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About Us

To succeed, you need to know that the language services provider you work with is a company you can trust. To build that trust, it is crucial to see that they specialize in your industry, that they are long established with a strong reputation, and that they have robust quality processes backed up by industry certifications. At Avantpage, we’re proud of our history and the fact that we’ve focused on healthcare and government services since day one.
 
Our story began when Avantpage founder Luis Miguel immigrated to the United States from Mexico. He saw firsthand that many essential services were hard to access for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). He founded Avantpage in 1996 with a simple goal: to remove language barriers by providing translation, interpreting, and accessibility services to healthcare and government organizations.

Three decades later, Avantpage’s tools and technologies have changed but our focus on these sectors is the same.

By supporting your language goals, we are proud to make an impact in the lives of immigrant and LEP communities and to play our part in ensuring that everyone has access to healthcare and government services.

With headquarters in Davis, California, Avantpage’s team has grown over the years and now boasts a global team. We support clients across the United States, from community clinics to nationwide health insurers, and from state agencies to the federal government.

In these highly regulated fields, our clients rely on us to get it right. Every project at Avantpage is backed up by our ISO-certified processes, through which we combine the very best of process and technology with our expert teams of linguists and project staff. But what sets us apart is our customer-centric approach and our commitment to our guiding principle: Empathy Beyond Words.  

Photo of a family of three women of three generations sitting on a couch together and smiling

Our Shared Values

Our clients need language services because they care about getting their message out to as diverse an audience as possible. Whether you want to help patients understand complex medical information or to empower voters to make informed decisions on election day, we share that goal. Like you, we believe that everyone deserves equal access to services, no matter what language they speak. We play our part in improving this access by remaining true to our three core values:

Rigor

What we do, we do well

Empathy

We create a culture of warmth and belonging

Opportunity

We have the courage to shape a better future

Meet Your Partners

Photo of CEO Luis Miguel wearing a button down shirt and smiling directly into the camera.

Luis Miguel

CEO
Luis Miguel is the CEO at Avantpage, Inc. Luis is responsible for our mission to provide immigrants with the opportunity to reach their American dream. Luis is passionate about helping our clients communicate effectively with immigrants in language they can both understand. With nearly 30 years of leadership experience in the translation industry, Luis works to the benefit of our clients and the immigrant community.
Photo of Vera Hooijdonk looking directly at camera and smiling with hair down, while wearing an Avantpage branded blazer

Vera Hooijdonk

Vice President of Revenue
Vera is a multilingual leader and an advocate for language access. Her passion for the translation industry has kept her at Avantpage since 2010, where she has held various operational and leadership positions. She now leads our sales and marketing team as Director of Business Development and is Managing Director of Avantpage Life Sciences.
Photo of Nicole Spyt-James looking directly at camera smiling with hair pulled back, and wearing an Avantpage branded blazer

Nicole Spyt-James

Vice President of People and Finance
Nicole heads the team that supports Avantpage in all things finance, human resources, compliance, and administration. She is passionate about leadership, strategy, and culture, and believes that happy employees are the key to success. Nicole can often be found at international events, promoting Avantpage as an industry leader and forging valuable partnerships for Avantpage and our clients.
Photo of Jorge Villafuerte looking straight at camera with an Avantpage branded blazer and smiling slightly

Jorge Villafuerte

Vice President of Technology
Jorge is passionate about technology and innovation. He was the driving force behind the creation of Avantpage’s Systems Team in 2017, and now leads our IT experts and system engineers as Director of Technology. With extensive experience in information technologies, robotics, and electronic security, Jorge has transformed Avantpage into a forward-thinking, data-driven company.
Photo of Dominika Villafuerte-Woszczyk looking into the camera, smiling with hair down, wearing glasses and an Avantpage branded blazer.

Dominika Villafuerte-Woszczyk

Vice President of Operations
Dominika brings her extensive industry experience in project management and quality assurance to lead Avantpage’s largest team. Our operations experts oversee every step of the client journey and the team is constantly growing to accommodate increased customer needs. With a dedication to process, Dominika ensures that this growth is strategic and that Avantpage continues to offer the highest quality to our partners.

Join our empathy-driven team and make a meaningful impact

Explore open positions or apply as a freelance linguist to join our mission of eliminating language barriers for immigrants. Be part of a values-driven team where empathy and expertise create meaningful connections.

Apply now