Oct 2012 – Oct 2013)

• Academic language command in written and spoken English;

• Effective academic research skills and knowledge in International Human Rights Law, The Protection of Minorities in International Law, Human Rights Colloquium, Comparative Politics of Human Rights and European Union Law and Human Rights;

• Knowledge about UN, EU and CoE human rights mechanisms to better advocate for human rights.

 

Central European University (Budapest, Hungary)                                                     

Certificate of Post-graduate Course in Academic English Language (Oct 2008 – Jun 2009)

• Effective knowledge in academic English, grammar and integrated skills, Politics and International Relations, Comparative and International Employment Relations.

 

University of Veliko Tarnovo (Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria)                                 

BA Degree in Primary School Education (Sep 2003 – Jun 2007)

• Academic language command (written and spoken) and research skills in Bulgarian and Romany languages;

• Effective skills and knowledge in Romany and Bulgarian political, social, cultural and historical contexts;

• Effective skills and knowledge in teaching primary school children, in particular of a minority background, in relevant school’s subjects - I planned lessons and delivered lessons throughout my studying, and taught for two months in a Bulgarian school while I was qualifying for a teacher;

• QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) Certificate with a Teacher Reference Number 1658682, awarded by the National Colleague for Teaching & Leadership, UK Department for Education;

• I have an Enhanced Certificate of a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check with a certificate number 001474522918 and I work with children and their parents/guardians, in particular Roma and other minorities from CEE, on regular basis in my professional experience of interpreter and translator;

• My teaching experience also extents to teaching occasionally adults in Romany language and lecturing University students on human rights topics. My latest teaching experience was with students from Manchester Metropolitan University in Crewe, UK.

 

TRAINING

From 2006 to 2013, I took part in an extensive number of human rights seminars, workshops, conferences, campaigns, study sessions, summer schools, etc. organised by leading international human rights institutions, such as, Council of Europe, Amnesty International, University of Manchester, University of Essex, Central European University, University of Veliko Tarnovo, European Roma Rights Centre, Europia, Roma Education Fund, Open Society Foundations, Fundamental Rights Agency, America for Bulgaria Foundation, National Democratic Institute, Bulgarian National Parliament, Bulgarian Centre for Development and Training, Center Amalipe, Balkan Foundation Diversity and AIESEC.

 

COMPUTER LITERACY

I am a skillful user of IT equipment and programs, such as Microsoft Office, Windows, copy, scanning and printing equipment, etc.

 

PERSON SPECIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

I am punctual and confident professional with exposure to cross-institutional project work and with sensitive interpersonal skills. I am also an effective team player; confident in working with multiple stakeholders and determined to achieve the best results possible in my work. Further, I am familiar with working under pressure, multitasking and meeting tight deadlines, ethical, hardworking, reliable, problem solving, fast learning, flexible, motivated, attentive to details and open to professional supervision. With good supervision of my work, I am capable to supervise people in a respectful and very effective professional manner. I am convinced my work and education experience listed above prove I possess these skills.

 

CONTACT DETAILS OF REFEREES: Available upon a request.

 

A LIST OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND ARTICLES: Available upon a request.