As director of National Linguistic & Cultural Programs (NLCP), it is my great pleasure to welcome you to our Health Care Interpreter (HCI) web site. We hope that you will find the HCI site a valuable resource of information about our Kaiser Permanente partnership with educational institutions.

We welcome your feedback on how we can make this program more accessible and available in your area.

JJ Lara is charged with overseeing initiatives with National Linguistic & Cultural Programs.

JJ earned a BA in International Relations from the University of California, Davis, where his main focus of study was the socioeconomic challenges facing developing countries. He minored in East Asian Studies. JJ also has an extensive project management background with experience in business systems, construction, and information technology and coursework in project management, technical, and business from the University of California, Berkeley, and Kaiser Permanente.

Sunny Pak oversees initiatives related to research and development of products and services that increase linguistic access for members and patients.

Sunny has a double undergraduate degree from University of California at Berkeley on Molecular Cell Biology and Chinese Language Studies. He went on to earn a Masters in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), where his main interest is bridging western medicine and TCM through scientific research with emphasis on linguistic and cultural issues surrounding the two medicines. Sunny is a licensed practitioner of acupuncture and TCM in California.

Marcel oversees all administrative aspects of National Linguistic & Cultural Programs.

Marcel is an Interpreter/Instructor for Haitian-Creole and an accomplished artist with a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA. Marcel draws on his broad range of professional experience, dedication, technical proficiency, enthusiasm, and personal diversity in his demanding role at National Diversity.