BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The TAPIT Board of Directors consists of seven members.
David Morales, CCI-Spanish
President
David Morales has been a freelance Spanish-English translator and Interpreter for more than 20 years. Born in Mexico City to Mexican and American parents, he received a fully bilingual education. He has been a resident of Nashville since 2000. David is a TN Certified Court Interpreter and has completed the Kaiser Permanente 44-hour Medical Interpreter Training. He is also a local community and immigrant advocate, sitting on the Property Standards and Appeals Board of Metropolitan Nashville government and on the Board of Directors of the Housing Fund and the Nashville Neighborhood Alliance. David studied cello at the National Conservatory of Mexico and ethnomusicology at the National School of Music of Mexico.
Melvin Elias
Member-at-Large
Originally from San Salvador, El Salvador, Melvin Elias relocated to the U.S. in 1990 and completed his high school education in Cabot Arkansas in 1999. In 2001 he joined the Air Force and completed a four-year enlistment term at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. During enlistment he deployed to United Arab Emirates and to Kyrgyzstan. In 2005 he moved to Tennessee where he completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology Health Science at Tennessee Tech University. Mr. Elias began his career as a Spanish Medical Interpreter in 2014 at Cookeville Regional Medical Center. He currently holds employment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Cookeville Regional Medical Center, and contracts with Language Service Associates.
Cynthia Peinado
President-Elect
Ms. Peinado has ample experience in Business Services as well as Language Access, Cultural Competence, Training and Development. She is also a Website Translation and Localization Certificate Program graduate from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey. Her healthcare interest became a career, more than 20 years ago when she enrolled as a community volunteer in a hometown clinic serving mostly low income families. She then worked as a patient care team member in hospitals including NICU, Pediatrics, ICU, ER, and Mental Health. Her passion for integrating provider services and patient care quality led her to roles within Risk Management, Patient Advocacy, Provider & Staff Training and Development. She continues providing training and consulting for health care providers ensuring continued compliance of development, revision and implementation of operational, training and professional development programs. Her passion for volunteer work has continued throughout her career and currently includes service as Committee Member, Speaker Liaison, Board and Ambassador Member for local and international volunteer community service organizations. She is a Healthcare Quality Consultant, Spanish Translator and Certified Medical Interpreter and owner of English Spanish Consulting. She accounts for 25 years of language access including patient care, health administration, Risk Management, Patient Advocacy, Training and Staff Development. Professional activities include membership with American Translators Association, American Society for Quality, Health Care Compliance Association and Association for Talent Development, former board member with Colorado Association of Professional Interpreters and current board member with International Medical Interpreters Association.
Sarah Cawvey, CMI-Spanish
TAPIT secretary
Sarah is originally from St. Albans, VT and was first introduced to the Spanish language in the third grade. Her family later moved to central Honduras, where they served for years as missionaries. It was there that Sarah really cultivated her language skills and passion for the Hispanic culture. In 2009, Sarah returned to the U.S. and attended Asbury University, where she obtained a B.A. in Spanish and in Biochemistry. Upon graduation, she began working as a professional Spanish medical interpreter, which culminated with her obtaining her national board certification (CMI) in 2015 and becoming a board member of the Tennessee Association of Professional Interpreters and Translators (TAPIT) in 2017.
In total, Sarah possesses over 5 years of professional interpreting experience in places such as Vanderbilt University Medical Center and has worked in a vast array of specialties and environments including trauma bays, emergency rooms, labor and delivery departments, and intensive care and surgery floors. While she is still an active interpreter and TAPIT board member, she also currently works at the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute (TFLI) where she manages and coordinates independent contracting interpreters who serve in medical, legal, and other public service fields.
Bruni Trevino Dopatka, MA, BA
Member-at-Large
Bruni Treviño Dopatka is the owner of Omega Interpretations, LLC and a Certified Court Interpreter of Spanish in Tennessee since 2004. She holds a Master of Arts in German and Bachelor of Arts in French from University of Madison Wisconsin. Studied one year in Aix-en Provence, France and one semester in Vienna, Austria. Practicum as a business systems analyst at Daimler-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany. Member of TAPIT since 2004, HOLA and Methodist Potter's Wheel Book club. Lives in Knoxville, Tennessee since 1996. Member of Toastmasters since 2012. Married with three children. Native of Mexico and naturalized citizen of the US.
Marvyn Bacigalupo-Tipps, Ph.D.
President-Emeritus
marvyn.bacigalupo-tipps@tapit.org
Originally from New Jersey, Marvyn settled in Nashville some thirty years ago, initially to teach at Vanderbilt University and subsequently at other local colleges. Later, she was a partner in a successful translation company, became an editor of two trade journals in Spanish, and now works as a freelance ATA Certified Translator of Spanish and as a Certified Court Interpreter in the Federal Courts, and Kentucky and Tennessee State Courts. Marvyn served as President of TAPIT for 3 years, an organization she co-founded in 2002. She is now President-Emeritus.
Hanaa Hamed
Member-at-Large
Hanaa Hamed was born in Sudan where she graduated with a Bachelor´s degree in accounting. She lived in Egypt for two years and then moved to Nashville as a refugee with her husband and one daughter. Shortly after her arrival, she started working with World Relief while taking English classes at Nashville State Community College. Hanaa attended Belmont University and continued working for non-profit organizations as a Refugee Cash and Medical Assistant program manager, an accountant, and an Immigration Assistant. Now Hanaa has four kids, working as an interpreter with Tennessee Foreign Language Institute, First Steps, Siloam clinic and she volunteers with TIRRC while trying to pursue higher education. Hanaa has been active and taking many roles to help immigrants to have a better life and create a healthy community. She joined NICE as a board member in January of 2017 and Nashville Public Library Immigrant Advisory Committee in February of 2017.
