Profile

Cecilia was born in Havana, Cuba, and then migrated to Mexico City, where she obtained a four-year nursing degree from Mexico’s National Autonomous University. She began to informally interpret as a nursing students working at the American British Cowdrey Hospital in Mexico City. Her experience first as a refugee and later as an immigrant formed her commitment to serving the Limited English Proficient (LEP) communities. Cecilia has lived in New Mexico for over 40 years where in 2015 she founded Valley Community Interpreters (VCI) a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving and increasing language access while building an interpreter workforce in our state. She stepped down as VCI’s director on January 1, 2025, and started Verbum Language Connection to continue to serve the immigrant communities.