FEATURE
Lorena Ortiz Schneider
CEO, interpreter, translator, and advocate at Ortiz Schneider Interpreting and Translation
Just being nominated for MultiLingual’s 2023 women’s issue was cool enough — but to actually have made it is quite the honor. To appear in the company of so many very esteemed colleagues is truly humbling, and I never thought I’d be included in such a group of wonderfully talented and capable leaders of our industry. My entire career has been dedicated to being an exemplary professional, striving to improve the respectability of our profession — being an ambassador for our industry everywhere. Here are but a few of the endeavors I’ve embarked on: I’ve advocated for improved working conditions and pay for interpreters in the workers’ compensation setting in California, bringing awareness to the realities of our professions to those who hold the purse strings or the power to improve or degrade our work in our state and the nation.
ACCOLADES
From a talented translator/interpreter owning her own business, to an amazing mother, along with her also amazing husband, who have raised two gentlemen with intelligence, emotion, love, humor, culture, and, of course, multilingualism! Lori has fought breast cancer twice and still continues to work hard and have a zest for life and the people around her.
There may be no single leader in the field who has done more than she to improve the livelihoods of language professionals and build respect by lawmakers, hiring entities, or stakeholders in language access and human rights.
Lore is the perfect example of an empowered woman, professionally as well as personally.
While so many of us are so busy just working and not staying up on all the politics and legislation that enable us to even have a profession, Lorena works tirelessly and fights for us.
Lorena is kind and warm. She glows with love and makes everyone around her feel special
She is an inspirational leader who shows us resilience and strength.
I’ve also educated those we touch with our work so that better policies governing interpreting and translation enrich our lives and the lives of those we touch. I hope to serve as an inspiration for all colleagues to get involved in advocating for their needs, which are also the needs of colleagues everywhere; always remembering that it takes every single one of us to bring about the change we want to see. Thank you to everyone for voting for me. Thank you to those who have supported me along the way. You know who you are: from Katharine Allen to Hans Johnson, Ted Wozniak to Steve Lank, and many others — too many to list here. A special thank you to my family who has always been there for me, especially when galloping through battlefields on my white horse!
As an educator and trainer, she served as the MIIS Leader in Residence (2021) and has trained interpreters for work in various settings, from community interpreters to interpreters in the hospital and healthcare setting, to military linguists in the US Army and US Air Force, contributing to the promotion and advancement of the next generation of language industry professionals and the industry at large. On the advocacy front, she is currently engaged in the effort to secure higher pay for interpreters, via legislative change, in the California Workers’ Compensation system, which has not updated its fee schedule for interpreters since 1994, and is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) source of assignments for interpreters in the state. On the professional front, she continues to operate her LSC based in Santa Barbara, California, acting in both an executive capacity, and as an interpreter and translator, where she works alongside one of her sons, and one of her nephews. I’m sure you will find that this is just the tip of the iceberg, as she is a wealth of knowledge, a willing helper and sharer of her expertise and time, and is loyal, kind, yet fierce, honest and of high character and integrity. She is also my mom and my boss.
WEEKLY DIGEST
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