Lorena Ortiz Schneider, CT is an ATA-certified Spanish>English translator (since 1996), an ATA-credentialed interpreter, and a California state-certified administrative hearing interpreter. She has worked for the U.S. Department of State as a liaison and seminar interpreter, as a conference interpreter for private industry, and as a community interpreter in mental health and workers’ compensation settings. She is also an interpreter trainer (licensed by Cross Cultural Communications), a practicing translator and interpreter, and a business owner. She founded the Coalition of Practicing Translators and Interpreters of California, a nonpartisan nonprofit advocacy group. She was a board member of the California Workers’ Compensation Interpreters Association, interfacing with government agencies and state lawmakers to improve working conditions and pay for interpreters. She is chair of ATA’s Advocacy Committee and served as assistant administrator of ATA’s Interpreters Division for four years. She has an MA in translation and conference interpreting from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.