Video description:

Sachiko Flores is an Asian-Hispanic woman with olive-toned skin. Her dark color hair hangs down to her armpits. She is wearing rimmed glasses, short dangling earrings, a black top, and a watch on her non-dominant signing hand. She sits in front of a blue screen. She signs in ASL. Video message length 2:48 seconds

Transcript:

Hello all, I’m Sachiko Flores [shows sign name], Board President of CASLI.

CASLI has heard the concerns raised by both the Deaf and interpreting communities about the certification test and questions about our connection with RID’s Board of Directors. We take these concerns seriously, and the CASLI Board of Managers has been working closely with our attorney to make sure we are following the right process and staying within our role.

For the past two years, CASLI has been meeting with RID leadership, including the former CEO, to protect the certification test. This has included restructuring CASLI as a 501(c)(6) organization and making sure roles and responsibilities are clearly defined. With new leadership and governance changes at RID, we have adjusted our priorities, but our focus remains the same: protecting the certification test so that it is fair and unbiased.

It is important to clarify the scope of our engagement with RID. CASLI is not part of RID’s Board meetings or governance decisions. Under our Memorandum of Understanding with RID, our Testing Director is the only person who attends to share updates with us. Beyond that, CASLI does not participate in RID Board decisions.

We also want to address questions about new commissioner appointments under the new 501(c)6 structure. No appointments have been made yet. Right now, CASLI is looking at what skills and experience are needed, and we will set up a process to select people fairly when the time comes.

The certification test impacts both interpreters and Deaf communities. That is why CASLI must protect it from outside influence. Our job is to make sure the test measures skills fairly and is not swayed by member opinions or board politics. This protects Deaf people who depend on qualified interpreters and interpreters who deserve a fair testing process.

Thank you.