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May 2 - Washington D.C. - AAITE Language Advocacy Day
May 3, 2024 - Hyattsville, MD - College Park Marriot Hotel & Conference Center
May 4, 2024 - Adelphi, MD - Sonia Sotomayor Middle School
Edu-Con 2024 is set to showcase a stimulating roster of speakers hailing from various regions of the country. Attendees can look forward to engaging presentations, specialized pre-conference sessions, ample opportunities to explore our Sponsors & Exhibitors, and an opening reception on Friday evening.
AAITE Edu-Con 2024 Speaker List
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Tory Baldwin
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In her role as Translation & Interpretation Services Coordinator for Jeffco Public Schools, Tory Baldwin supports a team of translators, interpreter/liaisons, and technicians who facilitate communication with multilingual families, thereby empowering all families as equitable partners in pursuit of their students’ education. With approximately 69,000 students, Jeffco is Colorado’s second-largest district, with more than 4,000 multilingual parents/guardians and over 100 languages in the community. A graduate of Yale and former Fulbright recipient, Tory holds an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from CU Denver. with an emphasis in Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education. |
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Giovanna Carriero-Contreras
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Giovanna Carriero-Contreras is the Chair of the American Association of Interpreters and Translators in Education. She is a national and international speaker, an experienced translator and interpreter, interpreter trainer, and co-author of The Community Interpreter and The Medical Interpreter. She has trained on almost any facet of community and legal interpreting, ethics, skills, and strategies. She chairs AAITE and focuses on promoting the professionalization of T&Is and language access. She is a member of ATA’s Standards Committee, the Association of Language Companies’ Advocacy and Language Access Committees, and ASTM Committee F43. She is also chief of U.S. Delegation for ISO/TC37/SC5 and editor of ISO 13611:2021(WD) on community interpreting.
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Isabella Craft
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Isabella Craft is a Commonwealth Honors College at UMass Amherst student majoring in Spanish and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Together they created the academic course “The Foundations of Translation, Interpreting, and Language Access” in collaboration with academic, industry experts, and public school leaders and educators.
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Andrew Dafoe
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Andrew Dafoe, a Tulane University graduate and one of Louisiana's first Supreme Court Certified Spanish Interpreters, holds a certificate in Healthcare and Legal Translation and Interpreting from Loyola University New Orleans. He founded TNOLA Languages, offering services in over 100 languages, and co-founded TNOLA Learning for interpreter training.Silvia Gómez-Juárez, a certified court interpreter (federally) with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies and an M.A. in Romance Languages, instructed at Loyola University and the University of New Orleans. With a passion for language studies, she has presented research globally and resides in Metairie, Louisiana. |
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Regina Galasso
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Regina Galasso is an award-winning author and translator. She is an associate professor in the Spanish and Portuguese Studies Program and the director of the Translation Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. |
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Mario García
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Mario Garcia has over 24 years of experience as a community translator/interpreter, with a specific focus and specialization in developing workshops and curriculum targeted for interpreters working in the nuanced field of Special Education. His passion for language justice and his commitment to understanding and codifying the role of education interpreters informs the methodology of his practice. Recently, he has been working to develop a best practice approach for interpreters working in hybrid environments and how the use of technology (AI) can help promote language justice, equity of access, and greater community participation in public education.
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Christina Green
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Christina, a linguistics leader, studied Modern Languages at Universidad Central de Venezuela. Fluent in multiple languages, she founded Green Linguistics in 2003 after moving to the US in 2000. Serving as an expert witness and interpreter for televised events, she champions causes like children with disabilities and international refugees. Christina was President of the Midwest Association of Translators and Interpreters (2012-2014, 2020-2022) and is currently on the Board of Directors of the American Translators Association (2022-2025), also leading the Interpreters Division. She's an ATA Spanish certified translator, certified judicial interpreter in Wisconsin, and Authorized Italian Interpreter for courts. Dedicated to education, she supports Wisconsin school districts, translating textbooks and interpreting at conferences.
