Region V Report

https://youtu.be/BEbCEjLovrA Region V Report:

Krystal Sanders, Region V Representative

Krystal Sanders, CDI Region V Representative

Hello everyone. My name is Krystal Sanders and I am the new Region V Representative. My term started this past September 1, 2020 and will continue until 2023. To tell you a little about me, I was born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas Metro area. I moved to Seattle the summer of 2018. My professional experiences as a CDI includes community interpreting for Kansas/Missouri and here in Seattle. I currently work as a Staff Interpreter for T-Mobile. I am excited to start collaboration with Region V’s Affiliate Chapters leadership teams in their efforts to support their members. We know these are unprecedented times and many AC leaders are doing all they can to take care of themselves and their loved ones, while fulfilling their duties as board members. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize their hard work and dedication to the organization and to our profession. Thank you for all you do! You are representing your communities because they trust that you will support them and represent them well. Below you will find the updates for some of the Affiliate Chapters in Region V that wanted to share what is happening in their chapter:

Alaska Alaska has been working these past months to get back to “normal” operations. In September, Alaska RID (AKRID) participated in a virtual Deaf Awareness Week. Along with many other local organizations, AKRID submitted an informational video that was shared across the community and Facebook. Additionally, in a continuation of a partnership with the University of Alaska -Anchorage, AKRID is working to reinstate the NIC testing center operations with COVID-19 precautions. Finally, AKRID is hosting two virtual workshops: “The Impact of Unconscious Bias on Interpreting” on November 14th and “Don’t Be Mad If I Don’t Look: Accommodating the Needs of Hard of Hearing Consumers” on December 12th. AKRID continues to work toward open forums to ensure that professional and community needs are being met.

Arizona Arizona has struggled with their membership enrollment over the last 10 years. The numbers have waned, but changes are coming in the near future as we revitalize interest in the Arizona community to be involved in their chapter, to support their colleagues and the Deaf Communities they serve. If you are interested in being a part of revitalizing the Arizona RID (AZRID), please contact Amerigo Berdeski at aberdeski@gmail.com .

Central California Central California has, despite the unprecedented times 2020 brought, continued to make great strides. Central California RID (CCRID) navigated an electronic election for our Vice President and Treasurer. Our newly appointed multiethnic, multilingual, multicultural Executive Board is ready to serve the Central Valley Region of California to the best of their abilities.

As 2020 unfolded and lack of access with everchanging news persisted, CCRID has been able to do the following to support our community: • Financially supported the efforts of Latent

Interpreting, a startup group of Deaf Interpreters who create videos in ASL to assure linguistic access regarding COVID-19-19, California

Wildfires, and other national news at large.

Select one candidate to receive a full scholarship to participate in the 6th cohort of the Deaf Interpreter Professionals In Training program. This candidate now volunteers their time with Latent Interpreting.

Successfully launch our first ever virtual Power, Privilege, and Oppresion workshop that allowed for seasoned/working interpreters, recent ITP graduates and current ITP students to dissect the intersectionality of race, sex, gender, and class in our profession and how we can become true allies of the Deaf community. This was done through a long-standing partnership with Fresno State University. We are currently developing a workshop that will include a multidisciplinary multigenerational panel to highlight the unique relationships between Deaf Professionals and their Designated Interpreter.

As our leadership team continues to meet virtually we look forward to implementing technology and social media engagement to ensure that we are connected in a socially distant period.

Hawai’i In Hawaii, the board met for an online retreat on Zoom. It is of immense value for the opportunity for a newly elected board to meet and look at the state of the organization, identify follow-up issues from the previous board, and collaborate on a vision for the coming year. We managed to provide a lot of information in such a short time. Most importantly, we identified ways to move forward together.

Hawaii RID (HRID) President Michael Labadie-Mendes said, “As the newly elected president living on the big island of Hawai’i, where there are only 5 interpreters who are HRID members, I have had little opportunity to get to know the interpreters on other islands. I believe I am the first president to live on an island other than O’ahu, where the majority of our members live. Prior to the pandemic, meetings from O’ahu were broadcast on various forums that often failed to connect other island interpreters. And the cost to go to O’ahu for a meeting was high (roughly $280 for a round-trip flight). With our meetings taking place on Zoom, there is now greater opportunity for all island members to participate.”

The next step for HRID is to get our by-laws and policy & procedures manual (PPM) in sync with the previous boards’ format. And since pandemic restrictions are preventing us from bringing a presenter for an annual workshop, the board has approved spending some funds on online training options that will become a member benefit for the COVID-19-19 era.

