Yoshiko Chino
Email: yoshiko@dendros.com | Phone: (505) 980-4040
As a seasoned executive leader, Yoshiko ‘Koko’ Chino (she/her) holds a deep value in compassion, equity and inclusion balanced with productivity towards mission as critical factors for organizational success. Most recently the Executive Director of Gallaudet Interpreting Service (GIS), she spent 8 years transforming this division at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. Prior to working at GIS, she was responsible for overseeing a non-profit, statewide interpreter referral in New Mexico which provided services in hospitals, courts, law enforcement, and other private and public entities. Yoshiko has experience in the non-profit, higher education, government, and private sectors.
Born in Northern California and growing up in the Caribbean, Southern United States and the Southwest, her bi-cultural birth family, and multi-cultural “families of choice” have been a source of inspiration in her work. Emphasizing honesty and courage in communication, especially around difficult subjects, Yoshiko works with groups to help them choose curiosity over fear. She works with groups to keep open minds and hearts as they do meaningful work. Being raised in the Zen Buddhist tradition, and her continued work within equity and communication access, provide meaningful grounding for her work in leading organizational change. She brings a commitment to business results that acknowledges our human condition with compassion and honesty.
Yoshiko has been active in national and international leadership on issues concerning the Deaf community and communication access and equity. Yoshiko is a nationally certified interpreter with previous work experience within community settings, post-secondary education, the legal system, healthcare and Video Relay Service.
Yoshiko’s other professional interests include diversity in the interpreting profession, the Convention on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities and its implementation in developing nations, and the advancement of ethical standards for entities that provide interpreting services in the United States. Yoshiko holds her BS Summa Cum Laude in Signed Language Interpreting from the University of New Mexico and her Masters in Public Administration from Gallaudet University. When she is not working, she enjoys yoga, training for triathlons, and travel.
[Video Description: Japanese-American cis-gendered woman with long, dark, wavy hair and black button-down shirt, signing in front of a dark blue background.]
Introduction: Koko Minnesota Introduction I created this video because several people have been approaching me recently, asking me about Dendros Group and myself. I’ve created this video to share a little bit more about myself. I am Japanese-American, and I currently work as an interpreter in Minnesota. I was born in Northern California. My mother was native to Minneapolis, but grew up in San Diego. My father, who was from Japan, moved to the United States during the 1960s. My parents met in northern California, where my brother and I were born. I lived in California until I was seven when my family moved to an island in the Caribbean called Dominica. After one year, my family moved back to the United States, to Arkansas. After graduating high school in Arkansas, I moved to New Mexico. I became an interpreter in New Mexico. As an interpreter in New Mexico, I worked as a freelance interpreter and a staff interpreter at the University of New Mexico. I also was the director for a statewide interpreter referral that was housed in a Deaf services agency. I was then recruited to work at Gallaudet University, moved to Washington DC, and worked there for eight years. I then fell in love with someone who lives in Minnesota. I left Gallaudet/DC and moved to Minnesota.
[Video Description: Japanese-American cis-gendered woman with long, dark, wavy hair and black button-down shirt, signing in front of a dark blue background.]
Professional Background: Interpreting and Leadership I have interpreted in many settings, including medical, mental health, employment, post secondary education, conferences, and others. My work with the Deaf community includes working with individuals who are Deaf, DeafBlind, Deaf-disabled, Deaf+, LGBTQIA, Hard-of-Hearing, and late-deafened. In addition to interpreting, I have served in leadership roles in different organizations, including at state and national levels, as well as within universities and nonprofits. I historically focused on mentoring, standards for the profession, and ethics.