Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-to-ASL
General, Post-Secondary, Business, Engineer / Mechanics
Anne Braun has been practicing interpreting in the DC/ Maryland area since 1997. She currently works in government, community, VRS and mental health settings.
Anne earned her Bachelor’s Degree in special education from Southern Connecticut State University and Master’s Degree in Deaf Education from Gallaudet University. She taught Deaf children for nine years before transitioning to interpreting. Anne was an adjunct professor in the Interpreter Training Program at Community College of Baltimore County for nine years teaching introduction to interpreting, interpreting in specialized settings and interpreting process/skills classes.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: ASL Language model, Interpreting process: ASL to English, and
Interpreting process: English to ASL
Bekah is the only Deaf person in a Hearing family. She wears a Cochlear Implant so uses both speech and ASL to communicate. Bekah was mainstreamed from preschool up until graduation. She works as a paraprofessional at Metro Deaf School, and is available to be an ASL Language Model for interpreters.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: Cultural Responsiveness, LGBTQ+, Healthcare
Hello, I am Bree! I am a Deaf individual from Oklahoma. I grew up in a hearing household as the only Deaf member. I was mainstreamed throughout my education. I graduated from University of Oklahoma; if you follow football, one of big 12—OU. I have bachelor’s degree in International Area and Studies. I love languages and cultures. I enjoy learning about the different backgrounds of everyone I meet. I analyze their needs and skills…
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Mentoring Specialty Areas: Interpreting Process, Atypical Language, Linguistics, Educational Interpreting
Carly has been practicing as an interpreter for over ten years, focusing on educational and religious interpreting. She earned her bachelor’s degree in interpreting from St. Catherine University. There, she fostered a love of English and linguistics in addition to interpreting. She later returned to St. Catherine University, where she received her Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity (MAISCE). Her research focused on interpreters’ strategies when working with Deaf refugee and immigrant students, a project inspired by her own work with several refugee and immigrant Deaf students and staff.
Carly is passionate about interpreter education, and has worked with mentees and interpreting students since she was an undergraduate student herself.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: Interpreting process: ASL to English, English to ASL, Mental Health, Healthcare, VRS, Education, Atypical Language
Cyndi has been a practicing interpreter for over 13 years, receiving her NIC from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf in 2014. She earned her Master of Science degree in Secondary Education for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing from Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf. For the first 6 years of her career, she focused primarily on education (K-12/post-secondary) and community interpreting. During this time, she also began working in the VRS field and continues to do so nearly a decade later.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: ASL-to-English and DC-S
General, Medical, Post-Secondary, Business, Mental Health, Atypical Language, Engineer/Mechanics, Government Settings, and NIC Interview & Performance Exam Preparation
Henry did his interpreter training at UW-Milwaukee before moving out to Washington D.C. to work on a master’s in linguistics from Gallaudet University. During his time at Gallaudet he worked as an interpreter and also an ESL instructor for international students both at Gallaudet and in the D.C. area. He has his NIC and recently completed his QMHI in Alabama to become a qualified mental health interpreter.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: ASL-to-English and DC-S
General, Medical, Post-Secondary, Business, Technology, Mental Health, and K-12 Settings
Jasmine Marin has a Master of Science degree in Health Care Interpreting from Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute of the Deaf. She received NIC Advanced national certification from The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf in 2008 and was a contributing author in the textbook: Handbook of Research on Medical Interpreting. She also holds national CoreCHI certification from the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters. Jasmine is originally from Canada but currently lives in Arizona and has been a practicing signed language interpreter for over 15 years. She is licensed and registered to practice in Arizona and Nevada. As owner of a local interpreting agency, she has worked in a variety of community settings, but is primarily a healthcare interpreter.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-to-ASL, ASL-to-English
General, Business, Human Services, Social Work
Jessica Aguilar is a native Minnesotan with a bachelor’s degree in social work and women’s studies from Gallaudet University. As a licensed social worker from 2008-2012, Jessi has done various jobs within the human services field. From 2012-2018, she was a Deaf Mentor teaching ASL to hearing families with D/HH children. In 2018, she was promoted to Lead Deaf Mentor for the MN Deaf Mentor Family Program. Jessi supported all the Deaf Mentors in their teaching skills by utilizing different tools and approaches. For three semesters, Jessi also taught ASL high school students. Currently she works for the MN Board of Social Work and has a lot of knowledge with vocabularies related to government, administration, health licensing boards, and human services.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: Interpreting process: ASL to English, English to ASL, EIPA Test Prep, Ethics, DeafBlind Interpreting, Religious, Business, K-12
Krystle Chambers has been an interpreter for ten years and a mentor and educator for eight years. She earned a Master of Arts Degree in Interpreting Studies with an emphasis in Teaching at Western Oregon University. Krystle has several published works pertaining to ASL/English interpreting, interpreting with the DeafBlind community, and mentoring the next generation of ASL interpreters. She has worked in roles such as chief editor and researcher.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-to-ASL and ASL-to-English
Hello my name is Mikey Krajnak.
