BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Cynthia Peinado
President
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.
Heba Abouelasaad
TAPIT secretary
Born and raised in Egypt, Hebba Abulsaad (aka Heba Abouelsaad) has been a freelance interpreter, translator, lecturer, and program manager for more than 25 years. She received a primary and secondary bilingual education in a British school in Egypt, and holds a Bachelor of Science in History, Archeology, and Egyptology from Alexandria University. In a society whose customs and traditions have not been supportive of professional women, Hebba had to work diligently to advance her career in her native country. This adversity empowered Hebba to develop a combination of firmness, perseverance and sensibility that have proven an asset to building solid relationships, both in her personal life and in business. Hebba’s interpretation and translation experience began overseas, and she spent two decades serving as a client liaison for businesses, both independent and corporate. This experience granted Hebba the platform to work for organizations such as the National Geographic and Rotary International. Hebba is a people-person and is able to interact and achieve transparency in communication by bridging cultural gaps. She takes great pride in her work and her commitment to leaving a positive lasting impression in everyone that crosses her path. In the USA, Hebba has been practicing Arabic >< English legal, medical, and community interpreting in all modalities (in person, over-the-phone, and video remote interpreting) as well as performing Arabic >< English translations for more than 10 years. She is an Arabic Certified Court Interpreter in Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana, as well as a national Arabic Certified Healthcare InterpreterTM. As a Board Member of the Tennessee Association of Professional Interpreters and Translators (TAPIT) since 2017, Hebba has served as an at-large member and as the organization’s Election Chair. Currently she serves as the secretary of the organization. She is also a Certified Credentialed Interpreter by the American Translators’ Association (ATA), and an Associate Member of ATA and its divisions since 2015. When not working or volunteering, Hebba enjoys decorating her home, watching movies, being outdoors and visiting with her close friends.
Bruni Trevino Dopatka, MA, BA
Member-at-Large
Bruni Treviño Dopatka has been a certified court interpreter in Tennessee and a member of TAPIT since 2004. She is a medical interpreter certified by CHI. She interprets in Spanish and French. Bruni holds a Bachelor of Arts in French and Master of Arts in German from the University of Wisconsin. She trained as a systems analyst in Germany. She has presented several times at TAPIT. Bruni has been trained as a mediator by the Community Mediation Center. Bruni loves her work. She also enjoys her children and grandchildren. In her free time, she hikes and plays the piano.
Sarah Cawvey, CMI-Spanish
TAPIT Interim President-elect
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.
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.
Heidi Giordano
Member-at-Large
Hello my name is Heidi Giordano, I am a bilingual Spanish and English speaking interpreter. I was born and raised in Southern California. I moved to Tennessee in April of 2015 with my husband and 2 kids and now with our beautiful addition baby girl, we are a family of 5. I attended Northridge Institute of Interpretation and completed an interpreter readiness course. In September of 2016 I became a registered interpreter with the State of Tennessee and am currently on the path to become certified. When I decided to pursue this career of interpreting I was living in California working full- time as a manager not knowing that I would fulfill this dream of mine in Tennessee. I was nominated to be a member at large, I’ve never been a board member for any committee, but non the less I was grateful that I was thought of. I’m ready to explore and see what this whole new experience brings to my career as a person who likes to serve others and be a part of something great. I would love to be part of this committee and be able to offer my services, knowledge, experience, and ideas I might have.