GOVERNOR LINGLE NAMES SERAFIN COLMENARES, JR. AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF OFFICE OF LANGUAGE ACCESS
For Immediate Release: April 19, 2007
HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle today named Serafin P. Colmenares, Jr. as the executive director of the Office of Language Access. He will start his new position on April 25.
The Office was created as part of the Language Access Act (Act 290) implemented last year by Governor Lingle to improve state and state-funded services to immigrants with limited English proficiency. It is administratively attached to the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
As the executive director, Colmenares will be responsible for coordinating with state agencies and nonprofit organizations that render services on behalf of the state to ensure that individuals with limited English proficiency have access to services. This includes working with the various agencies to develop and implement plans to offer translation services to individuals who seek access to services, programs, or activities, as well as to translate vital documents.
“As someone who immigrated to Hawai‘i, speaks several languages, and who has worked to help other immigrants assimilate and gain access to vital services, Serafin is ideally suited to head the Office of Language Access,” said Governor Lingle. “As the Office of Language Access continues to take shape, Serafin’s background and personal experiences will be valuable in ensuring that no one in our state is denied access to basic services such as medical care and housing simply because they may not be proficient in English.”
Colmenares currently works as an evaluation analyst for the state’s Executive Office on Aging, which is attached to the Department of Health. He previously worked in other positions including program officer for health at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, bilingual health worker at the Lanakila Easy Access Project, job resource specialist and case manager with Catholic Charities Immigrant Services; interpreter with Bilingual Access Line of Helping Hands Hawai‘i; and utilization review analyst with Hawai‘i Medical Service Association.
Colmenares was a lecturer of political science at Chaminade University and Leeward Community College, and held several positions at Mindanao State University in the Philippines, including chair of the Department of Political Science and assistant and acting dean of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. He also conducted research at the Center for Philippine Studies at the University of Hawai‘i and at the Population Institute of the East-West Center.
He holds a master’s degree in public health from the University of Hawai‘i, a Ph.D and master’s in political science from the University of Delhi in India, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Mindanao State University.
Born in Bacolod City in the Negros Occidental Province of the Philippines, Colmenares speaks English, Tagalog, Cebuano (Visayan), Ilonggo (Visayan), and some Spanish.
Colmenares is a co-anchor of “The Visayan Hour” radio program on KNDI 1270 AM, and previously served as co-editor of the O‘ahu Filipino Times (the official newsletter of the O‘ahu Filipino Community Council) and editor of the Congress of Visayan Organizations (COVO) Newsletter.
He is actively involved in various Filipino community organizations in Hawai‘i, including the Filipino Community Center, Congress of Visayan Organizations, Filipino Centennial Celebration Commission, Filipino Coalition for Solidarity, National Federation of Filipino-American Associations Pacific Region, and the Bayanihan Project Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program of the Organ Donor Center of Hawai‘i.
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For more information, contact:
Nelson Befitel
Director, DLIR
Phone: (808) 586-8844
Lenny Klompus
Senior Advisor – Communications
Phone: (808) 586-7708
Russell Pang
Chief of Media Relations
Phone: (808) 586-0043
