Juan Ramirez – Secretary

Juan Ramirez is a Trilingual interpreter hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, in California. He was born to Mexican-American immigrant parents and identifies as a queer Chicanx. He received his BA in American Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz and spent a semester abroad in Brazil through an accelerated Portuguese language program. He returned to the Bay Area and began learning ASL. He completed his ASL-English interpreter training from Ohlone College in Fremont, California as well as a Spanish-English Legal interpreting program from Laney College and has provided Trilingual interpreting services since 2016. He holds both the NIC as well as an EIPA score of 4.5. Juan believes interpreting can be harnessed to promote language justice and dismantle systemic oppression faced by historically and linguistically marginalized communities. His interpreting practice is informed by a queer, intersectional, feminist lens which has led him to pursue a masters degree in Ethnic Studies from San Francisco State University. He is developing a decolonial framework for sign language interpreters called “Critical Interpreting Studies: An Ethnic Studies Intervention for Latinx and Trilingual Interpreters” (CIS). Upon completion of his Masters program, Juan aims to disseminate CIS and continue to decolonize the field of sign language interpreting, amplify Deaf BIPOC realities, and champion the work and experiences of trilingual interpreters. In his spare time, Juan can be found hiking a local trail or planning his next international adventure while enjoying a cafe de olla.