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With a strong push from Harris County Department of Education’s Marketing and Client Engagement (MCE) team, area language services personnel from a variety of industries came together on Nov. 18 for the start of a networking association for like-minded professionals to share insights and best practices.

Called HCDE Connects: A Multilingual Network, the group gathered for its inaugural meeting at the Irvington Conference Center. Nearly 20 school district interpreters, translators, language services professionals and others gathered for the network’s inception, establishing goals and objectives, and discussing topics for future meetings. HCDE Connects plans to meet quarterly, with the next two scheduled for March 17 and June 16 at HCDE’s North Post Oak office.

HCDE Connects was spearheaded by MCE Director Stephanie De Los Santos and Translations Coordinator Wendy Utterback, who have teamed over the last 12 months to build a national network in language services and bring tools both locally and statewide to benefit those who serve stakeholders. That includes the Professional Translators and Interpreters Conference held last July, the first event of its kind in Texas.