We want to see people live lives where every part is good. For that to happen, they need to be able to fully use their languages. Our work empowers them to do exactly that.
“Trust in the Lord and do good.”
– Psalm 37:3a (NLT)
Who We Are
We want to see people live lives where every part is good. For that to happen, they need to be able to fully use their languages. Our work empowers them to do exactly that.
Join with us and help people use their languages for good.
What We Do
We both assist and run translation projects. We offer services like translation checking, training, and more.
We train people in a wide range of our expertise like linguistics, education, literacy, trauma healing, and more.
We produce and share specialized products like fonts, analytics tools, translation software, and more.
We carry out research to understand people's language and culture. We also design new solutions with communities.
We develop, localize, and publish materials both about and in local languages.
We raise awareness for communities and the language policies that support them.
How We Work
Our work starts with local communities, their churches, and organizations. They share their needs and goals with us, which are different for every country, culture, and community. Then we work with them to reach those goals. Today we're working with over 1,100 language communities.
Language Communities
In all of our work, we apply the values we hold dear:
Love God and his Word
Live as stewards
Work in relationships
Honor communities
Believe every language has worth
See the people behind every language
Our faith both inspires our work and informs how we do it. We believe all people are created by God and given language as a way to experience good.
Our History
In 1919, a young American named Cameron Townsend traveled through Guatemala selling Spanish Bibles. He soon realized that the indigenous people couldn't use his Bibles – they didn't speak Spanish. He also saw that they were oppressed in ways that affected all parts of their lives: their faith, language, social standing, and economic health.
Townsend believed access to the Bible and education in their own languages would free them and help them to thrive. But he by himself couldn't work with all the communities he encountered. He needed help.
He founded the Summer Institute of Linguistics in 1934 as a summer training program for linguists to work with local people like those in Guatemala. Today we are SIL International, and we work with over 1,100 language communities throughout the world.
Our Team
See the profiles of our entire Executive Team and Board of Directors.
Our Financials
We're a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit in the United States and have received GuideStar's Gold Seal for transparency.
Learn more about how we raise and spend money on our Financials page, plus view our Form 990s, Audited Financial Statements, and more.
Our Careers
Check out our hiring site for job postings and hiring information.
