Saul Arteaga

Director

Saul Arteaga was born and raised in Lima, Peru. At 19 years old, he immigrated to the US where he worked while attending a community college. He further pursued his academic career by receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish and has completed classes toward a Master’s Degree in Translation Studies at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. In 2002, Mr. Arteaga established SWITS, Ltd., a language service provider based in Delavan, Wisconsin which provides all language services, including signed languages, to healthcare organizations, law enforcement, circuit and municipal courts, and educational institutions.

In 2004, Mr. Arteaga passed the Wisconsin Certified Court Interpreter examination. Soon after, he became a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Committee to Improve Court Interpretation and Translation in Wisconsin Courtrooms. The goal of this committee was to improve the processes of interpreting and translation used in the court room.

In addition to legal interpreting, Mr. Arteaga also pursued medical and community interpreting, passing the Medical Interpreter Competency Examination offered by the National Center of Interpretation at the University of Arizona and attending classes at the Agnese Haury Summer Institute for Court Interpretation and Medical Interpretation at the University of Arizona in Tucson in 2004 and 2008, respectively.  In 2012, Mr. Arteaga passed the National Board of Certified Medical Interpreters examination and was awarded Certified Medical Interpreter (CMI) status. His most recent achievement was reached in 2015 when he passed the Certified Healthcare Interpreter (CHI) examination offered by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI). The National Board of Certified Medical Interpreters and the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters are the only nationally recognized certification programs in the United States.

As a believer in interpreter education, Mr. Arteaga acted as an adviser for several community college interpreter programs in Wisconsin and Illinois and also developed 16-hour medical and community interpreter seminar “Equal Footing for Limited English Proficient Persons”.  “Equal Footing” was originally developed to ensure SWITS interpreters had a better understanding of the role of the interpreter as well as best practices. This seminar is currently being offered at two community colleges as a 40-hour medical interpreter training.