HITA ELECTIONS 2021

The elections ballots are open and will close on January 20, 2022. If you were a member in good standing on December 31, 2021, you should have received an email regarding the elections and are eligible to vote.

HITA received essays from two members wishing to run for Director of Professional Development and Director at Large. The description of responsibilities for each board chair and the candidate’s statement of intent are as follow:

DIRECTOR of PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Summary:  The Director of Professional Development is responsible for planning, promoting, and executing programs to serve the professional development needs of HITA’s mem­bership, including translators, court interpreters, medical interpreters, and industry new­comers. The Director supports the aims of the association by delivering professional development content to members in response to identified needs. The Director is also responsible for program planning, project management, and budget and financial management for all HITA’s educational events.

Essential duties and responsibilities:

  • Coordinate and manage the process of the development of ongoing professional educa­tional plans;
  • Ensure smooth planning and implementation of all activities together with the HITA  Board’s quarterly meetings;
  • Establish and maintain professional working relationships with other industry organ­izations such as the American Translators Association in order to foster opportunities for collaboration;
  • Stay current on knowledge of state-of-the-art methods and best practices related to the professional development delivery mechanisms and programs;
  • Develop and maintain budgets for all professional development events that the Board will vote on;
  • Help identify external funding opportunities to support new professional development programming, if necessary.

Qualifications:

  • Knowledge and understanding of professional/career development issues and programs within the language industry;
  • Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal skills including effective presentation and meeting facilitation skills;
  • Knowledge of budgeting/financial management;
  • Organize, able to plan and execute tasks with an attention to detail; and
  • Proficient with Microsoft Office applications

Candidate: Ms. Rebeca Nini

Statement of Intent:

Different together!
Working together to build communication bridges and eliminate language disparities!

Rebeca Nini for Director of Professional Development 

A smart man once said – “Great companies start because the founders want to CHANGE THE WORLD, not make a fast buck.” It had such a big impact on me and being in the service industry, it allowed me to understand that I & we all can do so much more.

As an individual that has been a part of the Translation & Interpreting industry for 20 + years, I take the responsibility of teaching and helping people shine in their role as an interpreter or translator, very seriously.

Being a member of HITA for many years and also a Board member has provided a much needed insight on the needs of our Houston professionals and a way to be a part of a solution in enriching the knowlegde and support of our amazing translators and interpreters.

During my presence in 2021 on the HITA Board I have actively participated and organized professional development sessions and as Director of Professional Development, I am looking forward to receiving your input and working with you on finding the best solutions to improve our skills and expand our knowledge in the translation and interpretation field. 

Over the years I have had the privilege to work and meet some of you in-person and while I am grateful for those opportunities, I am also looking forward to many more occasions where we can work side-by-side and contribute to the education of our customers and the new generation of interpreters.

DIRECTOR AT LARGE

Summary:  The purpose of the Director “at large” position is to provide an opportunity for a member to serve on the Board, without necessarily being responsible for a particular set of duties. They will assist other directors when needed and may run for a vacant position on a future board.

Candidate: Ms. Esther Segura

Statement of Intent:

I would like to express my interest in serving as Director at large.  I was going through my emails and found the notice for the open position. I believe this would provide me with an opportunity to become more engaged and involved with HITA. I have been a member for many years, showing up for an occasional event or training. I have known several of the past Board Members and they were one of the reasons I became affiliated with HITA. Since my first HITA meetings, I was amazed at the different persons who came and provided me as a novice interpreter with useful information. Keeping this same spirit in mind, I went on to volunteer at the last IMIA conference here in Houston. We had bi-weekly meetings for almost 8 months, where we discussed all aspects of planning for the event from topics that would interest attendees to who would be the speakers at the conference. The days of the event I helped with assigning rooms to speakers and being a timekeeper for them. I believe this was excellent training and would be beneficial to assist any of the Board Members. I humbly request you consider me to serve for this position and as a resource for HITA.

Biography

I have lived and worked in Houston for the past 9 years. I worked as a freelance medical interpreter for two years prior to being hired at Texas Children’s West Campus. I have also worked in a dual role capacity at UTMB as Senior Medical Interpreter and Senior Patient Advocate. I am currently working at Houston Methodist Hospital in the Medical Center as Senior Patient Liaison with Platinum Services and on-call for International Services. My interpretation work as freelance has provided me with the opportunity to interpret consecutively and simultaneously in medical, legal, educational and community settings. I have worked freelance as an interpreter at schools, in marketing focus groups, Texas Department of Insurance, Houston Housing Department and  the Social Security Administration.  I have worked at both Texas Children’s hospitals and multiple TCH satellite clinics, MD Anderson inpatient and clinic visits as well as at the proton center. My work with CPS has been primarily at family meetings, at permanency hearings and at the Children’s Assessment Center. Currently with the pandemic, I have limited my interpretation work but look forward to the day when we can safely interact once again. 

We thank you for your continued support and please vote by January 29, 2022. If you have any questions or concerns please email our Election Committee at: [email protected].