1) Tell us about your NYCT Board Position.
I am the NYCT Vice President. This position does not have specific duties under NYCT bylaws, so each Vice President can take on what they want and according to what is needed! I’ve been pleased to take the lead on Stern Award applications and support with event planning and logistics, as well as any other needs that come up on the board. In the past couple years I also collected old paper records of the Circle (photos and old Gotham newsletters) and digitized them; we are currently figuring out the best way to publish them on the NYCT website.
2) What are your language pairs, specializations?
I work between English and Brazilian Portuguese. For many years I was a legal translator working with Brazilian law firms, but since I moved to New York in 2021 I have focused on official document translation and interpreting. There is a lot of cool interpreting work in New York City — visits from Brazilian politicians and businesspeople, U.N. agency events, retail fairs, and much more!
3) How did you get involved in the industry?
I studied Portuguese at Middlebury College in Vermont and had an amazing time studying abroad in Brazil for a year during college. After graduation I was considering law school so I got a job as a paralegal in the Brazil practice group at a major international corporate law firm. After a couple years in the New York office, the firm opened a new office in São Paulo and I was pleased to be transferred there. In my four years as a paralegal in the São Paulo office, I was tasked with various translating and interpreting assignments, which I realized I liked more than the prospect of law school. I completed the online NYU translation certification, met a native Portuguese speaking translator who became my business partner, and we quit our jobs at the law firm to start our own translation business, Ideal Translation. (I also met my Brazilian husband!) Our first clients were lawyers that we had met through our work at the firm and our business expanded from there. Post-pandemic, my business partner and I both separately moved to the U.S. and are pursuing different types of work in the field of T&I. I also continue to work part-time as a legal assistant for an immigration attorney.
4) What do you like about being involved with NYCT?
I love being able to meet up with other translators and interpreters. I am very sociable and like having colleagues, so NYCT is a way to have colleagues nearby to meet up for educational sessions, networking, or just social events.
5) Give us a few fun facts about yourself that other people may not know.
I play soccer at Brooklyn Bridge Park every week on a coed recreational team called the Rainbow Sprinkles. Here we are!
I have a 6-year-old son named Vinny who loves Lego and crafting. Here is me, Vinny, and my husband Luciano cheering for Brazil in the World Cup!
