Kristen Tcherneshoff, cv, 2026.
Senior nonprofit leader with nearly a decade of experience building and scaling international programs. Founding leadership team member at Wikitongues, helping grow a volunteer initiative into a global nonprofit supporting language communities across 180 countries. Expertise in operational systems design, participatory grantmaking, and coordinating distributed international staff and volunteer teams.
Work Experience
Wikitongues - Brooklyn, New York, United States (remote)
Director of Operations, 2020-present
Director of Community, 2018-2020
Founding Leadership Team, 2017-present
Global nonprofit supporting community-led language documentation and revitalization initiatives.
• Oversee programs and operations for a global nonprofit supporting language communities across 180 countries, with responsibility for program strategy, volunteer networks, and operating systems.
• Designed and launched the Language Revitalization Fellowship, supporting ~20 community-led projects per yearly cohort and enabling grassroots activists to develop sustainable language revitalization initiatives.
• Built operational systems enabling a distributed team of staff, fellows, volunteers, and hundreds of contributors worldwide.
• Previously managed a global volunteer network of over 150 volunteers annually supporting language documentation projects.
• Expanded Wikitongues’ audiovisual archive documenting 720+ languages.
• Assist the Executive Director with fundraising strategy, grant writing, and donor reporting.
• Collaborated with UNESCO on communications for the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages.
• Co-created the Language Sustainability Toolkit, an open-access resource supporting community language revitalization.
Kielikoulu Masto - Helsinki, Finland
English teacher, 2020
• Taught English to children aged 3–10 using the Moomin Language Learning methodology.
• Led weekly language learning groups across primary schools in Helsinki and Espoo.
Africa Center for Strategic Studies - Washington, D.C., United States (remote)
Violent extremism research intern, 2018
U.S. Department of Defense–affiliated research institute focused on African security policy.
• Produced weekly analytical briefs on political and security developments in East Africa.
• Conducted multilingual research using English, French, and Swahili-language sources.
• Presented research briefings to analysts and policy staff.
Tcherneshoff Consulting, Inc. - Gadsden, Alabama, United States
Accessibility assistant consultant, 2013-2018
• Conducted ADA accessibility inspections and compliance evaluations for commercial and public facilities.
• Reviewed architectural plans and contributed to accessibility design improvements using CAD.
• Assisted in development of an accessibility compliance manual for dental offices.
Creative Campus - Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
Intern, 2012-2013
• Organized community arts programming including concerts, exhibitions, and festival events.
• Contributed to the Druid City Arts Festival serving 7,500+ attendees per day.
• Documented arts programming as event photographer.
Education
Master of Arts in African Studies and Linguistics
University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, 2019
Thesis: Na nyingine kutoka nje ya Tanzania: Discussions of Tanzanian Sign Language within a demissionizing context
Bachelor of Arts in Photography
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, 2013
Minors: Art History and Italian
Magna cum laude, President's list, Dean's list
Centro Linguistico Italiano Dante Alghieri
Semester abroad, Italian language studies, 2012
Publications
Tcherneshoff K, Friday T, Bögre Udell D. Revitalizing Endangered Languages through Community-Led Design: The Wikitongues Approach to Preserving Linguistic Diversity and Cultural Heritage. In: Jiang J, C.K. Tham J, eds. Designing for Social Justice: Community-Engaged Approaches in Technical and Professional Communication. Routledge; 2025.
Tcherneshoff, K. & Udell, D. (2019) 'Clearing space: Language reclamation, decolonization and the Internet', Book 2.0, 9:1+2, pp. 105–19.
Moseley, C. & Tcherneshoff, K. (2019) 'The UNESCO World Atlas of Languages and Its Response to Sustainable Development', CIP. Biblioteca Universitaria, pp. 62-72
Interviews and Press
The Schwa, Podcast (2023) ‘Language Revitalization w/ Kristen Tcherneshoff’, https://open.spotify.com/episode/76Dnqd0Oh33HJL96WzXUBH?si=e8908e19be4942cb.
Superpowers for Good, Podcast (2022) 'Wikitongues Fights Cultural Genocide by Revitalizing Threatened Languages', https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ZuckUOt3LumBJL527rNSn?si=7f16b3e8022348fe.
Der Standard (2021) 'Wie das Internet Sprachen auslöscht - und wie es sie rettet', https://www.pressreader.com/austria/der-standard/20210521/281736977352261?fbclid=IwAR1TiPoBIrmC2DLVcWZd-JYIm083FG0f51aKH8dKfjSCoMPO_ZlwBzJd5KE.