Idaho Idaho had a workshop via Zoom called “ASL Teen Slang” on October 3rd. Our presenters were Edna Johnston and Hanna Johnston-Shaw (mother and daughter). We have arranged to provide six virtual mini workshops throughout the year beginning in December. Workshops will be held bimonthly and are worth 0.15 CEUs. They are also free to our members. Check on our pages for more information coming soon.

Nevada Nevada recently elected new board members: President - Kim Johnson Vice President - Ehren Dei Secretary - Carol Helou Treasurer - Michael Bodak Member-at-large (MAL) MAL North - Kalen Beck MAL South - Abigail Russo

In compliance with the bylaws, they will begin their work in July 2021. Please join us in congratulating and gratitude in taking up the work needed. Congratulations!

Northern California Northern California RID (NorCRID) hosted their annual conference virtually on November 7 & 8.

We recently used funds raised from our COVID-19-19 fund to support Latent Interpreting in California. This service provides access to the governor’s press conferences about COVID-19-19 and wildfire activity. Anyone wanting to donate to this effort can do so though the California Association for the Deaf. Oregon Oregon RID (ORID)has been continuing to cultivate a sense of community, despite several challenges in the state (such as the pandemic and wildfires). Since so many of us are working remotely as a result of the COVID-19-19 pandemic, we hosted a discussion forum to bring interpreters together and share information about working from home. Technology, Zoom tips, at-home setups and more were all discussed and it was a very fruitful discussion! We also wrapped up a very successful fundraiser to pay BIPOC interpreters who have been volunteering their time interpreting for activist events in the area. We look forward to more events and our Board retreat in the coming months!

SACRAMENTO VALLEY In Sacramento Valley (SaVRID), the board recently appointed Janina Witteborg as the new Deaf Parented Interpreter (DPI) MAL. The new treasurer recently filed amended tax returns for FY 20182019 and FY 2019-2020 because the previous treasurer filed using the calendar year instead of fiscal year.

We recently hosted a 3-series “White Fragility” virtual workshop, facilitated by Erica WestOyedele, Dr. Octavian Robinson, Ritchie Bryant, and Cheryl Gallon. We are working on hosting more workshops virtually.

This quartner in Southern California, we have seen the wrap-up of legislative bill AB5, with passage of a cleanup bill which includes the desired exemption for many, but not all, interpreters wishing to independently contract with agencies. Additionally, in October we began the first of a series of workshops unpacking inequities existing amongst our own professional communities. We look forward to evolutionary dialogue and actions. Finally, with membership expiring in November, we have established a means to support current members struggling with annual AC dues.

San Diego The San Diego chapter’s (SDCRID) new board started July 1st. Almost all positions are now filled with the appointment of our second student representative. Only the Vice President’s chair is vacant. We also have several committees filled, as well as an ad hoc committee that was recently formed in response to a member motion to post our bylaws in ASL. That is due to be completed before the end of this FY.

Our board retreat was held at the end of July/ beginning of August. We hosted a town hall meeting in August to discuss the RID transition that unfortunately saw very little attendance.

Our first General Membership meeting was in September. Our treasurer got a head start on our taxes and turned in our federal tax forms early! We found out we haven’t been filing state forms so we are in the process of setting that up.

We recently hosted a free (no CEUs) roundtable discussion on virtual interpreting that was very well attended and well received by members and non members. We are looking forward to hosting more of these types of discussions, and we are borrowing an idea from another chapter to hold informal meetings. The working title for the next informal meeting is “Tea and Conversation with the SDCRID President.” All events are scheduled to be held virtually until further notice due to state and local restrictions. Washington The board is working to plan for our first virtual Annual Membership Meeting, which will take place on Oct 24th via Zoom. We will be electing a new President, VP, Secretary, and several board members whose terms will begin Jan 2021. In the past few months we have been working with Ritchie Bryant of “For Community By Us” to evaluate WSRID’s organizational structure and practices to help find opportunities for us to become a more inclusive organization. We have been brainstorming fundraising ideas to help support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)/Power, Privilege, and Oppression (PPO) training for our board and membership, as well as participating in various community meetings focused on interrupting racism in our profession and our organizations. Our consultant has also hosted stakeholder meetings to gather input from our community, and we look forward to sharing those findings with our members once the reports are complete.

Many of our plans for fall of 2020 have been paused due to the limitations and impacts of COVID-19, but we are finding ways to offer these training and resources online or to postpone until 2021/2022. We have two virtual webinars slated to take place before the end of 2020, and hope to continue to partner with local and statewide organizations to offer more of those types of opportunities. We know now, more than ever, we need to strengthen our relationships with our members and communities by improving communications. We are excited to bring in new board members to what the new year will bring. 5

and committee chairs for 2021, and look forward