Tram Bui, AALB Trainer

Ms. Tram Bui is a refugee from Vietnam who emigrated to the US in 1975 when she was 6 years old.  She has been a Vietnamese <> English interpreter and translator since 2004 and has earned her CMI (Certified Medical Interpreter) certification with the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters. She is an independent contractor who interprets in the field of medical, education, and community interpretation. She is a trainer for the Americans Against Language Barriers, (AALB is 501(c)(3)) a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the care of patients with limited English proficiency by training medical interpreters, providing language services, and advocating for policy reform. She served 5 years on the board of the Arizona Translators and Interpreters Association as VP and Member-at-Large.  She was the Vietnamese tester/evaluator for the Vietnamese Language Proficiency Test and the Interpreter Skills Test for Language Line Academy/Solutions.  Before becoming an interpreter, she taught Junior High ESL (English as a Second Language) for 5 years for Mesa Public Schools and also taught 2nd and 3rd grade for the Riverside Unified School District.

‍

‍

Kelly (Grzech) Henriquez, AALB Trainer

Kelly (Grzech) Henriquez is a dual-certified Spanish medical/healthcare interpreter in Richmond, Virginia. She acquired her BA from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) with a concentration in Spanish and completed their SETI (Spanish/English Translation and Interpretation) program. Kelly began her career in language services as a Bilingual Patient Advocate at a local safety net clinic and has since been an on-site as an independent contractor in both medical and mental health facilities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she began her YouTube channel for interpreters, producing educational content for interpreters, and began teaching medical interpretation with Americans Against Language Barriers (AALB).

‍

Gustavo Negrete, AALB Trainer

Gustavo R. Negrete received his training at California State University in Fullerton, Extended Education Program in Court Interpreting. In 2014, he achieved national certification through the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters earning the title of Certified Medical Interpreter – Spanish and is also a Certified HIPAA Privacy Expert (CHPE). Mr. Negrete is the current Chair of the NBCMI and had previously served as the Secretary of the National Board. He is President and CEO of a micro interpreting and translation company; fulfilling language access needs in medical, legal, community, and education, as well as consulting and is the new managing director of TransInterpreting. Mr. Negrete has over twenty (20) year of experience in health care having served in several clinical roles and departments prior to becoming an interpreter. He is a staunch advocate for language access, LEP rights and the interpreting profession as an active participant in organizations who lobby and or promote these causes.

‍

Olga Bogatova, AALB Trainer

Olga Bogatova started her career in Russia and holds a Master's Degree in Biology. She is a CoreCHI- and NBCMI-certified Russian medical interpreter. Now, as a medical interpreter at Stanford Health Care, she focuses on working with older adults and other vulnerable populations. Along with that, she finds peace serving the language needs of the Russian-speaking asylum seekers and refugees flown to California.

‍

Jorge U. Ungo, CCHI Language Access Advocate

For over two decades, Jorge U. Ungo supported healthcare organizations in their efforts to deliver compassionate, culturally competent, patient-centered care to their diverse patient population. During this time he served as a board member on the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC), President of the Texas Association of Healthcare Interpreters and Translators (TAHIT) and a CCHI Commissioner. In 2015, Jorge was recognized by TAHIT as the Texas Star in Language Access and in 2019, he was recognized by NCIHC as a Language Access Champion. Born in El Salvador and raised in a bilingual, bicultural home in Texas, Jorge is passionate about uplifting marginalized communities and being a vocal ally for the underserved.

‍

‍

Veronica Guemez, Certified Medical Interpreter

Veronica Guemez, MA, CHI-Spanish, is a nationally certified medical interpreter from the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) with over 20 years of experience. She has worked as an OPI, VRI, staff in-person interpreter, as well as an independent contractor. In 2016 she attained a certification in Translation Studies and in 2017 a master’s degree in Global Affairs with a concentration in Translation Studies. In addition to working extensively as an interpreter in the medical field, she has worked as a Consistency Reviewer for translations at the headquarters of State Farm and as a Translation Coordinator at Advocate Aurora Healthcare. From 2019 to 2020, she was the Vice-President of Programs for CHICATA, bringing experts to present and inform members of CHICATA as well as organize the Interpreters and Translators Institute Workshops held each year. Currently she is transitioning into the legal field and pursuing the State Certification for judicial interpreters. Her plans for the future include getting certified, working for the 19th Judicial Circuit Court in Illinois, and the DOJ.

‍

Kavita D'Souza, Apna Ghar Community Engagement Manager

Kavita is the Programs Manager at Apna Ghar (a Hindi/Urdu phrase meaning “Our Home.”) Apna Ghar was founded in 1989 in Chicago to end gender-based violence. As a human rights organization Apna Ghar uses an evidence-based model to address micro and macro level conditions that create unique barriers that our immigrant survivors face. Since 1990, Apna Ghar has reached more than 100,000 survivors and community members across the region. Kavita has more than 15 years of experience in India working with non- government and non-profit organizations, community mental health agencies, prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace and health care.

‍