Management Team

Nisar is the founder and CEO of Translation Excellence. He is a native of Kabul, Afghanistan who came to the U.S. in 2001. Nisar is an accomplished language professional with over 19 years experience as a linguist, language instructor, language tester, cultural competency trainer, and curriculum developer. Nisar also has extensive, highly successful experiences in managing contract work for all federal government agencies. Nisar has an Executive MBA and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Colorado at Denver and an Associate’s degree in Information Technology. In his free time, Nisar enjoys outdoor activities such as playing volleyball, hiking, snowboarding, and running.

FaridBayot joined Translation Excellence in December of 2015. He has extensive experience in a wide range of leadership, management and advisory positions. As Chief Financial Officer, he oversees all aspects of the company’s finances, including the development and management of budgets, preparation of financial statements and reporting. Farid brings over a decade of financial management experience in the private and public sectors, with a focus on developing policies and procedures to improve performance and productivity.

Farid earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business from Metropolitan State College of Denver, an Executive MBA from University of Colorado and a MS in Finance from University of Colorado. In his free time, Farid enjoys spending time with his family, reading, snowboarding, playing soccer and listening to music.

Ben is a top performing entrepreneurial Strategy and Business Development Leader with more than 25 years of proven experience founding various global and domestic ventures that achieve business growth, measurable market share and retain strategic positioning in highly competitive B2B and B2C industry segments. During his career, Ben has provided the vision and execution to enhance brand recognition, develop new revenue streams and assemble strategic partnerships while delivering sustainable financial results.

Among Ben’s signature accomplishments include founding ANZEN Corporation that grew into one of the largest inkjet remanufacturing companies in the world and was sold to investors.

Ben’s expertise extends to developing manufacturing facilities and building international sales channels in Media Products, Software, Semiconductors, and Remanufacturing. Ben has extensive consulting experience as a strategic adviser to Executive Management, engaged in propelling new and existing LOB initiatives to financial success.

In his free time, ben enjoys spending time with his family, snowboarding and mountain biking.

As Government Account Manager she oversees all government sales. Mary performs research to identify Government procurement opportunities and build pipeline, develops effective communication plans and strategies for potential and existent contracts with emphasis on developing key value-added relationships, and works effectively to maximize new procurement potentials. As a former CEO, she has over 25 years of experience in sales with Federal Government. She was awarded “Who’s Who in the World” for her contributions in helping our world become more environmental. She studied Ethology at University of Colorado and conducted Animal Research throughout the United States. Mary and her husband enjoy camping and the outdoors. She administers three popular Facebook pages on Colorado outdoor activities.

As a Quality Assurance Manager with Translation Excellence, Ms. Graves has high-level authority at in the areas of evaluating, designing, and implementing our QA policies for all our service delivery programs. Ms. Graves utilizes her creativity, leadership, and multi-tasking and organizational skills to manage quality control of contracts and to provide complete satisfaction in a customer service role. Gilda is a native Spanish speaker and graduate of the Sacred Heart University in Puerto Rico. She has many years of experience teaching Spanish to children and adults, and working with interpreters in the US and abroad. In addition, Gilda has extensive experience in the development, administration and scoring of language assessments. In her free time, she enjoys reading, and spending time with family and friends.

Born and raised in Bucharest, Romania, Cristian Horga has a bachelor's degree in Journalism and
Philosophy and a master's degree in Philosophy. During the first ten years of his career, he worked as a
journalist, writing articles for magazines and interviewing tv celebrities. He also has a background in
advertising and online marketing. After moving to the US 4 years ago, Cristian collaborated with some of
the biggest localization companies as a linguistic software tester, before joining the Translation
Excellence team in the summer of 2022.
In his free time, Cristian enjoys reading, cycling and riding motorcycles, spending time with his family
and exploring the natural wonders that Colorado has to offer.

Having lived and worked abroad in places such as Paris, Turkey, Belize, New York and various winter resorts, Edward has extensive experience dealing with both multi-lingual clients and sales teams throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Holding such titles as Vice President, General Manager, Director of Sales, Project Manager and Consultant over his 20-year career, Edward’s focus was providing underperforming or stalled companies the means, direction and leadership necessary to drive unprecedented growth. Edward has found the perfect home at Translation Excellence as the Business Development Manager.

In his free time, you can find Edward enjoying the company of his three children and lifting weights.

Serafina, a native of Colorado, joined the Translation Excellence ASL/CART team as a scheduler and security specialist. Serafina is an independent researcher who received their Bachelor's degree in Italian studies from the University of Colorado and a Master's degree in comparative literature from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Throughout their studies, Serafina has worked with many Romance Languages but she considers Italian to be her favorite. Outside of academia, Serafina has experience as a travel coordinator for the Department of Energy. In their down time Serafina enjoys reading, writing, watching Star Trek, and playing with her pet rabbit, Lucina.

Catherine Diaz is the Director of CART & Captioning Services at Translation Excellence. Catherine is responsible for managing the scheduling support and personnel related matters including performance evaluations and developing plans for improvement. She has been working with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community since 2012 and has always enjoying meeting new people and serving her local community. She has traveled to Greece, England, Austria, and She lived with her sister in Chicago and her brother in Hawaii, but always calls Denver home. From 2003 to 2007, she lived and worked in Uganda establishing schools and medical clinics. When she is not working or traveling, Catherine enjoys playing games with her friends and family, live music, and antiquing.

