San Diego County Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (SDCRID) |
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SDCRID BOARD
PRESIDENT Geri Mu (she/her) 2023-2024 president@sdcrid.org Geri Mu, NIC-Master, CI and CT, is a Chinese American interpreter in private practice since 1984. Currently, she is a Testing Committee member for the Center for Assessment of Sign Language Interpretation (CASLI). Geri has been formally involved with multicultural issues since 1997. She was the Chair for RID’s Cultural Diversity in Leadership committee for eight years and an Advisory Committee member for the National Multicultural Interpreter Consortium. She is also proud to have been the Interpreting Services Coordinator for the Asian Deaf Conference in 2000 where she was the first to assemble the largest all-Asian Interpreting team known at that time! She is a lifelong learner, holding an A.A. in Interpreting from Los Angeles Pierce College, a B.A. in Deaf Studies from California State University Northridge, and an M.A. in Linguistics from Gallaudet University. | VICE PRESIDENT Lori Bellama (she/her) 2023-2024 Lori graduated in 2006 with a Bachelors of Science in ASL interpreting with a minor in Anthropology from Northeastern University in Boston, MA. She began freelancing as well as working part-time as a staff interpreter for Boston Arts Academy while simultaneously working towards her credentials through several mentorship and training programs, becoming nationally certified in 2009. In 2010, she escaped the frigid Boston winters for sunny San Diego and became a staff interpreter at Deaf Community Services of San Diego until 2014 when she transitioned back to freelance interpreting. Lori has worked passionately since graduating with and for new interpreters individually in mentorship as well as with the DCS internship programs and as the Co-Chair of the Mentorship Program at SDCRID. |
SECRETARY Marquette Laquey (she/her) 2023-2025 Originally from Austin Texas, Marquette is a passionate freelance interpreter with over 16 years of experience. She began her studies of ASL in High school under a dual enrollment program leading her to earn an Associate's degree in interpreting. She graduated from Gallaudet University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sign Language Interpretation. Marquette has both her National Interpreter Certification and her BEI Texas Certification. She received her NIC in December 2015 just before relocating to San Diego. She enjoys actively getting involved in the Deaf community, volunteering for hearing and Deaf events, and giving back to her local philanthropic organizations. She was the Professional Development Committee co-Chair for SDCIRD from 2017-2019, organizing several workshops to the San Diego interpreting community. Marquette is always seeking to learn new aspects of the world around her, as such, she took a semester of Irish Sign Language, attended the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI) conference in 2018 and furthered her education. She graduated with her Master’s in Advanced Interpreting and Teaching from Western Oregon University in 2021. She is also currently working as part-time faculty instructor for the interpreting program at Palomar College. | TREASURER vacant treasurer@sdcrid.org |
COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVE II: DEAF COMMUNITY Razi Hall (he/him) 2023-2025 Deaf and a Florida native, Rodney “Razi” Hall lives and works in San Diego for the Deaf community as a Deaf Interpreter. He is a native ASL user and enrolled in the ASL Interpreting program at Mesa College to become a Deaf Interpreter. He received a certification of achievement which allowed him to enhance his interpretation skills and knowledge. He conducts himself in a professional manner, able to work well with team interpreters. He worked as a freelance Deaf Interpreter for a year. Then he joined DCS as staff Deaf interpreter. He is working on becoming a Certified Deaf Interpreter. In the past, he volunteered for Deaf Community Services as a front desk clerk and in the Adult Literacy Department as an instructional aide and one-on-one tutor. |
COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVE III: STUDENT – PALOMAR COLLEGE Ariana Beagle (she/her) 2023-2024 Ariana Beagle was born and raised in Encinitas, California and first became interested in ASL when she was in the fourth grade. From that time on, her passion for ASL and the Deaf Community continued to grow. She began taking ASL classes during her freshman year of high school where her teacher informed her about the ITP at Palomar College. Ariana was set on becoming an interpreter after that and in 2020 began taking classes at Palomar College to pursue that goal. She received her Associates of Arts in Deaf Studies in 2022 and is now an Interpreting 3 student at Palomar. Following her graduation, she will be working towards obtaining her BA in Linguistics. Ariana has a passion for learning and enjoys volunteering in the Deaf community, as well as going to Deaf events. She finds immense value in the advice and information shared by Deaf community members. These connections made a lasting impression regarding the importance of being an ethical interpreter involved in the Deaf Community, one who understands the absolute necessity of providing equal access to information, and appreciates the Deaf community for sharing their culture and language. |