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Silvia Gómez-Juárez
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Silvia Gómez-Juárez is a highly experienced language professional, specializing in judicial interpretation and translation. With degrees from UNO, she is certified by the Louisiana Supreme Court and federally certified. Silvia has presented research at prestigious institutions and served as a full-time instructor at UNO. Now Operations Manager at TNOLA Languages, she excels as a Federally Certified Court Interpreter at the Eastern District Court of Louisiana. Silvia's expertise extends to teaching at Loyola University and UNO, solidifying her reputation. Originally from Mexico City, she resides in Metairie, Louisiana, impacting through her linguistic expertise while enjoying reading and traveling.
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Manar Kodamah
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Mrs. Manar Kodamah is a District Liaison, Educational Interpreter/Translator specializing in special education, Office of Civil Rights, Homeless -Foster students Coordinator, Culture Advocate in Dearborn Public Schools, MI, a Free Lancer, Public speaker, and trainer. Holds a BA in English literature, a translation certificate from Marygrove College, an MA in conference interpreting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Movie subtitling certificate. Over fifteen years of experience in translation, interpreting, and teaching. Member of the American Translation Association ( ATA), Michigan Translation Association (MiTiN), International Standards organization (ASTM), and American Association of Interpreters and Translators in Education (AAITE).
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Carola Lehmacher
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Carola is a multi-lingual freelance translator and interpreter with over fifteen years of experience working with government and industry at executive and operational level. She holds two university degrees in translations studies granted by the Universidad de Buenos Aires,
Argentina. Additionally, she obtained a Spanish ˂˃ German interpreting diploma (2005) and concluded a 3-year Spanish ˂˃ English interpreting course (2008). In 2013 and 2014, she taught 2 interpretation courses - namely Interpretation I and II, - and a translation workshop at the
Universidad de Buenos Aires.
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Luis Martinez
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Luis Martinez has been a District Interpreter and Translator for Riverside Unified School District in California for 9 years. He is also on his 8th year as an Adjunct Professor of Spanish for the College of the Desert, where he teaches Elementary and Intermediate Spanish. He is also a Trainer of Trainers for The Community Interpreter International. Luis has a BA in Spanish and Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an MA in Spanish from Cal State University, Fullerton.
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Michael J. Mulé
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Michael Mulé is Deputy Director of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The OCR ensures that recipients of federal financial assistance comply with federal nondiscrimination laws including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) and the Safe Streets Act of 1968. Before OCR, Mr. Mulé was a senior attorney in the Civil Rights Division at DOJ for thirteen years and led the Title VI state court language access team. Mr. Mulé is recognized as a national expert on language access. He has presented over 75 civil rights trainings for federal and state agencies, attorneys, and judges, and has resolved many Title VI and language access matters. From 2005 until 2010, he focused on improving access for low-income clients who were limited English proficient (LEP), Deaf, or hard of hearing at the Empire Justice Center in Rochester, New York.
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Leslie Padilla Williams
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Leslie Padilla-Williams has over 20 years of experience as a district translator in K-12 educational settings. She provides language-specific interpreting training to bilingual paraeducators, such as Interpreting IEP Meetings. She has delivered parent engagement workshops and is a professional bilingual speaker. Her unique educational experience, including a Law Degree from Guatemala City, a CA Adult Education Credential, a Translation Certificate from UCSD Extension, and a Professional Special Education Interpreter for the University of Georgia, allows her to provide relevant training opportunities. Leslie is a founding member of the AAITE and was awarded Teacher of the Year by Latino Champions and Outstanding Latina Entrepreneur by Latina Magazine/Wells Fargo. |
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Janis Palma
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Janis Palma is a professional English-Spanish interpreter and translator with over 43 years of experience working as both staff and independent contractor in state and federal courts, as well as for private clients in conferences on a broad spectrum of topics. She is certified by NAJIT, the U.S. Courts, and is a Texas Master licensed interpreter. She holds a Master’s in Legal Studies (MLS) from the Arizona State University (ASU) Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law and an M.A. from the Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe. Janis Palma has been a volunteer with the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT) since 1986, is a former Board member and Chair, and was awarded a Life Membership in 2006. She has taught, written, presented at conferences, and published extensively on subjects related to interpreting, language access, and language rights. She is currently working on a Ph.D. in Language Studies.
