Dana Barras Franco

Lecturer of Global Communication & Applied Translation

Bio

For nearly two decades, Dana Barras Franco has navigated every facet of the global translation industry, serving as a professional linguist, vendor account management and enterprise sales, client side program management and management consultant. As a lecturer in the Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University’s Dietrich College, Dana teaches the cross-listed course Translation As A Profession I (82-483 / 82-708) across both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Her teaching philosophy is rooted in pragmatism, real-world application and the belief that radical and early adoption of technology advances will evidence gains in “working smarter, not harder." To provide students with unparalleled industry exposure, Dana transforms the classroom into an interactive professional hub, regularly hosting guest lectures and panels with localization leaders from top-tier global enterprises, including high tech, manufacturing, life sciences, professional services and consumer packaged goods verticals. By connecting students directly with seasoned industry veterans, she offers vital insights into how localization functions at scale across distinct business sectors.

Complementing her work in academia, Dana serves as an Enterprise Account Executive at Translated, a pioneering global translation and localization provider based in beautiful Rome, Italy. In this role, she drives complex, high-value enterprise sales and fosters strategic cross-functional partnerships. Dana excels at navigating the intricate technical and commercial demands of global clients, and is truly delighted to engage with each and every client across the years. She collaborates closely with solutions architects, engineering and operations teams to build mutual trust, manage complex project scopes and design customized localization workflows. 

Dana’s robust career spans extensive leadership in multilingual localization and consulting. Recently, as a Subject Matter Expert in Translation for EY, she led the operational launch of an AI-powered translation department for a global manufacturing client, successfully managing the localization of over 230 SAP S/4HANA training courses into seven languages for an on-time, on-budget simultaneous content shipment. Her previous experience includes driving multi-million-dollar business growth as a Business Development Manager at Welocalize, and directing over 1,500 translation and localization projects as a Globalization Manager at Ariba (formerly FreeMarkets), where she established scalable global language strategies and vendor partnerships to pioneer the company's first software internationalization and localization launches.

A recognized thought leader, Dana was nominated as Vendor Manager of the Year 2008 and served as the keynote speaker for the 2008 Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association (PSMLA) Annual Conference. She has been a featured speaker and conference advisor at several Localization World and ClientSide News Conferences. Her insights on localization sourcing in partnership with world class Indirect Procurement teams have been published in Multilingual Computing and ClientSide News. 

Education

Post-Baccalaureate Certification, Spanish to English Professional Translation, University of Pittsburgh under the program direction of Mrs. Josephine Thornton

B.A., Spanish with minors achieved in Italian, West European Comparative Language & Culture, University of Pittsburgh

Completed coursework in translation theory at La Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain

Areas of Interest

Courses Taught

Selected Community, University & Professional Service

Selected Publications