Region II Report

https://youtu.be/OzxvZCPddQ4 Region II Report:

Eliezer Sierra, Region II Representative

Eliezer Sierra, MS, NIC, BEI

Trilingual: Advanced Region II Representative

Hello everyone. As the new Region II representative, my term is September 1, 2020 through 2023. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, however, I have lived in Florida since 2004. Professionally, I am a trilingual interpreter (Spanish/English/ASL), teach at an Interpreter Education Program, and work as a corporate trainer and leader for a Video Relay Service company.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Affiliate Chapter (AC) leadership for their hard work and dedication to the organization and to our profession. Thank you for all you do!

We know these are unprecedented times, and many AC leaders are doing all they can to both take care of themselves and their loved ones, while fulfilling their duties as board members. I look forward to supporting AC leadership throughout Region II in their efforts to grow and support their members.

Below you will find the updates for some of the Affiliate Chapters in Region II:

Florida Florida (FRID) recognizes the financial impact of COVID-19 on our interpreting community. Like other Affiliate Chapters, the pandemic has halted progress on some of our goals. The FRID Board is working hard to provide different opportunities to our members. Through August 31, 2020, we offered free membership and membership renewal. As an added benefit for current members, we are also providing a free virtual workshop worth 0.3 CEUs.

The FRID annual business meeting will be held

virtually (as will other FRID events). To streamline the annual meeting, we have decided to hold elections for open board positions electronically this year. We are excited for our new officers to start their service on the Board January 1, 2021.

Georgia Georgia (GaRID) is excited about our state conference collaboration with the Georgia Association of the Deaf (GAD) for 2021. More details will be provided soon!

We want our Board and members to safely meet and still progress during this pandemic, so we continue to use Zoom and various meeting technologies to support virtual meetings. We are always looking for online professional development activities for our members so please, if you state is hosting something, let us know!

Mississippi Mississippi (MSRID) had our quarterly meeting during which we had a moment of silence for Paula Browning. an RID interpreter that recently passed away.

At the meeting, we voted to have two student representatives from each Interpreter Training program in the state join the board. The board is establishing three committees: the 2021 Conference Planning committee, the Scholarship committee, and the Mentoring committee. Currently we are working on a winter workshop. Our next meeting will be hosted during mid-December/early January 2020. North Carolina North Carolina (NCRID) is working on providing virtual workshops for interpreters. We are collaborating with the North Carolina Association of the Deaf (NCAD) to amend North Carolina Interpreter licensure law to include educational interpreters. Additionally, we are also updating our Affiliate Chapter’s bylaws.

Tennessee Tennessee (TRID) hosted a virtual town hall on 10/10/20 to discuss RID’s potential transition from a Member Driven Organization to a Professional Certifying Organization. Our annual business meeting and state conference were held virtually through Zoom on 11/14/20.

TRID hosted two workshops for the state conference. Dr. Angela Scruggs presented a Mental Health Interpreting workshop, and Ms. Marvette St. Clair presented a Power Privilege and Oppression (PPO) workshop. We were thrilled to provide our state conference at no cost for TRID members who attended the annual business meeting! We also welcomed new (and some continuing) representatives from our five state districts at the annual business meeting.

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