CCHI is honored to welcome three new Commissioners, representing different stakeholders of the medical interpreting field, to start their three-year term on our Board this year: Alex Carney, Fabio Torres, and Alegna Zavatti.
Born in Gold Beach, Oregon, Alex Carney graduated from Portland State University with a major in political science and a minor in Spanish. He spent significant time living and working in places such as the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, where he set up operations for a leading provider of telephone interpreting services. After working for over a decade in the telephone and video language interpreting industry, Alex currently offers consulting services specializing in language services. He is a board member of Consejo Hispano, a community-based organization located in Clatsop County. Consejo Hispano focuses on the equitable integration of the Latinx community into the broader social and economic fabric of Oregon and Washington. He is passionate about working to build safe, equitable, and prosperous communities, and he sees interpreting not only as a way to help LEP communities but also as a way to elevate their voices in the medical interpreting community. He enjoys film, music, NBA basketball, and spending time in the forest, mountains, and beaches with his family.
Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Fabio Torres, MACCM, CoreCHI, has been an interpreter since 1989. His passion for this profession started in Rio when he was interpreting for Americans and other English-speaking medical professionals at medical clinics in the slums of Rio. After moving to the US to pursue an undergraduate and graduate education in 1996, Fabio started working at Catholic Charities Fort Worth in the language services program – Translation & Interpretation Network (TIN) and continued to work for TIN as a social enterprise for 20+ years. During his tenure, his passion for language, culture, and interpreter education increased as he worked through the local parishes to create and implement healthcare programs and deliver health services in rural and urban communities in North Texas. Fabio holds a Master of Arts degree in Church and Community Ministries from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth (TX), and a BA in Religion, with a minor in Psychology from North Greenville University (SC).
Alegna Zavatti, CHI-Spanish, has been the Director of Interpreter Services at Boston Medical Center since 2019, one of the oldest interpreter services departments in MA. In her role as director, she manages and oversees more than 50 employees and ensures language access to 25% of our patient population via in-person, phone and video interpretation. Alegna holds a Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Conference Interpretation from Universidad Central de Venezuela. In 2011, she moved to Boston and completed Boston University’s Medical, Legal and Community Interpreting Certificate Program. After completing this training, she worked with different regional agencies and the Office of Court Interpreter Services of Massachusetts. In 2013, Alegna became a Spanish Certified Healthcare Interpreter with CCHI. She has been a board member of the Forum on the Coordination of Interpreter Services (FOCIS) since 2021. This is a nation-wide organization that aims at creating best practices for hospital-based interpreter services departments and enhance language access.
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