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Maria Peruch
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Maria Peruch is the Translation and Interpretation Services Coordinator for Oklahoma City Public Schools. With a background in world language education and as an alum from the district, she works to ensure effective communication within the diverse community served by the district. |
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Bill Rivers
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Dr. Bill Rivers is a former Russian/English translator and interpreter, Russian teacher, academic researcher and administrator with more than 30 years’ experience in language advocacy and capacity. He is a founding member of the Interpreting SAFE-AI Task Force, established in June 2023. He serves on the AAITE Advisory Board, and he is past interim chair-elect of AAITE. He is the immediate past and founding Chair of ASTM Technical Committee F43, Language Services and Products. Dr. Rivers serves on ATA's Advocacy and Education and Pedagogy Committees, and he is an honorary lifetime member of the Association of Language Companies.
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Yasha Saebi
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Yasha Saebi is a medical translator and interpreter with more than 20 years of onsite and remote interpreting experience. She has a BA in translation, a BS in biology/genetics and a MS in forensic science and has been granted membership to the International Association for Identification (IAI). Yasha was elected and served as the American Translators Association Medical Division Administrator from 2019 to 2023 and has served as the ATA Science & Technology Division, Government Division and Law Division's Nominating Committee member and chair. She is currently a CCHI Commissioner and served as a subject matter expert (SME) on the English to English (ETOE™) test development project and is a member of National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare (NCIHC). Yasha has also worked as a linguist on evaluating and grading proficiency tests with several language service providers.
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Gabriela Siebach
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Gabriela Siebach, Chair of the AAITE Job Task Analysis Committee, has worked in educational interpreting for nearly 15 years and in linguistics for about 20. She also works as Director of Interpreting Services at Cesco Linguistic Services and as Adjunct Professor at UMass Amherst. She has spearheaded the development of multiple training and assessment programs throughout her career. Gabriela holds a graduate degree in Spanish translation and interpretation from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Gabriela also sits on the ATA Government Division Leadership Council and Chairs the Interpretation Profession Advisory Committee, and volunteers on the NCIHC Policy, Education & Research Committee. She is an active member of CATI, NLSC, NAJIT, and ASTM. |
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Eva Vargas
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Eva Vargas was born in Mexico City and moved to Oakland, CA, in 2001. Her educational background is rooted in media studies. She has worked in advertising and radio. She is fully dedicated to her Spanish Interpreter role at the Oakland Unified School District. With over seven years of experience interpreting and translating in education, she has become a vocal advocate for the professionalization of interpreters and translators in educational settings. As part of this mission, since 2021, she has been co-chair of the Communications Committee at the American Association of Interpreters and Translators in Education (AAITE). |
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Betsy Winston
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Dr. Winston directs the Teaching Interpreting Educators and Mentors (TIEM) Center, a Center focused on excellence and integrity in interpreter and mentor education and research. Her earliest interpreting experiences were in K-12, and her research continues to explore the many complexities of educational interpreting. She had published a number of professional articles about educational interpreting, and served as an editor for two ground-breaking educational interpreting volumes. Her other areas of expertise include teaching and research in curriculum development, assessment and evaluation, discourse analysis, interpreting skills development, educational interpreting, multimedia applications in ASL research and teaching, and teaching at a distance. |
Please note: Conference speakers and sessions are subject to change. If you'd like to learn more about the cost, venue or any other additional information, you can return to our main conference page or, if you're ready to proceed with registration, you can click below to register. Registration is non-refundable. We look forward to seeing you in Washington D.C.!
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