English Judges
Katherine Spivey
Katherine Spivey serves the General Services Administration’s Plain Language Launcher, coordinating GSA’s plain language program. She is also co-chair of the Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN) as well as a trainer, teaching plain language courses for Digital Gov University and numerous federal agencies. Katherine works for GSA’s Federal Acquisitions Service’s Integrated Technology Services, where she manages Web content, coordinates social media, and edits Mary Davie’s blog, Great Government through Technology. Before joining GSA, Katherine was a Web content manager at the Department of Homeland Security, Web content editor at international law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP, and websites manager at the International Association of Chiefs of Police. She has taught at local community colleges and at the Amphibious Warfare School in Quantico, Virginia. She has an M.S. in English from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in English from the University of Mary Washington.
Paul Strickland, Lead Judge
Paul retired in 2013 from the European Commission where he was head of the Editing Service. His other job was to run the Commission’s Clear Writing Campaign, which he launched in 2010. The Campaign - and the associated Clear Writing Awards - is still going strong and is now in its sixth year. Paul is a graduate of Oxford University where he studied Modern History and Modern Languages. Besides editing, he has worked in a number of different fields including accountancy, international trade, teaching and translation. He also spent four years as a European Union diplomat in Australia. Paul lives in Brussels, Belgium and is married with two grown-up children.
John Strylowski
John Strylowski has over 30 years’ experience writing and reviewing regulations and directives for federal agencies; he has even more experience as the victim of poorly written and baffling material. Thus John is a long‑time member of the Plain Language Action and Information Network and a founding board member of the Center for Plain Language. John has developed and conducted training for writers at over 25 federal agencies, the State of New Jersey, and the Province of Ontario. Since 1998, he has been a speaker at Tulane University’s International Legislative Drafting Institute in New Orleans and has worked for three federal agencies as a management and regulatory analyst. He has also completely revised the Department of the Interior’s Freedom of Information Act regulations and revised various regulations for the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and others. John has a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and an M.A. from the Catholic University of America.
Amy Tibbetts-Carlo
As senior manager, Content Creation for Member & Provider Communications at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Amy is a tireless plain language editor and advocate. Working in collaboration with key communicators across the company, she has developed plain language training and a Keep it Simple with plain language campaign for Blue Cross employees. Amy brings a wealth of experience in health insurance, educational publishing, e-commerce, marketing, and communications. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts.
Karel van der Waarde, Lead Judge
Karel van der Waarde studied graphic design in the Netherlands (BA, The Design Academy, Eindhoven) and the UK (MA, De Montfort University, Leicester; PhD, University of Reading). In 1995, he started a design - research consultancy in Belgium specializing in the testing of pharmaceutical information design. His company develops patient information leaflets, instructions, forms, protocols, and the information architecture for websites. Karel van der Waarde frequently publishes and lectures about visual information. Avans University of Applied Sciences (Breda, The Netherlands) appointed him as scholar in Visual Rhetoric between 2006 and 2014. From September 2014, he teaches (part time) at the Basel School of Design (Switzerland). Van der Waarde is a Life-Fellow of the Communications Research Institute (Melbourne, Australia), a board member of International Institute for Information Design (IIID, Vienna, Austria) and editorial board member of Information Design Journal, Journal of Communication Design, the Poster, Visible Language, and She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation.
Spanish Judges
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