What a privilege it is to be nominated to serve on ATA’s Board of Directors as Secretary!

When I traded the corporate 9-to-5 for the freelancer’s 9-to-whenever, I had the great fortune to find an instant online community of mentors who generously shared their wisdom and experience. When I joined ATA one year later, those resources expanded exponentially. Only nine short years later, I went to my first ATA Annual Conference, and there’s just no way to describe how it felt to sit in a hall full of people who understood my enthusiasm for a random session on comparative grammar.

I grew up in Ecuador from infancy, briefly studied linguistics and journalism at the Universidad Católica de Quito, and spent a few years working at an international law firm. During that time, I handled some of the firm’s translations and trained as an interpreter. After moving to the U.S. (where I was born), my path took a detour into the field of international sales and marketing, and in 2000, I returned to my roots and began my practice as a full-time freelancer.

I’m a certified translator (Spanish>English) and master-level court interpreter in Texas. In addition, I’ve designed and taught a variety of seminars and workshops for interpreters and translators, including classes for translators and interpreters in education, and over 10 consecutive years of continuing education workshops for licensed court interpreters in Texas.

Throughout the years, I’ve served on the Leadership Council of the Metroplex Interpreters and Translators Association and spent a short but rewarding time on ATA’s Professional Development Committee. I’m currently on the Leadership Council of ATA’s Interpreters Division, am nearly at the end of my second and final term as Secretary on the board of the Texas Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators, and sit on the board of the American Association of Interpreters and Translators in Education.

My primary fields of focus are business, law, and education. I see on a regular basis the difference my colleagues make in those fields and others.

We may be in a time of upheaval, but the essential nature of language services remains. I’ve no doubt that the terrain five years down the road will look different. But, at its core, communication is always necessary. We need to take a beat, take a breath, and keep our eyes on that core service we provide—a service that makes that communication possible.

We need to continually reach out to other professions who work alongside us, and partner with them to our mutual benefit and that of the people who need our skills and professionalism.

We need to continually learn about the new players in our profession, keep up with developments in AI, and understand the shifting world of those we serve.

Because in the end, it’s always about service. And it would be an honor for me to serve you and this association as Secretary.