ITI Awards 2026: Outstanding Contribution
We are pleased to announce that this year's recipient of the Outstanding Achievement award is Cate Avery FITI.
A translator with 40 years of experience, working from German and Italian into English and specialising in patents, Cate has been a dedicated ITI member for over 35 years and a Fellow of the Institute since 2006. She was the winner of the John Hayes Prize for Excellence in Translation 2020 and has been a frequent speaker at ITI events, with a particular interest in raising professionalism and promoting good customer service.
Introduced in 2025, the Outstanding Achievement Award is presented annually to an ITI member who has, over a long and sustained period of time, voluntarily contributed with integrity to the work of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, focusing always on the vision, mission and values of the institute.
In her presentation speech Fiona Gray, ITI Chair, said: "As Chair of ITI’s Membership Committee for the past 12 years, Cate has played an instrumental role in improving the acquisition, engagement and retention of members of ITI. This award recognises Cate’s outstanding commitment to the Institute throughout her long career, her admirable integrity, and her hard work to ensure committee effectiveness, diverse representation of the membership, and decisions always made fairly in the best interests of the ITI community."
Cate said: "Thank you so very much to ITI for this award. I am beyond honoured to receive it. I joined ITI in 1989 – and over that time I’ve met so many colleagues, some of whom have become longstanding friends. One of the people I got to know early on was Sue Young. Sue often reminded us that the more you put into ITI, the more you get out of it. I wasn’t sure what she meant, at first; it is only after you have got involved yourself that you start to appreciate what wonderfully supportive colleagues we have in ITI members. It’s amazing how generous colleagues can be with their time, sometimes even making recommendations to their clients about colleagues they know personally. I’ve certainly got a lot more out of ITI than I’ve put in!"
Cate was presented with her award at our 40th Anniversary Dinner, which was held on 1st July during EX:CHANGE 2026.
