Marco Polo Project volunteers
Our past volunteers and collaborators
Over the course of its existence in Melbourne, the Marco Polo Project relied almost entirely on the work of volunteers for its operations. We would like to warmly thank them on this page, from board members to fixed term interns and project advisors, following the various phases of our organisation.
Our board
Over the year, a small group of people played a particular role in the governance of the organisation.
Founding directors: Fau-Zii Chan, Daniel Ednie-Lockett, Julien Leyre, Samuel Taylor, Raphael Trantoul, Anthony Verdi
Additional directors: Ross Ensbey, Eric Li, Sam Shlansky
A special shout out goes to Eric Li, who served as our accountant from 2016 to 2023.
First phase - January-June 2011
During this time, we went from an idea to an incorporated public company limited by guarantee, with a prototype website
Web team: Ray Tsai (information architecture), Dan Miao (web team coordinator), Mathieu Vendeville (graphic design), Harry Yan (main developer), Kevin Liu (developer), Alan Chen (developer), Philip Thiel (web writing, web policy advisor)
Editorial team: Eric Yan, Vivien Cheng
Business and legal team: Aaron Zhang (business advice - China), Nghi Huyhn (business advice - Melbourne), Kartik Subramaniam (legal advice)
Second phase - September 2011-December 2012
Over this time, we developed a first internal operating model, as well as a public website gathering core writing from the Chinese Internet - and guest articles on leading digital publications about China.
Business team: Kevin Mangwiro (communications), Ali Aziz Muhammad (evaluation), Wenfei Tu (accounting and business systems), Linan Zhong (business development), Lily Lee (strategy and evaluation), Grace Yu (accounts)
Marketing and communications team: Ashley Lei, Sara Jaffery, Anna Liang, Lavender Kuang, Denice Wong, Yixuan Xu
Editorial team: Simon Huang, Louise Liang, Lavender Kuang, Vicky Li, Lily Yan, Shuwen Liew, Amy Gao
Web team: Jason Zheng (rating system), Roy Gao (wordpress development), Pandu Setiawan (website migration), Guillaume Mauboussin (side-by-side translation interface)
Graphic design: Mathieu Vendeville (LCNAU poster design, logo)
Third phase - January 2013 - August 2013
Over this period, we raised two major grants and a crowd-funding campaign, upgraded our website for enhanced user functionality, broadened our editorial reach, and trialled our first offline events.
Business, evaluation and legal: Jacqueline O'Donnell (grant writing), Rick Chen (crowd-funding), Donna Fiegert (internal comms and KPI development), Seeyan Lee and Jenny Wu (legal advice), David Fang (accounting advice), Syeeda Aziz (evaluation report), Alicia Monasso (recruitment), Ross Ensbey, Elle Brooker, Jay Sonn Tay and Sandra Qian (business systems), Samuel Taylor (everything from HR to corporate governance)
Editorial team: Sarah Gosper (translation catalyst), Mansi Zhao ('Mansi's corner' editor), Chester Li (engagement with authors)
Social media advisers: Fergus Ryan (twitter), Madeline Snow (facebook) , Paris Huang (weibo), Philip Thiel (crowd-funding campaign)
Events: Beate Stavik ('all-you-can-translate' event coordinator), Language Connection, particularly Di Yuan, Ben Injam, Ada Jia, Cyrus Leung and Isabella Lu (translation workshops)
Design and promotion: George Galanis (website re-branding), Glenn Stephenson (infographics, RSAnimate, fliers), Ron Killeen and Karen Pickering (RSAnimate voice over), Nghi Huyhn and Quick Chat Productions (film)
A very special mention to Ross Ensbey, who managed the development of our '2.0' website - and to our programmer Coliq (whom we paid with the money raised on our first crowd-funding campaign). And a big thank you to Hub Melbourne, Foundation for Young Australians, and Julian Waters-Lynch for allowing us to sit in the best imaginable workplace at Hub Melbourne.
Fourth phase - September 2013 - November 2015
Over this phase, we spread events to China, ran a digital literature festival - with events around Europe, China, Australia and Singapore. We also collaborated with the China Australia Millennial Project to run a world-first bilateral start-up incubator.
Nanjing events team: John Paul Grima (coordinator), Hugh Douglas (coordinator), Sichao Zhou (coordinator), Chelsea Zhou (translator), the ACYA Nanjing chapter, and the team at the BanPoCun cafe.
Marco Polo Festival of Digital Literature: Samuelle Dumas (forum support), Tracy Wang (media advice), Hugh Davies (co-director), Lucy Lu (childhood event), Chelsea Zhou (translation), Wing Yi (coordination). And our guests: Esther Anatolitis, Mel Campbell, Rick Chen, Nikki Lam, Kate Larsen, Harry Lee, Lian Low, Nic Low, Lucy Lv, Alice Pung, Ouyang Yu, Charles Qin, Yisha, Zhang Tianpan, Jiamin Zhao.
