THE STORY OF OUR NAME
MEMRA
( /mˈɛmɹə/ )
Memra is an Aramaic term related to the Hebrew word, (אמר), which means word, decree, or speech; the creative or directive word or speech of God manifesting His power in the world.
Memra Language Services is a learning and analytics laboratory that brings linguistic research techniques into workplaces to improve outcomes across systems and teams.
Linguists who work for Memra use language analytics to deliver nuanced insights about any area of work directly linked to successful language-use: company culture, leadership development, sales implementation, diversity & inclusion, customer success, and change management.
What is linguistics?
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Linguists study how language works as a system - both in the brain and out in the world. In an academic context, linguists conduct formal studies of speech sounds and gestures, grammatical structures, and meaning across the world’s 6,000+ languages. These formal studies have implications for all areas of work and life: whethaer it’s telling a joke, naming a baby, using voice recognition software, or improving workplace communication, linguistics touches everything we do, or, rather - *say*.
MEET OUR TEAM
Samantha Beaver, MA Applied English Linguistics
Founder/CEO
Samantha Beaver is a Linguist. She received her Master’s Degree in Applied English Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sociolinguistics, Pragmatics, and Conversation Analysis are her areas of linguistic expertise, and her favorite topics to explore are language equity, language & gender, language learning, language & people management, and language & power. When she’s not doing linguistic work for other people, she is at home fostering the language development of her two young sons, Simon and Louis.
Jonathan Jibson, PhD English Language and Linguistics
Consulting Linguist, Teaching & Training
Jonathan Jibson is a linguist. He has lectured on phonetics, phonology, sociolinguistics, and writing. His primary research involves listening experiments with artificial vowels – testing how small a change listeners can detect before the vowel sounds different (or before the speaker sounds like they have a different dialect). He has also done work in dialectology, language attitudes, linguistic prescriptivism, and etymology. This academic background is bolstered by years of real-world experience as a copyeditor, for publications ranging from religious institutions to peer-reviewed journals to corporate training manuals.
Norah Howell, BA Linguistics
Consulting Linguist; Research & Writing
Norah Howell is a linguist. She has a passion for all things language, and enjoys getting to interact with linguistics from a more sociological and business perspective through her work at Memra. As the Consulting Linguist for Research & Writing, Norah is Memra’s bridge between academic linguistic research, and applied workplace linguistic practice.
Jon Zulawski, MBA, SPHR, CPTD
Organizational Learning Strategy & Implementation
Jon Zulawski is not a linguist. He is an expert in driving learner engagement. In fact, he has over 15 years of experience leading the development of learning programs and enhancing the effectiveness of learning and HR functions at organizations both large and small. Jon has led leadership and organizational development, employee development, learning technologies, and patient, customer, and employee experience functions and initiatives for organizations across a variety of industries, including health care, financial services, insurance, benefit administration, non-profits, and executive education.
