The founders realized a need for Trilingual Interpreters to network and discuss linguistic and cultural issues specific to their work as professional interpreters. Nationally-known leaders such as Mary Mooney (Instructor, El Paso Community College and Director, National Multicultural Interpreter Project [NMIP]) and Angela Roth (leader of the NMIP Hispanic team), stepped forward to help organize an
online forum for discussions. In 1999, with support of the NMIP, the first national gathering of interpreters who work in Spanish-influenced communities occurred in Boston, Massachusetts, and Mano a Mano was unofficially created. Mano a Mano was incorporated in the state of Florida in May 2001, and was recognized by the IRS as a non-profit [501(c)(3)] organization in 2003. Mano a Mano has held biennial conferences since 2001, coinciding with RID biennial conferences (Orlando, 2003; Chicago, 2005; San Antonio, 2007; San Francisco, 2009; Philadelphia, 2011; Indianapolis, 2013; New Orleans, 2015). Prior to 2011, Mano a Mano conferences were held as pre-conference meetings to the RID biennial conventions. However, at the 2011 RID Convention in Atlanta, Mano a Mano hosted a trilingual track concurrent with RID’s workshops; this development was due to close collaboration between the two organizations and much support from RID. In 2017, Mano a Mano did not host a biennial conference of its own. Rather, the organization urged all members and interpreters who work in Spanish-influenced settings to attend the Council de Manos conference in Los Angeles, California.