Born deaf to a hearing family in Staten Island, NY. Recently retired from Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Currently living outside of Savannah, GA with husband of 14 years and enjoying free time as a freelancing CDI and mentor. I have been CDI since 2010 and did a lot of interpreting prior to the certification. I graduated from Gallaudet University in 1993 majoring in Sign Communication (which later changed to ASL Teaching). I have taught several universities in the past— Gallaudet University, NTID at RIT, Brown University, Boston University.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: Trauma Informed Interpreting, Mental Health
Mischa is a dedicated and skilled interpreter with a strong background in medical Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) and in-person interpreting within educational settings. A proud graduate of the Interpreter Training Program (ITP), Mischa holds both an interpreting certificate and a degree, complemented by extensive coursework in Deaf culture and ethics. Her academic journey was marked by hands-on experience, including internships and mentorships, which shaped her expertise in the field. Now working remotely, Mischa is passionate about preparing future interpreters, offering guidance from basic American Sign Language (ASL) skills to advanced interpreting concepts. Her commitment to education and professional development reflects her deep understanding of the interpreting profession and its impact.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-ASL, ASL-English, Performance, K-12 settings, EIPA test prep, NIC test prep, NIC performance & CASLI Generalist Knowledge Exam
Mychal has been a practicing interpreter since 2012 and is nationally certified through the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. He holds a Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies – Teaching from Western Oregon University and a Bachelor of Arts in Sign Language Interpreting from Augustana University. Mychal has extensive experience across various interpreting settings throughout his career, including business, K-12 education, healthcare, performance, platform, post-secondary, VRS/VRI, and more.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: English to ASL and ASL Language Model
General, Medical, Legal, Post-Secondary, Business, and Atypical Settings
Naomi Sheneman, Ph.D. & CDI has been working professionally in the interpreting profession since 2000 in various roles. She is currently a freelance consultant, researcher, educator, interpreter diagnostician, mentor, and interpreter. She is the first deaf woman to receive a Ph.D. degree in Interpretation from Gallaudet University. Her dissertation study focused on the impact of extralinguistic knowledge of cancer on interpreters’ work. She gives presentations and trainings nationally and internationally focusing on ethics, power dynamics in interpretation, and medical interpreting. Her publications include a study on Deaf interpreters’ ethics, interpreting in international conferences, and power imbalances in interactions between deaf people and interpreters. When she’s not nerding, she enjoys biking, doing yoga, cooking, and spending time with her three dogs, Chocolate, Levi, and Coral St. John.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-to-ASL and English-to-ASL
General Settings, Medical, Business, Atypical Language, NIC Interview & Performance Exam, & CASLI Generalist Knowledge Exam
Richard currently has returned to private practice as an interpreter, mentor and instructor. He most recently served as Director for two awards through the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration. The first award ($4M) was to establish the national Graduation to Certification, Experiential Learning Model training project and the second award ($2M) was to create the Medical, Mental and Behavioral Health Interpreting Project for the CATIE Center at St. Catherine University.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: Interpreting process; Ethics; Teaming with hearing interpreter
Sarah is a CODA who believes that every interpreter can grow, improve and learn something new. Mentees will spend their time setting goals, analyzing ethical scenarios, going over feedback from recorded work and having open conversations about any potential barriers to reaching their goals. Sarah believes that not every session has to be intense hands up work, that there is value in conversation and talking about mental and emotional blocks and personal struggles.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: English to ASL and ASL Language Model
General
A native ASL signer, originally from Albert Lea, Minnesota, Sherri Rademacher attended California State University in Northridge and St Cloud State University for her bachelor’s degree. She received a master’s degree in education from the University of Minnesota.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: ASL Language Model
General, Medical, Government, Education, Mental Health, Performance Settings
Sunny Brysch is a Deaf Asian woman and the second generation of a Deaf family. She is proud of the Deaf generational family and the ASL she was raised with. Sunny has a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Superior. She also has a Master’s in Social Work from Augsburg College. Unfortunately, a career in that field has limited opportunities due to communication barriers. She returned to school for ASL Studies to earn the required credentials to pursue a career as an ASL teacher.
Mentoring Specialty Areas: Mental Health, Healthcare – Basic, K-12 & Special Education, Cultural Responsiveness, and Atypical Language
Teena was born deaf. She’s the 6th generation of deaf people in her family. Her mother is an atypical language user. As a result, Teena has learned to communicate in diverse ways. Teena graduated from Kentucky School for the Deaf. She graduated with an associate degree in criminal justice from Kentucky Community & Technical College System (KCTCS) in 2004. She graduated from Gallaudet University with a bachelor’s degree in Deaf Studies in 2022.