Judge: Plain Language Champion — Best Individual or Team

Plain Language Consultant, Finiti Solutions, Johannesburg, South Africa

Sawubona! This Zulu greeting from Africa means ‘I see you’. More than a traditional hello, it means I see your personality, your humanity, your dignity. And the response is Yebo, sawubona (‘Yes, we see you too’). Much like this warm greeting, the best communication is rooted in empathy — welcoming the reader by the words we use.

My love for languages began at school, studying Latin and French, then German and Italian at university. Discovering plain language — using clear, concise language to build trust with clients — led me to a passionate community fighting for people’s rights to understand financial and health information.

I love distilling messages to their core, crafting effective analogies and infographics. It gives me great joy working with writers and designers to make the ‘complicated simple, awesomely simple’ (Charles Mingus).

Mentoring

Irene has a Master’s degree in Translation and started her career as a language practitioner at the Centre for Courseware Design and Development. She later founded Eagle-eyed Editing (now Eagle-eyed Consult), working with Financial Mail, Investors Monthly, and Business Times, and co-founded Finiti Solutions for effective financial communication.

She received the Derrick Hurlin Mentoring Award for launching the Professional Editors’ Group Mentoring Scheme.

Championing clear communication

As a senior editor at Alexforbes, Irene promoted clear communication by hosting various workshops. She spoke at PLAIN’s international conference in Norway on using plain language to help South Africans save more for retirement.

As a PLAIN board member, she recruited more members and helped organise key conferences, including Access for All: Plain Language is a Civil Right and Connecting cultures: creating bridges with clear communication. She has been judging the Plain Language Awards since 2022.

Beyond work, you’ll find her cycling or enjoying a cup of coffee.

Meet the judges for the Plain Language Awards

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