Our Team
FRANCINE KUIPERS, CEO and OWNER
(francinek@accentonlanguages.com)
Native in French
Francine Kuipers
was born in France
and moved to California in 1978. She was the principal of the French
American School until 1985. She taught French and Spanish at various
schools in the US, France and the University in Peru.
Francine has founded 5 language companies since 1986: Linguatheque of
Los Angeles, Access Language Services, Accent on Languages, Accent on
Culture, and Berkeley Language Institute (which focuses on training
translators and interpreters).
As a linguistic and cultural consultant, Francine has been involved in
various cultural programs in France, Peru, China, Russia and the West
Bank. She is passionate about languages and the promotion of cultural
sensitivity. She participated to numerous Language and cultural
Conferences and summits organized by the US Army. She developed
language and cultural programs sold in schools throughout the world and
used by the US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Francine is actively involved in the community and volunteers her time
as a member of the Board at La
Peña Cultural Center in
Berkeley.
She believes that her busy life as business owner and a mother of three
must be balanced with an involvement in the community and creativity
throughout the arts such as stain-glass making, another passion of hers.
Ms. Lea R. Mendelovitz, Executive Coordinator & Director of Interpreting Services
(lea@accentonlanguages.com)
Native in French
Lea
Mendelovitz is
a native of France. She studied at the Sorbonne and the School of the
Louvres. She is an expert in Fine Art, History and Architecture. Ms
Mendelovitz founded and run a construction company until 1994 and moved
to California.
Ms Mendelovitz became a Project Manager at Accent on Languages in 2006
and is now Executive Coordinator for interpreting services for all US
Government contracts, as well as local organizations and commercial
clients.
Mr. Eduardo Puyol-Martinez, Director of Operations
(eduardo@accentonlanguages.com)
Native in Spanish and Catalan
Eduardo
Puyol-Martinez, is a native of Barcelona, Spain, and he is a native
speaker of Catalan and Spanish. Eduardo graduated in Textile
Engineering with the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), and also
obtained a Master in Industrial Management before moving to the US in
2006. He has extensive experience working as a Project Manager for
Spanish textile research institutes, and during that time he was able
to work with multi-cultural engineering teams at the European level,
performing translations of technical documents from and into Spanish,
and conducting presentations and meetings in English for European
multi-national
audiences. In addition, he has experience
implementing
procedures and methodologies for a variety of industries, including
Quality Assurance management. Eduardo
joined Accent on Languages in 2007 as a Project Manager, and was
quickly promoted to Director of Operations in 2008.
Mrs. Rie Kawachi, Translation Project Manager
(rie@accentonlanguages.com)
Native in Japanese
Rie Kawachi, a
native of Japan, is an Assistant Production Manager at Accent on
Languages. She recently graduated from Texas Tech University in 2011
with a Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics. Rie is also a certified
Language Instructor for Japanese and English and has taught Japanese at
the college level at the universities, Vanderbilt and Texas Tech. In
addition, Rie has performed professional translation from English into
Japanese, including an interpreting experience in which she served as
Escort Interpreter for the Czech Ambassador at an international event.
Rie enjoys planning community events, such as the Japan Earthquake
Relief fundraiser in 2011, and has been playing softball and the piano
for over 13 years.
Mr.
Humberto Cuevas, Human Resources
(humberto@accentonlanguages.com)
Native in Spanish
(humberto@accentonlanguages.com)
Native in Spanish
Humberto Cuevas is
a native of Cuba where he studied law at the University of Camagüey.
Interpreter and translator in Spanish, Humberto joined Accent on
Languages in 2010 as Human Resources and Production Assistant for
administrative and clerical tasks as well as projects related to
interpreting, translation, and linguistic assessment. He has also
taught Spanish at Centro Latino in Berkeley, California.
Mr. Juan
Angel Herrera, Production Assistant and Security Clearance Officer
(angel@accentonlanguages.com)
Native in Spanish
(angel@accentonlanguages.com)
Native in Spanish
Bio coming soon.
Ms. Edna
Shipley, Accounting Assistant
(edna@accentonlanguages.com)
(edna@accentonlanguages.com)
Edna Shipley
joined Accent on Languages in 2010. She is a Bay
Area native and lifelong
resident. After graduating with
Phi Beta Kappa honors in Business Administration from the Haas School
of
Business at the University of California, Berkeley, Edna spent 7 years
in the
securities industry enforcing SEC regulations for the National
Association of
Securities Dealers. Following the
birth of her second child, she took time off to raise her family and
was active
in her children’s schools and various community organizations. Edna is a San Francisco Giants and Cal
Basketball season ticket holder and enjoys glass fusing and mosaics in
her
spare time.
