Ms. Elaine Lazar
President & CEO
Ms. Elaine Lazar has over 30 years experience in international communications. Ms. Lazar is committed to finding and keeping the best interpreting and translation talent in the world to provide private and public companies reach across cultural and linguistic divides. Her vast experience in working with both small and large clients has taught us that a solid and sincere commitment to quality customer service is the bedrock for a strong and lasting partnership.
Ms. Elaine Lazar has a degree in Journalism from Temple University and was an instructor at the UCLA School of Management.
Mr. Javier Urey
Partner & Project Manager
Mr. Javier Urey is a multi-talented coordinator who is well versed in dealing with a vast array of clients and synchronizing the intricate details within a project from inception through development. The projects he has managed over the years vary in scope of complexity from simple translations to multi-layered interpreting assignments requiring planning, coordination and real time trouble-shooting. His ability to identify, coordinate and direct the appropriate talent, coupled with his quality control processes guarantee successful and timely completions and unconditional customer satisfaction.
Mr. Urey is personally committed to ensuring that all projects regardless of size or scope, are handled with meticulous care and planning. His proven leadership and personable managerial style have allowed Lazar & Associates to assemble a loyal stable of interpreting and translation talent as well as a large collection of happy clients.
He has a degree in Psychology from California State University at Los Angeles and has been with the company since 1999.
The Tricare Project Manager works tirelessly to manage workflow, liaise with translators, maintain quality and answer any and all questions from the client or linguist. Ms. Taake received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and minor in Biochemistry from the University of Missouri, Columbia as well as an M.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of California at Los Angeles. She is native German and is completely bilingual.
She was the Office Manager and Lead Writer for the prestigious Hofman Foundation as well as a user interfaces, software/hardware documentation, training manuals, etc. Ms. Taake is an expert at organizing and managing large teams of linguists, proofreaders and formatters and is the ideal point person for medium-to-large scale translation projects.
Mr. Mel S. Menendez
Marketing Director
Mr. Mel Menendez handles local business development also research for interviews and selects translation and interpreting talent. His dedication to exemplary customer service has led him to spearheading private industry marketing efforts into the environmental, medical and manufacturing fields.
Mr. Menendez has a dual Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Spanish from the University of California Los Angeles. Mr. Menendez began his marketing career working extensively in the legal community, most notably with the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. He has worked on middle and large scale marketing campaigns throughout the State of California and is primary liaison for many new clients.
Mr. Frank Gallegos
Contract Admin. and
Proposal Manager
Mr. Frank Gallegos manages and writes all bids, proposals and contracts for private and public agencies. Mr. Gallegos has a Bachelor's Degree of Arts in Urban Planning from the University of California at San Diego. Minors in Italian Literature and Economics. He attended the instituto Di Architettura Di Venezia and studied Italian Language and literature.
His commitment to world culture and language is combined with a thorough understanding of
proper research techniques, business development and contract management.
Frank has provided information collection and analysis, community outreach, program planning and management services to public and private agencies throughout the United States.
Frank has worked with the city Architect's Office of San Diego, MTA, The Los Angeles Community College District, The Union of Concerned Scientists and The United States Department of Commerce.
Mr. Gene Grossman
Art Director
Mr. Grossman is a native of Moscow, Russia where he began his training in Graphic Design at the State College of Art. In Russia, Mr Grossman worked for the E.C.H.O. Advertising Agency where he designed print and video presentations, created Flash animations, website plug-ins, banner ads, etc. He also designed traditional posters, print advertisements, business cards, logos and other marketing material. After emigrating to the United States, Mr. Grossman attended the LA ORT Technical Institute in Los Angeles, where he received a Certificate of Completion of Studies in graphic design, web design, desktop publishing, animation, video editing and video special effects. In the United States, Mr. Grossman has worked as a Production Artist for the Closeout News Magazine as well as being the staff Graphic Designer for Tsehai Publishers and Distributors. He is well versed in all aspects of layout and formatting and can produce high quality graphics and formatting work in almost any language.
