Board of Directors
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Chair
Eliane Sfeir-Markus, CHI
Plymouth, PA
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Term: June 2026 – June 2028
Eliane Sfeir-Markus, CHI, is an experienced interpreter, trainer, and industry leader fluent in Arabic, English, and French. She is a Certified Healthcare Interpreter and an Arabic court-certified interpreter in Pennsylvania and Delaware. As an Interpreter Expert, Eliane advises on industry standards, develops training materials, and provides guidance on interpreting ethics and best practices.
Additionally, as an Adjunct Professor at Widener University Delaware Law School, Eliane teaches court and medical interpreting and foundational interpreting skills.
Eliane is also a trainer with De La Mora Institute, where she co-designed and teaches a “Train the Trainer” course. She offers training in medical and court interpreting and webinars on professional development topics like cultural intelligence.
She is a certified John Maxwell Leadership coach, DISC behavioral analyst and speaker.
Vice-Chair
Mayra Cardona, PhD
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Term: June 2025 – June 2027
Mayra Cardona has been a Professional Interpreter and Translator since 1988. She earned her PhD in Linguistics from the English Department of the University of Puerto Rico in 2023, with her dissertation, An autoethnographic study on linguistic-communicative challenges and myths of court interpreting. She also holds a master’s degree in translation and a juris doctor from the University of Puerto Rico.
Her bachelor’s degree was a double major in comparative literature and French. During that time, she studied for one summer and one semester at La Sorbonne where she mastered the French language. She was admitted to the Puerto Rico Bar in 1995, further demonstrating her versatile expertise in both law and language. She achieved the Judiciary Interpreter and Translator Certification from NAJIT in 2004 and was certified by the Federal Courts Administration in 1998. Her interpreting experience spans a wide range of settings, including civil and criminal proceedings, depositions, conferences, simulcast, telephone interpreting, and video conferences.
Her translation of documents has typesetting quality, where translated document mirrors original in format while maintaining accuracy and precision in content. She proficiently handles diverse subject matters, encompassing legal, medical, banking, pharmaceutical, advertising, construction, environmental topics, among many others. As a practicing attorney early in her career, she engaged in the fields of family law, contracts, torts and entertainment law. She is currently the Vice Chair of APTI (Asociación Puertorriqueña de Traductores e Intérpretes).
Treasurer
Jaqueline Nordin
Sweden
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Term: June 2025 – June 2027
Jaqueline Nordin is a board member of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT), bringing a strong background in legal interpreting, translation studies, and academic research. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Translation and Interpreting at a federal university in Brazil, where her research focuses on the ontological and sociological dimensions of courtroom interpreting. With years of experience working in multilingual legal environments, she advocates for the visibility, recognition, and ethical support of interpreters in the justice system. Jaque Nordin has also been actively involved in professional development initiatives and community outreach, aiming to bridge the gap between academic insights and real-world practice. Her commitment to linguistic justice and intercultural dialogue drives her work on the board and beyond.
Secretary
P. Diane Schneider
Clinton, Washington and León de los Aldama, Guanajuato, Mexico
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Term: June 2026 – June 2028
Diane previously served the public as an English language instructor in Athens, Greece. She was a behavioral health counselor at a state mental hospital and a child abuse investigator and a state probation and parole officer supervising convicted felons and insanity acquittals.
Diane worked for two decades for the US Department of Justice Community Relations Service resolving community conflict issues related to race, color and national origin. Now she serves as Commissioner Emeritus at the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission and serves on the Board of the Washington State Coalition for Language Access.
Diane is a member of NAJIT, ATA, and NOTIS. She has presented at ATA and NAJIT on the issues of hate/bias incidents against immigrants and interpreters. She holds a master’s degree ìn public administration from Seattle University. In her spare time, she enjoys translating novels and raising registered Quarterhorses.
