About Us

Katherine, A.K.A. Kay, is a 52 year old CODA; both her parents are Deaf. Kay’s younger, hearing sister passed away in 2005 as a result of addiction.  Kay lives in Fairfield, CA with her husband, two children and Deaf parents.

Kay started signing at the age of 1 and started speaking at the age of 3. Being the oldest child she began interpreting at a very young age.

Kay began her career as an interpreter in 1987 at Los Medanos College. After two years working as a Freelance Interpreter she applied for work as an Educational Interpreter for Mt Diablo School District. Kay was hired in 1989 and worked until 1994 when she decided to change her career path due to a workplace injury.  At this time, many interpreters were injured due to working long hours without teams. 

Kay went on to work in Social Services. She still worked with the Deaf, interpreting events and church services for family and friends. Kay returned to interpreting as a primary vocation in 2011 and discovered much had changed and that team-work had become the industry standard. Kay went on to get her EIPA 4.0 certification in 2013 and subsequently went on to take the written and performance exams to get her NIC certification in 2019.

In March of 2020, in addition to freelance work, Kay began working as a Video Interpreter. Shortly after, the State of California issued a shelter-in-place order due to COVID-19. In the midst of this pandemic there was a blessing. Due to Kay’s involvement with the 12-step recovery program where she was helping to set up online Zoom meetings, she realized that Zoom would be a great tool for the Deaf to access recovery. This began a journey that has been amazing to say the least. 

Kay found that there were Deaf ASL meetings online. She attended one and asked how they dealt with certain issues that make managing meetings with sign language difficult. It was through this conversation that some awesome relationships were born. Kay was then invited to join the Committee that was actively working on a set of standardized signs of key terms in 12-step programs to be translated into ASL.  We worked on projects such as translation of 12 step meeting literature and documents to assist Interpreters in navigating meeting interpretation in a virtual environment. 

Kay and the Deaf team had a vision that their work could be used to help interpreters become better, these meetings are notoriously difficult to interpret. It could help interpreters learn how to properly translate the language of recovery. With this vision Building Better ASL Interpreters was born. We began a mentorship pilot program in the Spring of 2021 and worked with five students from Georgia State University and four students from Solano Community College in Fairfield, CA. The success we found in this initial project created a larger vision, not only for our continuing a student program, but also working with Interpreters at all levels, to improve their skills and assist them while working towards their certification. 

Kim Bowman is a 47-year-old Deaf woman who was raised by a Hearing mother who would not recognize Kim’s Deafness, and did not allow Kim to learn ASL. Kim did not speak until she was 4 years old.  At age 6, Kim was forced into Speech therapy 4 days per week, and was punished by her mother when not using clear speech. As a result Kim is able to read lips and speak very well.

Kim Began to learn ASL secretly in the 5th grade when she befriended a Coda (Child of Deaf Adult) and started visiting her friend’s home. Kim continued to struggle with, deny, and not acknowledge her Deafness until decades later when she separated from her partner. Kim’s partner had been her interpreter for everything until her divorce. It was at this time that she found herself needing an Interpreter in order to manage a major life event. This event was a car accident. Kim was disorientated from the accident and realized she could not hear what people were saying to her. It was at this point that she needed to acknowledge the need for a formal Interpreter.

During this time Kim began work serving Developmentally Delayed Deaf Adults. She later worked as a Tutor with ASL students at a Community College.

In 2020, at the beginning of COVID-19 Shelter in Place, Kim met Kay Feuerborn. Kim and Kay started working together on a Deaf Committee to translate 12 step literature into ASL, working on a set of standardized signs of key terms in 12-step programs to be translated into ASL.  They also worked on developing documents and guidelines to assist Interpreters in navigating meeting interpretation in a virtual environment. 

Kim and the Deaf committee had a vision that their work could be used to help interpreters become better. This work could vastly improve interpreters' ability to properly translate the language of recovery. With this vision, Building Better ASL Interpreters (BBAI) was born. Kim and Kay developed a mentorship pilot program in the Spring of 2021. They worked with students from Georgia State University and Solano Community College. The success they found in this initial project created a larger vision, and the founding of BBAI. BBAI serves students in their final semester of their ITP program and with Interpreters at all levels, to improve their skills, while assisting them to work towards their certification.

Email: buildingbetteraslinterpreters@gmail.com

Phone number: 707-246-0548

Video Phone: 530-779-0530

Director/Interpreter Mentor: Katherine (Kay) Feuerborn

buildingbetteraslinterpreters@gmail.com

Deaf Mentor: Kim Bowman

kimb.bbai@gmail.com

Admin/Bookkeeper: Anita Kennedy

fais.bookkeeper@gmail.com