CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
Javier Castillo
Javier Castillo, Jr. is president of Castillo Language Services, Inc. in Greenville, NC — an interpreter, translator, consultant and internationally recognized speaker. He is a Federally Certified Court Interpreter, NC AOC certified court interpreter, Certified Medical Interpreter (CCHI), and contract interpreter for the U.S. Department of State, routinely interpreting for international delegations and high-level speakers across the United States and abroad.
Since 2007 he has trained court, medical, conference and community interpreters nationwide, including in-house training for hospitals, Administrative Offices of the Court, and Departments of Social Services, and courses he developed for staff and contract interpreters of the U.S. Department of State Office of Language Services. He has designed and taught courses on working with interpreters at Campbell Law School and the UNC School of Law, plus Continuing Legal Education courses for members of the judiciary.
A frequent speaker and trainer at national and international conferences, he served as President of the Carolina Association of Translators and Interpreters (CATI), Chair of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT), and Head of the U.S. Chapter of the International Association of Professional Interpreters and Translators (IAPTI). He is an active member of the American Translators Association.
Courtney L. Cevallos
Courtney L. Cevallos has been a Certified Interpreter since 2017. She works mainly in the State Court system but also works heavily with early intervention at multiple levels.
Dr. Liv H. Detwiler
Dr. Liv H. Detwiler received her PhD in World Language Teacher Education from the University of TN, Knoxville and is a CCHI certified medical interpreter. She interprets locally as a contracted and volunteer interpreter, and has collaborated with Somos Amigos, a volunteer run/community driven health clinic in Naranjito, Dominican Republic. She is a senior lecturer in Spanish at ETSU and has been an instructor for the advanced medical interpreting/translation coursework for several years. Her research interests include instructed second language acquisition, experiential learning, teacher agency, and reflective practice, amongst other topics.
Bruni Treviño Dopatka
Bruni Treviño Dopatka was born in Mexico. She has lived and studied in Mexico, the United States, France, Germany, and Austria. She received a bachelor’s degree in French and a master's in German. She temporarily moved with her husband to Germany and was chosen to do an internship and subsequently worked as a business analyst for an affiliate of Mercedes-Benz. She swims, hikes, plays the piano, periodically bikes, and continues to learn Russian.
She likes to use her skills to teach. She has been a certified Spanish court interpreter in Tennessee since 2004, occasionally a French interpreter for the court as well, and a CCHI medical interpreter since 2016. She has presented many times at TAPIT, as well as at the Community Mediation Center, the Lincoln Memorial School of Law, and the Knox County Public Defender's Office.
Dr. Felipe Fiuza
Felipe Fiuza is an Associate Professor of Spanish at East Tennessee State University (ETSU), where he is also the Director of its Language and Culture Resource Center (LCRC). He received his Ph.D. in Spanish Literature from Purdue University in 2017. As director of the LCRC, he works towards closing the gap between native speakers of English and people from other languages and cultures by providing language services, such as ESL classes, interpretations for health clinics, and translations. He is a poet with two published books, Ucideia, by EDUFES University Press, and Interpretaciones/Interpretações/Interpretations, by Finishing Line Press. Both books include poems in Spanish, Portuguese, and English - with all translations performed by himself. He has translated Brazilian poet Cris Lira's book Bridge to the Sunset, which will come out later this year. He is currently pursuing an MBA in Business Analytics at ETSU. He has over 25 years of experience in education.
Dr. Tatiana González-Cestari
Tatiana González-Cestari, PhD, CHI-Spanish has 23 years of combined experience as a pharmacologist, researcher, professor, leader, and remote interpreter. She is the Director of Language Service Advocacy at Martti an Equiti Solution where she focuses on hospitals’ language access best practices and impact on quality, compliance, and financial metrics. Tatiana is part of the NCIHC Board and Policy, Education and Research Committee and co-author of The Remote Interpreter textbook. Tatiana has mentored, developed training, presented at national and international events, published peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed articles, and lectured at various universities. Tatiana obtained her pharmacy degree and her Ph.D. in pharmacology from Universidad Central de Venezuela.
John Mark Maust
John Mark Maust was born to North American parents in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He has lived in four countries in his childhood (Honduras, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and the United States). Bi-lingual and trans-cultural, he served as a volunteer interpreter from a young age. He received his Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Master of Arts in Romance Languages from the University of New Orleans. John Mark is a certified court interpreter and recently completed a master’s degree in professional English--Spanish Translation. He spends his days working in Tennessee courts and hospitals, teaching college level courses, and pursuing his hobby of nature photography.
Dr. Nattalia Paterson
Dr. Nattalia Paterson is a Portuguese interpreter and translator. She holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Northwestern University and a B.A. degree in Language Studies – majoring in Linguistics, Translation and Conference Interpretation from PUC-Rio. She also holds medical (CCHI) and state court interpreter certifications, in addition to serving as a contract interpreter for the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Federal Courts. Nattalia served as President of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT) Board of Directors for two years, co-authored NAJIT's guidelines on team interpreting, and continues to contribute through the organization's Advocacy, Position Papers, and Forensic Transcription and Translation Committees, as well as the American Translators Association Advocacy Committee. She also runs a Portuguese Court Interpreter Training Program, a course that prepares candidates for state court certification examinations, and offers specialized workshops covering topics related to civil, criminal, and immigration courts.
Dr. Chantal Portillo
Dr. Portillo was born in the USA and raised in Spain, providing her with a bi-lingual and bi-cultural family background from a young age. This sparked her interest in languages and interculturality, which led to a Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpretation first, and a Master’s and PhD in fields related to intangible heritage, sustainable tourism and intercultural interpretation in the creation of sustainable cultural tourism products. Chantal was a conference interpreter in Spain and a Judicial Translator and Interpreter certified by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a decade. After moving to the USA and working as a certified medical interpreter for a year, she got certified as a judicial interpreter with the Oregon Judicial Department in 2014. In 2020, after being an independent contractor for 23 years, Chantal was hired as an on-staff interpreter by Court Language Access Services (OJD), her current placement. Chantal is also ATA certified.
Dr. Brandee Marie Strickland
Dr. Brandee Marie Strickland is a certified court interpreter for the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) of the State of Tennessee and an Associate Lecturer of Spanish at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where she teaches intermediate- and advanced-level Spanish, including courses in interpreting, which include modules on interpreting in legal, medical and educational contexts. Prior to joining UTC, she was an Associate Professor of English at the Universidad de Concepción in Chile, where she also worked as an interpreter in a variety of academic contexts. Her experience as a practicing interpreter, language educator, and university faculty member informs her interest in connecting research on interpreting with the knowledge and practices of professional interpreters.