2012 Presenters’ Biographies

Cat Dvar:

Cat Dvar, Esq., CI & CT, SC:L, has been interpreting for 16 years. She has specialties in legal, medical, mental health, substance abuse and performance interpreting. She was qualified by the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH) to work as a court and legal interpreter in 2001, subsequently receiving her Specialist Certificate: Legal from RID, and has devoted the majority of her time to interpreting in those settings since that time. In addition to interpreting in court and legal settings, she is also an attorney and a member of the Massachusetts Bar. In 2003, she won the Stavros Center for Independent Living’s Paul Winske Access Award for her work as an interpreter and interpreter educator and mentor. Then in 2007, she won the Mass. State Association of the Deaf’s Thomas H. Gallaudet Service Award for her advocacy and ally work with the Deaf community regarding their communication access rights. And finally, in October of 2010 she had the great honor of being awarded one of the first ever Stavros Center for Independent Living’s Paul Batch Access Awards for her tireless advocacy and excellent interpreting work for the Deaf community. She serves on the board of Noho Pride, Inc. and has been coordinating ASL interpreters for their annual LGBT Pride March and Rally since 1999. She loves to cook, especially for other people, and lives in western Mass. with her partner Cole and their 6 cats.

 

Wendy Watson:
Wendy W. Watson, BS, CI/CT, Master Mentor, and Director, Southeast Mentorship Project, is a full-time interpreter educator and a freelance interpreter. Wendy graduated from the Northeastern University ASL-English Interpreting Program in 1994. In 2003, she completed the Project TIEM Master Mentor Program at NU. As Director of the Southeast Mentorship Project, Wendy is a co-designer of the Peer Mentorship Model which has run programs for working interpreters in Massachusetts, New York, Arizona, and Puerto Rico.  In Massachusetts the Peer Mentoring Program has been running for 10 years. Wendy also coordinates interpreted performances at large venues in Boston.  She provides both group mentoring guidance and individual mentoring. Wendy feels very fortunate to have worked and been trained at Northeastern University, and to have had the mentorship of some of the most talented leaders in our field: Dennis Cokely, Cathy Cogen, Robert Lee, Marina McIntire, and Laurie Shaffer. Wendy is currently a faculty member at NU, and a grateful, perpetual mentee!