Born and raised in Lima, Peru. As an immigrant and a native Spanish speaker, she experienced firsthand the communication barrier when she arrived to this country and is aware of the encumbrances this represents. Her passion emerges when both the Hispanic and Deaf communities mesh. Since she obtained her ASL/English Interpretation degree, she has focused on providing support to her trilingual interpreter colleagues and students of the field.

Joseph Lopez aka “JoJo” born and raised in Riverside, California. California School for the Deaf Riverside(2004) and Gallaudet University(2010/2017) Alumni. He has a B.A in Communication Studies and M.A in Sign Language Education. JoJo currently lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and he is working as a Deaf Mentor for Early Intervention & Developmental Service at New Mexico School for the Deaf. He is an Adjuncts instructor for ASL Levels 1 & II at New Mexico State University. He is also Families Language Connector Program for Gallaudet University. He is an active advocate in his community and the board for Raíces del Rio Grande, New Mexico Mano A Mano, New Mexico Association for the Deaf, and Council de Manos. He loves to socialize with people, enjoys hiking, coffee, taking pictures, and most of all spending quality time with family.

A trilingual interpreter (ASL, Spanish, English). She currently works with the company Sorenson, exclusively with Spanish and ASL; she is also working in Spanish and English interpreting in the community including translations of texts and videos. She studied in Peru and finished her Bachelor’s degree in Education and Theology in Bolivia. Her experience interpreting was from a very early age, because there were no interpreters, the whole family had to take the responsibility of interpreting for her younger sister who is deaf. At that time, she realized that interpreting was what would be a big part of her life. Yris Chavez, a native of Peru, enjoys spending time with her family, cooking traditional dishes from her homeland and sharing with friends.

Born in Venezuela and currently, for nine years, living in Albuquerque NM. Has his BS in Sign Language Interpreting from the University of New Mexico and his MBA from Stockton University. He has worked at NMSD for 4 years as a Trilingual interpreter, for a VRS company and contracts with multiple local agencies as well. He loves to explore the outdoors with his two dogs and to travel. His newest COVID hobby is playing the acoustic guitar.

Came from third generation of deaf families who are also Latinos. She graduated from NMSD. Now, she is working as a Community Advocacy Specialist at New Mexico Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She hopes to give her skills of advocacy back to the Trilingual interpreters community.

Born and raised in NM, Mariah is a certified freelance interpreter that has been working in various settings for over three years. She graduated from the University of New Mexico and completed the Apprenticeship Program at Rochester Institute of Technology in 2019, and has been involved in a variety of mentorship programs since. Mariah has always had a passion for trilingual interpreting, growing up in a bilingual household. Mariah is excited to serve on the New Mexico Mano a Mano Board to support their ongoing efforts with enhancing the work of novice and experienced trilingual interpreters within the state.

Nubia Prieto was born and raised in New Mexico, however her family is from Chihuahua, Mexico. She is in her last year of UNM’s Signed Language Interpreting program. She is hoping to improve her skills in trilingual interpreting and working in her home state of New Mexico. Nubia wants to work with children in her field and is so excited to get started.

Social Media

Henri Grau is an accomplished interpreter education trainer, photographer, graphic designer, creative consultant who enjoys creating and teaching various workshops that focus on skill building through content awareness and deliberate practice. Henri currently works for Sorenson Communications in the Interpreter Education and Professional Development, where he creates and teaches various workshops related to ASL and linguistics. After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Henri continued with his love for the visual arts, and worked as a production assistant and video editor for two television stations and began teaching ASL in the evenings. He worked as a graphic designer before joining the New Mexico School for the Deaf staff as a photographer and graphic designer, all the while teaching ASL in the evenings for the University of New Mexico. He feels language and photography are both visually in a constant state of change and believes in embracing this change. He believes by doing this he can fulfill his vision as an artist and a teacher. Henri is also an avid cyclist and enjoys hiking and spending time with friends and animals. You can frequently find him with a cup of coffee reading the New York Times at a local café.

Professional Development Coordinator

Amanda Luján is a proud Chicana from Santa Fe, New Mexico who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Signed Language Interpreting in 2005. After participating in an extensive mentoring program at Gallaudet University, she received a master’s degree in Interpreting Pedagogy from the University of North Florida in 2013. Currently, she is full-time faculty at the University of New Mexico’s Signed Language Interpreting Program and is pursuing her Ph.D. in Educational Linguistics. One of her pedagogical interests includes training interpreters to work in Spanish-influenced settings. She continues to work as an interpreter practitioner while supporting trilingual interpreting initiatives in New Mexico.