Breaking the Silence, June 12, 2022

Guest, Mila Golovine

Graduate of the first class of the University of Houston (UH) Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship (WCE) at Bauer College of Business, Ludmila (Mila) Rusakova Golovine, years later, runs the global language solutions company she presented in her class business plan and then started in 1993.  She has grown MasterWord into a world-ranked Top 50 multi-million-dollar company that delivers language access and enables success of international organizations, projects, and initiatives in over 400+ languages.

Golovine, who speaks Russian, French and English, is the driving force behind MasterWord’s mission to Connect People Across Language and Culture.  She is respected nationally and internationally for her innovative management processes and industry-leading client solutions.  As a professional translator, interpreter and business leader, she has guided MasterWord’s scope and capabilities, understanding the complexities of the global marketplace and providing her teams the tools to hone razor-sharp plans of action that generate successful results. She excels at providing clients innovative solutions based on creative thinking, strategic planning, the latest in technology and doing business with heart.

After graduating with a double major in Finance and Marketing from UH Bauer College, Golovine completed her Masters coursework in Entrepreneurship at the UH Wolff Center, where she continues to participate as a mentor and guest lecturer. She was recognized with the Outstanding Young Alumni of UH Award in 1997 and decades later featured as a most prominent alumnus of the UH Bauer College in the Bloomberg Business Week profile. In 2014 she was the first WCE alum to endow a scholarship at her alma mater and in 2014 and 2015 achieved the Houston Business Journal (HBJ) “Cougar 100” for Top 100 UH Alumni businesses.

Her work has been recognized by the following awards and rankings: HBJ Outstanding CEO of a Medium-Sized Company (2017); EY Entrepreneur of the Year Gulf Coast Area Finalist (2017); Enterprising Women magazine “Enterprising Women of the Year” (2016), Certificate of Congressional Recognition G7 “Excellence in International Service award (2015), Houston Woman magazine “Savvy Sister Award” (2013), “Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women of 2017” Houston Woman Magazine, “Top 100 Women Owned Businesses” in Texas and “Top 500 Women-Owned Businesses” in the U.S. (DiversityBusiness.com), one of “15 Largest Language Services Providers in North America” and one of “50 Largest Language Services Providers Worldwide” (Common Sense Advisory).

Throughout her career Golovine has prioritized community service by heading initiatives and generating support for Friends of Integrative Medicine at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Greater Houston Partnership, Jung Center – Houston, Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research and Texas Association of Healthcare Interpreters and Translators (founding member). She serves on the Board of the Rothko Chapel, Advisory Board for the Mind, Body, Spirit Institute of the Jung Center, chairs the Advisory Subcommittee for the Translation and Interpretation Program at the Houston Community College, is the Chapter Manager for the Texas Chapter of Women in Localization and a member of the International Women’s Forum, Charter 100, and Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance.

Golovine contributes to the arts and fields of mindful leadership, multicultural workplaces, entrepreneurship and social justice/human trafficking as a patron, speaker and writer for UH Bauer College, The Entrepreneurship Institute Presidents’ Forum, national and local professional interpreter & translator associations, among others, and as a member of the National Speakers Associatio