Office of Language Access

May Mizuno

Executive Director, Office of Language Access (OLA)
LAAC – Ex Officio Member

May Mizuno is a former member of the Hawaii State Legislature representing House District 29. May, a Visayan, born and raised in the Philippines is a Filipino immigrant and has been a resident in Honolulu for the past 22 years. Prior to her appointment as a state representative, she served as Chair of the Kalihi Valley Neighborhood Board for six years. During her free time, May loves to bond with her family and spend time with her fur babies Kobe (dog) and Minnie (rabbit).

May Mizuno started her work at the House of Representatives in 2006 as a legislative aide, and since then has accumulated 17 years of experience working as Chief of Staff Legislative Office Manager to former District 29 Representative John Mizuno. May was a president of Congress of Visayan Organizations (COVO), a statewide umbrella of all Visayan organizations in Hawaii for four years.  Her accomplishments include leading the Hawaii Outstanding Advocates for Children and Youth Day Month for 6 years, drafting H.B. 274 to establish Patriot Day in Hawaii, and organizing a statewide fundraising event to help the victims of Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, raising $100,000 to build two villages for the displaced families, among which were family of the Filipino communities.

Kirby Shaw

Executive Director, Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB)

LAAC – Ex Officio Member

Vacant

Chair

Vacant

LAAC – Representing an accredited institution of higher learning who provides professional training in interpretation and translation

Marcus L. Kawatachi

Executive Director, Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission (HCRC)

LAAC – Ex Officio Member

Barbara Tom, RN

Director and Founder of the Waipahu Safe Haven Immigrant/Migrant Resource Center

LAAC – Representing a Covered Entity

Barbara Tom is a retired public health nurse from the Department of Health (DOH) who spent over two decades providing outreach, education and case management for Hansen’s Disease patients.  During her role as a public health nurse in Waipahu, she worked closely with the Micronesian community in Hawaii and served as the Chair of the Nations of Micronesian Committee (NOM) until 2019.  The NOM committee provided networking and coordination with state-wide agencies, while working closely with the Micronesian community to address health and community challenges.  She also guided the development of the Micronesian Health Advisory Coalition and the Micronesian Community Network.

Barbara currently directs the Waipahu Safe Haven Immigrant/Migrant Resource center which she founded in 2012.  Her center, which provides holistic programs and services, serves as a resource for the Waipahu community that works to empower children and their families.  It is supported by community partnerships and guided by the Chuukese and Marshallese steering committees.  Barbara is committed to improving language access for the Micronesian community.  Through her center and other community roles, she continues to advocate for and support the Pacific Island community with holistic language access programs.

Vacant

LAAC – Representing State Government

LAAC – Representing the County of Kaua’i

Randall T. Landry II

LAAC – Representing the City and County of Honolulu

Mr. Randall T. Landry II is a Planner V with the Technical Support Section of the Hawaii Department of Transportation and a licensed attorney in the State of Hawaii.  He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas – Pan American and his juris doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law.  His work experience has provided him with a detailed perspective on the many facets of language access and how they interplay with the various levels of government and private sectors.  Randall is eager to represent the City & County of Honolulu on the Council.

Charlotte Huang

LAAC – Representing the Limited English Proficient (LEP) Population

My name is Charlotte.  I am fluent in Cantonese as well as Mandarin.  I previously worked as a Bilingual Case Manager advocating and assisting the Limited English Proficient populations and their families in the local communities.  I had been working with LEPs from China, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, Russia, and Syria for the last 10 years and understand the difficulties they are facing especially the challenges in navigating services in the community due to language barriers.  I have always been passionate about my work with LEPs because it is important to me that they receive the appropriate services to help them become self-sufficient and understand the community they live in.

LAAC – Representing the County of Maui

LAAC – Representing an advocacy organization that provides services to limited English proficient persons (LEP)

Valentina Yarovaya

LAAC – Representing Member at Large

Born and raised in the former USSR, Mrs. Valentina Yarovaya immigrated to the USA in 1996. She is bilingual in Russian, American Sign Language, and English. She earned two master’s degrees, one in Linguistics and Journalism in Russia and a Master’s in Special Education from Adelphi University in New York along with the Bilingual Certificate from Touro College (New York). Mrs. Yarovaya has experience teaching Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students and students with different needs in New York and in Hawaii. She continues working as a substitute teacher for the State Department of Education in addition to teaching a master’s course online for the University of Phoenix.  As a new member of the Language Access Advisory Council, Mrs. Yarovaya hopes to be part of a team which is trying to improve access for limited English-speaking persons and assisting anyone in our community who needs services and   language resources.

Cristina Arsuaga

LAAC – Representing a professional interpreter’s organization

Cristina Arsuaga is a free lance Spanish/English translator, interpreter who grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  She does simultaneous, conference and consecutive interpretation and she has been federally certified since 2000.

Her career and experience include working in many different states, district courts, being an interpreter/translator for the United Nations, interpretation of high-level State and Government officials, presidents, U.S. legislators, televised debates, and diplomatic summits.  She has worked for federal entities in the Department of Justice and as an expert witness in court proceedings for both plaintiffs and defense cases.  She is also a talented bilingual voice-over artist for foreign language audio books, TV documentaries, radio and television commercials.

Vacant

LAAC – Bilingual worker employed by state-funded  immigrant service agency or program

Tulpe Day

Immigration Information Specialist, Immigration Information Office County of Hawaiʻi

LAAC – Representing the County of Hawaiʻi

Tulpe Day, a citizen of Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia, currently works as the immigration information specialist for the County of Hawaiʻi (COH).  Ms. Day immigrated to Hawaiʻi from Kosrae in 2007 to pursue a college education.   She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo in 2010.  She currently lives in Hilo and serves many clients who have struggled to navigate the complexities of Hawaiʻi regulations and have sometimes been taken advantage of because of their limited English skills.  Language access issues affect us all in our daily lives.

LAAC – Representing a Hawaiian language advocacy organization