Naomi Todd-Reyes

MA in Latin American Studies/M Community & Regional Planning | 2006

Photo: Naomi Todd-Reyes

Job : Certified Court Interpreter & Translator (Spanish - English), Independent Contractor
Location : Albuquerque, NM

Naomi Todd-Reyes chose UNM because she was very attracted to the dual MA program in LAS and Community & Regional Planning, and felt it was a good fit with her experience and interests. "The LAS program is well respected in its field and the LAII in particular offered a wealth of opportunities from travel scholarships and assistantships to cultural and academic enrichment and community engagement." Naomi was hired to work in what she describes as her "dream job" before she even defended her thesis. She feels that the dual MALAS/MCRP program and the research she conducted for her thesis prepared her to work along the US/Mexico border with Heifer International. Although her career path has taken a different turn since then, Naomi feels that the strong core foundation of knowledge of Latin American politics, economics, history, and sociology has served her well in her work as an interpreter and translator both here in Albuquerque and in Chile. She currently runs her own interpreting business as a Certified Court Interpreter with the New Mexico Courts as her main client, but she also interprets at conferences and for a broad range of public, private, non-profit, and international clients. She enjoys the challenge of providing precise and accurate simultaneous interpretation to non-English-speaking litigants and jurors and being part of ensuring due process to everyone, regardless of who they are and where they come from.