Jason Kopp – Administrator
Jason Kopp is the Chief of the Translation Branch at the U.S. Census Bureau. The Translation Branch provides professional, enterprise translation services for the Census Bureau. Jason has over 15 years of translation and project management experience in the federal government (he worked in the State Department’s Office of Language Services before joining the Census Bureau in 2016). He first joined the ATA in 2007 and has a master’s degree in Translation and Localization Management (Spanish) from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
Steven Miller – Assistant Administrator
Steven Miller is a language specialist with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The Language Services Section provides translation, interpretation, and transcription services to USCIS as well as other components of the Department of Homeland Security through service level agreements. Steven has over 10 years of translation experience in the Federal Government. He holds a Certificate of Translation (Spanish>English) from New York University and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Tel Aviv University. He first joined ATA in 2019 and continues to enjoy the networking and professional development opportunities that the Association offers.
Members of the GovD Leadership Council
Garrett M. Bradford is a professional interpreter and translator based in the Washington DC area. He provides his services to the U.S. State Department, Inter-American Defense College, Inter-American Defense Board, law offices, courts, legal service providers, and a variety of other clients. He previously was an adjunct lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Maryland. Mr. Bradford holds a master’s degree from the University of Maryland’s Graduate Studies in Interpreting and Translation program, trained at the University of Arizona’s National Center for Interpretation, and is a member of ATA, NAJIT, TAALS, and ASTM International.
Heidi Cazes is a translator, interpreter and terminologist. She has a Graduate Diploma in Translation from El Colegio de Mexico and a Master’s in Terminology from Universitat Pompeu Fabra. She has worked in terminology research, and as a lecturer in interpreting, translation and terminology. She is a U.S. Federal Court certified interpreter and ATA certified translator. She is a contractor for different District Courts, District Attorney’s Offices, and the U.S. Department of State as a translator and Conference Level Interpreter. She is a producer and voting member in ASTM F43 Committee on Translation and Interpreting, and an active member of several professional associations, including ATA, NAJIT, IAPTI. She represents NETA at the Interpreting Standing Committee of FIT. Raised in Mexico, lived in Puerto Rico and currently residing in the Greater Boston Area.
Tim Gregory is an ATA-certified Arabic into English translator with more than twenty years of experience as a freelance translator and linguist for the government starting with the Marine Corps, a contractor for the DIA, and he has worked for the Department of Justice since 2006. He was born in Seattle, and wherever life’s travels take him, he always comes back home to the Pacific Northwest. Tim first learned Arabic at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California in 1990-91. He has a B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from American Military University and an M.A. in Translation and Interpretation from the University of Illinois where he focused on literary translation. Over the last few years, Tim has increasingly concentrated on seeking out works and authors of Arabic science fiction and fantasy, and has one translated trilogy published so far. He enjoys the challenge of dealing with the broad range of topics that appear in SF/F, ranging from real history to cutting-edge technology and 13th century poetry. Tim enjoys reading and spending time with his wife, daughters, and Boston terriers outdoors.
Joseph Mazza, (BA, International Affairs, George Washington University, 1984), joined the State Department’s Office of Language Services (LS) in 1989 as a translator from Romance languages, after working with Russian and Romance languages for the Navy. He was Chief of LS’s Romance Branch and, since 2006, has been Chief of LS’s Translating Division, with responsibility for most State Department translations. In 2015, he began teaching Spanish/English translation at the University of Maryland. From 2016-2020, Mr. Mazza served as Administrator of the ATA’s Government Division; he is currently Co-Chair of the Translation and Interpretation Committee of the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR).
Dr. Russ Shughart is a retiree of the U.S. Federal Government and the U.S. Air Force, with a long and successful career in language services and language program management. He is a member of the Leadership Council of the Government Division of the American Translators Association (ATA), and he currently chairs ATA’s Government Linguist Outreach Task Force (GLOTF). He has been an active member of ATA for nearly 20 years.
Gabriela Siebach, Director of Interpreting Services at Cesco Linguistic Services and Adjunct Professor at UMass – Amherst, has accumulated more than 15 years of professional experience as a linguist, interpreter, translator, trainer, coach, and mentor. She started her career as a Cryptologic Linguist in the U.S. Army, where she served as Mission Supervisor and Command Language Program Manager. Gabriela has spearheaded the development of multiple training and assessment programs throughout her career. Gabriela holds a graduate degree in Spanish translation and interpretation from the world-renowned Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. A former Board member of the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (2019-2021), she currently leads various Council initiatives as Chair of the Policy, Education & Research Committee. Gabriela also Co-chairs the American Association of Interpreters and Translators in Education Job Task Analysis Committee and is a member of the Carolina Association of Translators and Interpreters, American Translators Association, National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators, and ASTM.
Manuela Stewart Sifuentes (Biography coming soon)