Careers in Interpretation and Translation
This panel session will feature professional interpreters working in medical, legal and educational settings. We will explore certification and career paths, as well as resources for further learning.
Ana Soler
NAETISL Chairperson
Ana Soler is the Chairperson of the National Association of Educational Translators and Interpreters of Spoken Languages (NAETISL: https://naetisl.org/) She completed her degree in Social Work at Georgia State University, her Master’s Degree in Public Health at Emory University, and is a Ph.D. in Special Education student at the University of Georgia. For over a decade, Ana worked with the largest school district in Georgia as the Language Services and Parent Outreach Coordinator, developing, implementing and evaluating professional development opportunities for multilingual personnel. Ana has authored interpreter training curricula nationally including the Intercultural Parent and Youth Leadership Program, the Interpretation Academy for Bilingual High School Students, the Arkansas Interpreter in Education Credential Training, 40-hr courses for medical interpreters, and the Professional Interpreter in Education & Professional Interpreter in Special Education Certificate courses at UGA.
Jessica Sanchez
My name is Jessica Sanchez, I'm the owner and founder of NWA Bilingual Solutions in Northwest Arkansas. My business offers interpreting, translating, notary public and marriage officiating services in both English and Spanish. I'm currently a board member and treasurer for NAETISL (National Association of Educational Translators and Interpreters of Spoken Languages) and part of the Rogers Public Library Multicultural Inclusive Initiative. With all that said, most of my work is in the educational field as an Arkansas Credentialed interpreter, interpreting and co-facilitating the Arkansas Bilingual Interpreter Credential in Education training course. Working as an interpreter has solidified my view on the need we have as a state and country for qualified interpreters in the educational field. The children, our future, depend on parents/guardians being well-informed, regardless of their home language, to make informed choices for their children. I hope that through my work I can help my community close the language gap.
Maria Alicia Calzado
Born in Mexico City and has a Bachelor’s Degree in marketing from the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey. Maria initiated her career in sales and marketing in the printing and multimedia industry as part of the Bertelsmann group. She trained as a Facilitator and Mediator to support with personnel training and continued her career in the Financial & credit sector.
Maria moved to the US in 2009 with her family, and due to her communication skills and bilingual education, she decided to get training in a different career as a Medical Interpreter. After her training, she began working for Affordable Language Services, providing services to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Mercy Hospital, Tri Health, Cincinnati University Hospitals, the Ronald McDonald house, Shriners Children’s Hospital, and others. She also serviced Family and Children’s Services, Cincinnati’s Government programs such as Help me grow and Kentucky’s Government programs such as Cabinet for Health and Family Services and interpreted at School Districts within the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area.
She works in Long Island NY and works for companies like Language Line Services-Fluents, Visual Language Professionals, and Akorbi as a Medical Interpreter. She is also an interpreter for NTC Language Services-BOCES for School Districts in Long Island, NY and SeSo Inc. where she interprets in consecutive and simultaneous mode for school districts in Georgia and Arkansas. Her most recent training was at the University of Georgia as a Professional Interpreter in Special Education. Maria is also a Founding and Active member of the nonprofit organization NAETISL that is working to create a certification process for interpreters and translators in education nationwide and provides resources for emergent bilingual families, schools, students, interpreters, and translators on everything related to education.
Juanita Halepas
Ms. Halepas has been a State Certified Court Interpreter for over 12 years. She worked full-time for the State of Connecticut Judicial Branch from 2009 until 2019. During her time with the state, she also acted as a mentor to upcoming court interpreters in the Interpreter and Translator Services Unit Mentoring Program, the purpose of which was to guide prospect court interpreters to successful certification. Additionally, she contributed in the translation of legal documents and participated in organizing the state yearly workshops for court interpreter training for the CT Judicial Branch. She was involved as the editor of Intraconnect, the interpreter’s department newsletter of the Judicial Branch. She holds a certification from the National Center for State Courts, NCSC, in Court Interpretation, a certificate in Medical Interpretation from Central Connecticut State University as well as a certification from the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters, CCHI, and a certificate from the Southern California School of Interpretation for Interpretation in Immigration Court. In the last year, Ms. Halepas has become an active member of the National Association of Educational Translators and Interpreters of Spoken Languages, NAETISL. Her objective is to guide bilingual individuals interested in working as interpreters in navigating the steps needed to achieve court, medical and/or educational interpreting certification as well as creating awareness on the importance of the interpreting profession.