Melbourne team: Jingzi Li (editorial support), and the language Connection people: Gordon Douglas, Su Yingxie, Di Yuan.
Singapore event: Alvin Pang (local coordinator), Joshua Ip, and the Books Actually team
Fifth phase - December 2015 - December 2016
Over this period, we cemented a model for collaborative translation offline, explored new formats of intercultural facilitation, and published a special issue digital magazine.
Editorial: Michael Broughton (Chief Editor)
Melbourne events: Su Yingxie (language connection CEO), Will Breedon (language connection CEO), the Henley Club
Shanghai all your can translate: Britte Marsh (local coordinator)
Co-lab team: Jack Greig, Lucy Lu, Sandy McLeod Michael Zuo
Marco Polo Magazine: Duy Huyhn (cover art), Ting Wei Tai (editorial lead)
Sixth phase - January 2017 - July 2018
Over this period, we started running a weekly collaborative translation event series, developed workshop formats for trust building in digital teams, engagement with city life for international students, and better models to deal with diversity in high schools. We also published a manual, and designed a set of cards to enhance language exchange experience.
Switch on project: Christopher Bell, Elizabeth Winkelman and Wesa Chau (designers)
Translation Club: Kishan Arava, Michael Broughton, Xavier Brower, Charles Leung, Dan Ednie-lockett, Allen Wang
Out of the Box: Jennifer Liu, Lucy Lv, Isabella Mory, Michelle Pei, Sam Shlansky, Linhua Wang, Harry Zhang
Culture Flip: Thomas Richardson, Sam Shlansky (designers)
Marco Polo Handbook: Bridie Allen (coordination and editing) Samuel Diaz (concept design), Lucy Lu (editorial and concept support), Kim Huang (graphic design)
Design for Diversity & Froj': Philip Thiel, Lisa Toomey, Bridget McPherson, and all the team at Ivanhoe Girls Grammar
Seventh phase - August 2018 - March 2020
Over this period, we cemented our Translation Club events in Melbourne, extended them to Japan, and occasional pop ups in Mexico. We also ran special events on design thinking for international students in Melbourne, with a special shout out to the Foundation for Young Australians. This is also when Sam Shlansky took over as CEO.
Translation Club: Kishan Arava (Melbourne coordinator), Kevin Chian (Melbourne coordinator), Patrick Laudon (Japan coordinator), Charles Leung (Melbourne coordinator), Matthew Ziccone (Melbourne coordinator)
Design for Diversity: Sam Shlansky, Wesa Chau, Christine Yeung
Eight phase - March 2020 - March 2023
COVID pushed our activities online - we continued our weekly translation events, and explored formats for distributed storytelling and grieving the pandemic online.
Mourning rituals: Helen Palmer, Patrick Laudon, Sam Shlansky, Maria Recama
Default Settings: Felix Ching Ching Ho (designer), Matthew Zicconne (designer), Maddy Bean (producer), Declan Fry, Kay Stravrou and Xueqian Zhang (associate writers)
We also need to acknowledge support from the City of Melbourne, the Victorian Multicultural Commission, Vic Health, and the Australia-China Council.
Finally, we would like to extend our thanks to people who have supported us through the years, through their advice, contacts, informal hosting, and ongoing cheers: Aditi Agrawal, Jose Alonso, Esther Anatolitis, Hayley Bolding, Andrea Carlon, Lella Carridi, Charles Chin, Kenny Choi, Peter Collins, Gloria Davies, Lisa Dempster, Jean Dong, Gareth Durrant, Kingsley Edney, Donna Fiegert, Julia Fraser, Zhi Fu, Leah Gerber, Peter Goff, Jeremy Goldkorn, Jessica Griffiths, Richard Hames, Zoe Hatten, Tessa Hillgrove, Michel Hockx, Mei Hu, Heather Inwood, Joshua Ip, Corin Ism, Jack Jia, Sue Karzis, Ron Killeen, Jodie Kinnersley, Kate Larsen, Tony Zixin Li, Olle Linge, Philip Liu, Liu Yan, Lian Low, Brigid Maher, Andrea Myles, Alvin Pang, Deborah Peterson, Karen Pickering, Ewan Proctor, Aun Ngo, Ouyang Yu, Kate Ritchie, Fergus Ryan, Samantha Sacchi, Jan Van Schaik, Lysha Von Adlerberg, Rachel Walters, Hayley Ward, Julian Waters-Lynch, Erin Watson, Lan Yang, Aaron Zhang, Aimee Zheng.