U-Lingua (2021) 'Keeping Languages Alive: An Interview with Kristen Tcherneshoff', https://issuu.com/u-lingua/docs/u-lingua_issue_5_v6.
Wired (2019) 'Bridging the Internet's Digital Language Divide', https://www.wired.com/story/internet-digital-language-divide/.
Babel Magazine (2018) 'Meet the Professionals: Kristen Tcherneshoff', https://babelzine.co.uk/issue25/.
The Independent (2018) ‘How Wikitongues is Saving the World from Linguisticide’, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/wikitongues-world-languages-linguicide-a8398551.html.
Uma Leht (2018) 'Tcherneshoffi Kristen: Võromaal omma olnu pikä ja sõbraligu jutu', https://umaleht.ee/article/tcherneshoffi-kristen-voromaal-omma-olnu-pika-ja-sobraligu-jutu/.
Fellowships and Awards
J.M.K. Innovation Prize, Fellowship awardee 2021-2024, $175,000
Windgate Fellowship, University of Alabama, Film and Screen Printing, 2013
Winner of the Annual Piano Arts Competition, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 2010
Winner of the Music Teachers Association Piano Competition, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 2008
Winner of the Music Teachers Association Piano Competition, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 2007
Conferences and Speaking Engagements
Wikimania, 2024, Panelist, ‘Supporting minority languages and Wikimedia's global community’
Interpreting and Translation Linguists Collective Conference & Celebration of International Mother Language Day, 2024, Guest speaker, ‘Supporting Language Revitalization Efforts in the 21st Century’
University of Arizona Human Rights Department, 2023, Guest Lecturer
MozFest, 2022, Invited Panelist, ‘GLAM Together: Digitizing Cultures and Languages’
Sámi University of Applied Sciences, 2019, Guest Lecturer
Northwestern University CHR, 2019, Keynote Speaker, 'The Right to Speak: Examining Language in the Framework of Human Rights'
Wikimania Stockholm, 2019, Invited Panelist, ‘Why indigenous languages matter more (now) and what we can do for them’
UNESCO IFAP International Conference, Yakutsk, Russia, 2019, Guest Speaker, 'Preservation of Languages and Development of Linguistic Diversity in Cyberspace: Context, Policies, and Practice'
RightsCon Tunisia, 2019, Invited Panelist, ‘The Digital Language Divide: Why Prioritizing Underrepresented Languages Matters’
IYIL Opening Ceremony UNESCO Headquarters, 2019, Invited Panelist
UNESCO International Conference, Changsha, China, 2018, Keynote Presentation, 'The Role of Linguistic Diversity in Building a Global Community with a Shared Future'
The Bedford School, United Kingdom, 2018, Guest Residency
Board and Committee Experience
Wikimedia Language Diversity Hub, Global (remote)
Steering committee member, 2022-present
AvoinGLAM, Helsinki, Finland
Advisory board member, 2021-2023
International Human Rights Art Movement
Board of Directors, 2021-2023
RightsCon
Program Planning Committee, 2021
Volunteer Service
Partners for Justice, United States (remote)
Database developer, 2021
International Human Rights Art Movement
Volunteer, 2020
Wikitongues, Brooklyn, New York, United States (remote)
Community manager, 2017-2018
Tanzania Women Lawyers Association - Arusha, Tanzania
Women’s rights legal team, 2016
Professional Development Courses
University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States (remote)
Fundamentals of Grant Writing, 2021
Codecademy
Command Line Course, 2021
Qalam wa Lawh, Rabat, Morocco
Intensive B1 Arabic course, 2017
L’Alliance, Paris, France
Intensive French writing and conversation course, 2017
University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Principles of Microeconomics, continuing education course, 2015
Certificates
National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI), Finnish, 2023
American Sign Language Endorsement, Signing Online, 2021
200-hr Yoga Teacher Training, Aura Wellness, 2015
Certified Cicerone, 2014
Computer Skills
Database development: Airtable
Film and sound editing software: Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Audition
Graphic design platforms: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and Canva
Website: Basic HTML and CSS, Squarespace Circle Member
Agile methodology: Scrum framework
Professional Memberships
Linguistic Society of America, active member
Committee on Endangered Languages and Their Preservation
Linguistics Beyond Academia Special Interest Group
Societas Linguistica Europaea, active member