PAST PRESIDENT Nathan Brown (he/him) 2023-2024 Nathan Brown is a Black nationally certified ASL Interpreter who has been in the field since 2004 and is a native of San Diego and the deaf community. He is an interpreting instructor at Mesa College and a Program Manager for Heritage Learning, Training and Development at Sorenson. Nathan is also a graduate student at Western Oregon University studying the intersection of race and interpreter education. When not serving the community in these roles, you can find him with his partner Eileen and children Brooke and Aubrey enjoying the sights and tastes of San Diego or wherever else their travels call them. |
SDCRID COMMITTEES
BIPOC Interpreters Co-chair: Norma Villegas CI and CT (she/they) Norma Villegas received her B.A. in Deaf Studies in 1997 from CSU Northridge where she began her work as an educational interpreter. For more than a decade she worked as a video interpreter, including relaying Trilingual (ASL/Spanish/English) calls from a variety of Spanish-influenced regions. She has held positions as RID’s Video Interpreter Member Section Trilingual Representative before moving on to the Section's Region V Representative, as well as recently co-chairing SDCRID’s Professional Development Committee. Norma’s long time passions have been social and economic justice; as a BIPOC Committee co-chair, she is committed to removing barriers and growing the pool of interpreters from historically underrepresented communities to best provide sociocultural and linguistic access to clients from diverse backgrounds. Co-Chair: Cielo Gonzalez-Jiminez bio pending |
Fundraising Chair: Aaron Brewer (he/him) Aaron Brewer ended up in an interpreter training program (ITP) by accident, despite knowing no sign language and having never met a Deaf person. Two years later, armed with an AAS in interpreting, he escaped his native Ohio for the bright lights of New York City. There he became nationally certified (CI/CT) and earned a BA in sociology. Thirteen years later he met a man, got married, and was dragged kicking and screaming to sunny San Diego. Aaron believes passionately in the work the SDCRID board is doing to diversify the field of interpreting and is excited to help raise money to make this happen. Please note that if you ever see him interpreting music, he did not know that was part of the assignment before he took it. | Jean Kelly Lending Library Librarian: Annette Miner, Ph.D., CI/CT, NIC-M (she/her) Annette Miner, PhD, is an interpreter educator, professional interpreter, and researcher. She received a doctorate in interpretation pedagogy and research from Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. She has published on the topics of curriculum design, experiential and situated learning in interpreter education, and the role of designated interpreters. | Member Services Chair: Liz Mendoza, CI/CT, NIC-A, SC:L (she/ella) Liz is a proud third generation native San Diegan. She graduated from San Diego State University with her BA degree and UC San Diego with her Master's and Doctorate. Liz is a full-time professor at Palomar College in San Marcos and also works as a freelance interpreter. Liz was the co-founder of SDCRID in 1997 and has served in various positions. She has also served as the Legal Interpreter Member Section Chair, North American Representative for the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI), and is currently the Co-Chair of the Test Development Committee for the Center for the Assessment of Sign Language Interpreters (CASLI). In her free time, Liz enjoys hiking, riding horses, and camping. Professional Development Co-chair: Nathan Brown (he/him) Co-chair: Lori Bellama (she/her) |
Web Administrator Web Administrator: Lucy Annett (she/they) Lucy Annett formerly had a life as a music teacher after getting her music degree at "the U" (University of Minnesota) then later transitioned to ASL interpreting after attaining her associate's degree. Yes, she is that old. However, she had long been connected to the Deaf community through her Deaf Taiwanese mother. She moved to Boston starting her career as a university staff interpreter and freelancing. She got her CI/CT and picked up other interpreting interests along the way including court/legal, healthcare, theater, and...really almost anything. She managed to pick up an M.Ed. degree as well. After 16 years, she moved to San Diego and is now all about the vibe here. Please note that if you ever see her interpreting music, it's because she accepted the gig that Aaron wouldn't take. She is honored to be the web administrator for SDCRID because this feeds her need for attention to detail and grammar nerdiness. | Young Professional Interpreter Network (YPIN) Co-chair: Shannon Chafik (she/her) Shannon Chafik has resided in San Diego for ten years, originally from Northern Nevada. She has had a long-established dream of becoming an ASL interpreter and after many years, she is finally making it happen. She looks forward to working with the community. She spends time with her husband and learning other languages. In addition to English and American Sign Language, she is conversational in Spanish and Serbian and is learning Moroccan Arabic and French. Co-chair: Patty Leon bio pending |