Rebecca has lived in Colorado almost her entire life. She has a strong background in languages and culture and has studied closely Spanish, Russian, Latin, plus many more languages. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from UCCS and a Master’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and has solid experience working with many different types of languages and cultures, clients, and technology. Rebecca spends her free time with family & friends, listening to music, and enjoying life in Colorado.

Jason Klein “JJ”, a midwesterner from the Queen City (Cincinnati, OH), is our certified ASL staff interpreter and scheduling coordinator at Translation Excellence. JJ is a native user of American Sign Language and started his interpreting career in 2010 upon receiving his Associate’s degree from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. Later, he transferred to Gallaudet University in Washington, DC and earned his Bachelors Degree (2014) in interpreting and played three years of baseball. He has spent most of his professional career around our nation’s capital interpreting in the community with a focus in government. In his free time, JJ enjoys going to the gym, golfing, playing recreational softball, and spending time with family and friends.

Melissa Halverson “also goes by Elli” is a native of the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Minnesota. She is an experienced ASL scheduler who utilizes her creativity, leadership and organizational skills to provide top quality scheduling services to Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities. In addition to that, it is her newfound passion to create bridging opportunities and connections among the sign language community. She is fluent in ASL and has done work as an ASL tutor for the University of Minnesota. Melissa holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from Bemidji University. She has 3 C’s addictions: coffee, cheese, and chocolate, and her getaways are often at beaches.

Matthew Adams, a native of the Queen City (Cincinnati, OH), is one of our ASL schedulers at Translation Excellence. Matthew is a CODA and native user of American Sign Language. He started his interpreting career in 2010 upon receiving his Associate’s degree from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. Later, he transferred to Gallaudet University in Washington, DC and earned his Bachelors Degree (2014) in interpreting. After graduation he spent a few years interpreting in Washington, DC and the surrounding areas before moving back home to Cincinnati, where he has been interpreting in the community since. In his free time, Matthew enjoys going to the gym, fishing, anything in the outdoors, and spending time with family and friends.

Jenny Smith-Hastings, ASL Scheduler for Translation Excellence, is a native Minnesotan. She graduated from Gallaudet University and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Interpreting and enjoys mentoring, and doing ASL-related work. She has years of experience working with interpreters for the Deaf community. Jenny is a crazy cat lady, she loves cats (owns 7 cats) and is a regular volunteer at Furball Farm Pet Sanctuary. When she is not on the go, Jenny enjoys playing volleyball and spending time with family and friends.

Samantha is from St. Paul, Minnesota. She graduated from Gallaudet University with a Bachelor's degree in Communication Studies. She is a highly experienced scheduler with over 8 years of experience in ASL scheduling. As a member of the Deaf Community, she has worked with the Deaf Community throughout her career. In previous positions, she developed programs and activities to raise awareness of Relay services for D/HoH residents in Virginia and Washington D.C., and designed and implemented ASL curriculum for an interpreter training program for a past employer. This mom has her hands full with two babies (ages 2 and 1) and two beloved dogs. In her free time, she loves working out at a gym and spending time with her family and friends.

Tenja is a proud Colorado resident, hails from Minnesota. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from Gallaudet University. She found her passion in the ASL scheduling/interpreting field since the year of 2020. As a deaf individual, she has deep roots in the Deaf Community and used to work in education. Tenja loves spending time at home with her other half and cats or exploring new places and doing outdoor activities, such as skiing and hiking. Tenja also thrives to learn to be more eco-friendly on a daily basis!

Deborah Dellacroce, aka Debbie, is a CART scheduler and provides auxiliary transcription services for Translation Excellence. She is a Colorado native and grew up in Colorado Springs. She graduated from UCCS with a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry, which has served her well in the language industry. In her prior employments, she has worked as a scientific writer and editor.
In her free time, Debbie loves attending concerts, appreciating the visual arts, and spending time in nature with her small dog.

Emma Newcity is a proud New England (Southeast MA/RI) native and currently lives in the Denver, CO area. Emma graduated from Hofstra University in 2018 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. After college she worked in the nonprofit sector specializing in behavioral health and addiction treatment. Her former position as a case manager introduced her to the world of scheduling interpreting services. In her free time, Emma enjoys writing and performing music, gardening, cooking, watching New England sports, and spending time with family and friends.

Barbara Harding is a native of Upstate (Syracuse) New York. She is a dedicated professional with over 15 years of experience managing projects to drive quality assurance and budget responsibility. Barbara is currently a project manager at Translation Excellence. Prior to joining Translation Excellence, she has worked in advertising, publishing and education. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from State University of New York (S.U.N.Y) at Brockport, NY. While teaching in the school system, she developed a passion for helping students excel in and out of the classroom. Barbara created a nonprofit call Inner City Youth, Inc. to support and generate various resources for urban communities. She started a successful private one-on-one tutoring program and created a free ticket program for underprivileged youth to attend entertainment events at Ball Center, courtesy of Kroenke Sports.
Barbara believes in the power of lifting struggling communities up. In her free time, she enjoys weight training, jogging, spending time with family, listening to music and watching NBA and NFL games.

Holly is from Wisconsin where she obtained an Associate’s and Bachelor’s degree in Design from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. Go Badgers! A first-generation college graduate who frequently
attended leadership conferences by professor nominations. Holly worked as a server and bartender for
over 10 years, perfecting customer care. In 2022 she moved to Colorado for more opportunities (and the
mountains). In her free time, she likes to play with her dogs, ski, decorate, garden, and cook.