At the Spring Session of the CCHI Commission April 19-20, commissioners unanimously elected Natalya Mytareva as the next chair. Mara Youldeman, J.D., one of the founders of CCHI and first chair, continues as a commissioner using her strengths in advocacy work for language access in health care.
Natalya is a Russian interpreter/translators and started her career as instructor of various interpretation and translation courses at Volgograd State University (Russia) in 1991. She moved to the U.S. in 1996.
Since 2000, Natalya has been Communications Program Director of the International Institute of Akron, Inc. (Ohio), a non-profit refugee resettlement agency, where she coordinates the interpreting and translation services, interpreter and cultural competency training programs. On a local level, Natalya is actively involved in issues of equal access to health care for limited English proficient (LEP) individuals. She also participated in the work of the Translation Subcommittee of the Supreme Court of Ohio Interpreter Services Advisory Committee, and the Summit Co. Sheriff’s Interpreter Services/LEP Model Program for Law Enforcement Committee.
Natalya said, “I am honored to lead CCHI at this time. We’ve had tremendous support of our certification program from all the stakeholders in the field. We are proud to have over 1,000 interpreters who have applied or received our “AHI™” credential or “CHI™” certification.”
She has been Chair of CCHI’s Test Development Steering Committee for the last two years and worked closely with subject matter experts (SME’s) and test development companies to create the current “AHI™” and Spanish Arabic and Mandarin “CHI™” exams. “It’s been an extremely interesting and rewarding process,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve been humbled by the dedication of my fellow Commissioners and or SMEs.”
Natalya went on to say “I am excited to work on expanding the certification process and to coordinate CCHI’s growth as a mature organization. Now, with all the initial structures in place, it’s time to work diligently and meticulously on professionalizing the healthcare interpreting field, one credentialed interpreter at a time. I invite everyone to join us in our effort to make our profession equal among others. Apply to get certified, become our subject matter expert, volunteer! CCHI is strong thanks to continuous input and support from so many in the healthcare interpreter community.”
For more information, visit CCHI at: www.healthcareinterpretercertification.org