Year-end review for 2020

This past October, the new administrative term (2020-2022) began for the ATA Interpreters Division, and your administrative team is here to serve you.

Meet Christina Green, Interpreters Division Assistant Administrator

Christina Green is a certified court interpreter (Spanish) and an ATA certified translator (English > Spanish). Her other working languages are Italian and French. She also speaks Portuguese. Christina holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Modern Languages from Universidad Central de Venezuela, and advanced studies in Linguistics and Economics. Because she believes that helping others through her work is a responsibility, not a choice, she looks for ways to actively serve the community. Christina joins Helen at the helm of the Division to assist in improving working conditions for interpreters, especially considering the challenges our profession is facing as a result of the pandemic.

Meet Helen Eby, Interpreters Division Administrator

Helen Eby is a certified court and healthcare interpreter (Spanish) and an ATA certified translator (English <> Spanish). However, what matters the most to her are not her certifications; Helen cares about working with her colleagues to help the profession grow. She is constantly checking the roadblocks to professional growth and looking for ways to overcome them. Her certifications give her more tools to explore these issues.

As the ID Administrator, Helen wants to hear from members. She wants to know what barriers interpreters face at work, what they need to improve their working conditions, their skills. The ID might be in a position to develop some of those answers or may direct members to places that have the answers or can develop them.

As a team, the Administrator and Assistant Administrator are responsible for forwarding member concerns to the ATA Board. We need to hear from you. Please email us at divisionID@atanet.org.

What are we thankful for?

Our Division is a diverse group with many languages, nationalities and areas of practice, and we have come together to support each other.

We have explored online connections throughout the year and at the conference. They work.

We have listened to each other through surveys and through our discussion group, and we found ways to support each other.

We are astounded at the generosity of our colleagues, who have shared free training events and creative solutions to help us get through this year. 

We encourage our independent trainers to list their events on our Division page. ATA Divisions may maintain calendars on their websites listing events/courses that have been approved for continuing education points, that offer an ATA member-to-member benefit, or that are organized by a non-profit organization. Our calendar includes events from all these categories. You will find the submission information on the Training page.

We have a large number of very active volunteers. This year, there are 20 ATA Interpreters Division members on our team!

Where are we going?

We plan to hold online meetings where interpreters can connect with each other more frequently than in the past. Our first meeting is on January 9, 2021. Please join us at the Interpreter Connections! Although it is free, pre-registration is required.

We are planning to support ATA with its CE program for 2021. Our Professional Development team is researching potential webinars to submit to  ATA.

We want to encourage our members to share news and events through our social media channels and on our calendar. Our social media team has been actively promoting posts that support our members.

We look forward to increasing virtual engagement opportunities for all our members in order to effectively listen to all the voices in our interpreting community.

Why renew your ATA membership?

Beyond the well-known advantages of belonging to a professional association, such as quick access to conferences, educational events at a discounted rate, and networking, among others, your ATA membership allows you to join the divisions of your choosing. Check our About page to see who the Interpreters Division is!

One of our most important tasks is maintaining consistent communication with our members, while providing a dedicated space for our members to interact. Our division is among the most active ones within ATA and we do not want to lose your voice! Please join us for another year.

In 2018, we ended our year with a review that still feels current:

Interpreters have been in the news. Every day, we enable communication at medical appointments, conferences, educational settings, judicial environments and human resources meetings, to name a few.

All this has required that we take our responsibility seriously, be prepared, be impartial, be accurate, arrive on time, and be ready to do our very best every day. ATA interpreters discuss tools to take notes, electronic terminology resources, ethical issues, and collaborate every day.

Well done, colleagues. At the end of the year, as everyone takes a break, we look forward to recharging and coming back with new energy to do it again.

We renew that invitation to professionalism, and invite you to join us. Please stay connected through our website, blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and groups.io discussion forum!

Last but not least, we remind you of our invitation to join us at the Interpreter Connections meeting online on January 9. We look forward to seeing you there!

Helen Eby
Christina Green

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The ATA Interpreters Division website offers a wide range of services for its members, including the Blog, a Resources page, and a Discussion forum. Members are also invited to join in the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!