Director-at-Large
Janis Palma, PhD
San Antonio, TX
Term: June 2026 – June 2028
Janis Palma is a professional English-Spanish interpreter and translator with over 43 years of experience working as both staff and independent contractor in state and federal courts, as well as for private clients in conferences on a broad spectrum of topics. She is certified by NAJIT, the U.S. Courts, and is a Texas Master licensed interpreter. She holds a Ph.D. in Language Studies, a Master’s in Legal Studies (MLS), and an M.A. in Caribbean History and Literature.
Janis Palma has been a volunteer with the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT) since 1986 and was awarded a Life Membership in 2006. She has presented at conferences, taught, written, and published extensively on subjects related to interpreting, language access, and language rights. Her research interests are mainly focused on the intersection between language, law, and interpreting in legal contexts.
She is currently working towards a second PhD in Rhetorics, Communication and Information Design, where she plans to develop a new line of research into the rhetorics of justice and language access in the United States.
Past Board Members
Director
Lili Selden
Silver Spring, MD
Term: May 2024 – June 2026
Director
Vicki Bermúdez
South Milwaukee, WI
Term: June 2023 – June 2025
Chair
Nattalia Patterson, PhD
Chicago, IL
Term: June 2023 – June 2025
Vice-Chair
Yadira Call
Santa Clara, UT
Term: June 2024 – June 2025
Secretary, Director & Chair
Janis Palma
San Antonio, TX
Most Recent Term: September 2024 – June 2025
Secretary
Andreea Boscor
San Diego, CA
Term: June 2023 – June 2025
Vice-Chair & Treasurer
Francesca Samuel
Tucson, AZ
Term: June 2022 – May 2024 (Treasurer: June 2022 – May 2024, Vice-Chair: March 2024 – May 2024)
Director & Vice-Chair
Anahit Flanagan, PhD
Waltham, MA
Term: June 2022 – March 2024 (Director June 2022 – June 2023, Vice-Chair June 2023 – March 2024)
Secretary & Chair
Laura McGilvra
Seattle, WA
Term: June 2022 – March 2024 (Secretary June 2022 – June 2023, Chair June 2023 – March 2024)
Director and Chair
Javier Castillo
Greenville, NC
Term: May 2021 – June 2023 (Director, May 2021 – 2022 and Chair June 2022 – 2023)
Treasurer and Vice-Chair
Hilda Zavala-Shymanik
Lake in the Hills, IL
Term: June 2020 – May 2023 (Treasurer June 2020 – 2022, Vice-Chair June 2022-2023)
Director, Chair, & Secretary
Aimee Benavides
Fresno, CA
Term: September 2017 – June 2022
(Chair: May 2018 – October 2019, Director: October 2019 – May 2019, Chair: May 2019 – June 2020, Secretary May 2021 – June 2022)
Secretary & Director
Teresa Salazar
Falls Church, VA
Term: June 2018 – June 2022
(Secretary: June 2018 – May 2021, Director: May 2021 – June 2022)
Director
Hebba Abulsaad
Nashville, TN
Term: May 2019 – May 2021
Director & Chair
Armando Ezquerra Hasbun
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Term: June 2018 – June 2020
(Director: June 2018 – October 2019, Chair: October 2019 – June 2020)
Secretary & Treasurer
Claudia Rubio Samulowitz
Lafayette, Indiana
Term: June 2018 – June 2020
(Secretary: June 2018 – May 2019, Treasurer: May 2019 – June 2020)
Treasurer
Hilda Zavala
New York, New York
Term: July 2016 – May 2019
(Treasurer: May 2017 – May 2019)
Director, Treasurer, & Chair
Gladys Matthews, PhD
Quebec, Canada
Term: March 2016 – June 2018
(Treasurer: March 2016 – May 2017, Chair: September 2017 – June 2018)
Secretary
Ernest Niño-Murcia
Des Moines, Iowa
Term: May 2016 – June 2018
Interim Director
Julie Sellers, PhD
Atchison, KS
Term: September 2017 – June 2018