Meet Our Team

Francine Kuipers, CEO and Owner

Native in French

Francine Kuipers was born in France and moved to California in 1978. She was the principal of the French American School until 1985. She taught French and Spanish at various schools in the US, France and the University in Peru.

Francine has founded 5 language companies since 1986: Linguatheque of Los Angeles, Access Language Services, Accent on Languages, Accent on Culture, and The Berkeley Language Institute.

As a linguistic and cultural consultant, Francine has been involved in various cultural programs in France, Peru, China, Russia and the West Bank. She is passionate about languages and the promotion of cultural sensitivity. She participated to numerous Language and Cultural Conferences and summits organized by the US Army. She developed language and cultural programs sold in schools throughout the world and used by the US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Francine is actively involved in the community and volunteers her time as a member of the Board at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley.

She believes that her busy life as business owner and a mother of three must be balanced with an involvement in the community and creativity throughout the arts such as stain-glass making, another passion of hers.

Mr. Eduardo Puyol-Martinez, Director

Native in Spanish and Catalan

Eduardo Puyol-Martinez is a native of Barcelona, Spain, and he is a native speaker of Catalan and Spanish.

Eduardo graduated in Textile Engineering with the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), and also obtained a Master in Industrial Management before moving to the US in 2006. He has extensive experience working as a Project Manager for Spanish textile research institutes, and during that time he was able to work with multi-cultural engineering teams at the European level, performing translations of technical documents from and into Spanish, and conducting presentations and meetings in English for European multi-national audiences. In addition, he has experience implementing procedures and methodologies for a variety of industries, including Quality Assurance management.

Eduardo joined Accent on Languages in 2007 as a Project Manager, and was quickly promoted to Director of Operations in 2008. After more than ten years with the company, Eduardo was promoted to Director in 2018. Eduardo is also an Associate Member of ATA (American Translators Association).

He loves collecting vinyl records and turntables, and watching movies from all areas. He also really likes watching and playing soccer to exercise.

Ms. Kelly Moody, Interpreting Project Manager and Security Clearance Manager

Kelly Moody was born and raised in southern California, where she grew up hearing Spanish used by her grandparents, among other languages in her diverse social sphere.

For several years she worked in hospitality industry servicing people from all over the globe, until moving to the Bay Area. She began working at Accent on Languages in 2013 where she quickly advanced from overseeing the security clearance approval process to being the primary project manager for interpreting services and the company's unofficial event planner.

She loves hiking, jogging, reading, cooking with her husband, and playing scrabble when she has free time.

Mr. Matt Northup, Interpreting Project Manager

William "Matt" Northup joined Accent on Languages in mid-2016. Although a sixth generation Californian, he decided to seek out-of-state options for higher education. In 2012, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a concentration in Global Studies, after having served as the chair for the school's student scholastic fund as a senior.

A native anglophone, he has studied a number of languages, and considers himself proficient in French and conversational in Russian. In his spare time, he is also chipping away at Irish. Outside of languages, he recreationally yells at the nightly news. He enjoys cooking, biking and practicing on DuoLingo to learn new languages when he has free time.

Ms. Sharon Marrero, Business Manager

Native in Spanish

Sharon Marrero has lived most of her life in Puerto Rico and is a native Spanish speaker. After several years of working in various financial positions and teaching finance and accounting at the Universidad de Puerto Rico and Universidad del Turabo, she and her husband relocated to Lexington, Kentucky. There she worked as a Spanish medical interpreter, as well as volunteered for a local non-profit that facilitated better communication between patients and doctors.

After moving to California, she began working for Accent on Languages in 2017 where she is able to pursue both of her passions of accounting and community-focused interpreting.

Ms. Melissa Gomez, Security Clearance Officer

Native in Spanish

Melissa Gomez was born in the Jalisco region of Mexico and is a native speaker of Spanish. Having already received her Associates' in Business Administration, she is in the process of obtaining her degree in Human Resources Management from California State University, East Bay.

She has experience working within immigrant communities, often in primarily Spanish-speaking environments. Melissa joined Accent on Languages in June 2017.

Ms. Luqi Jia, Project Manager

Native in Mandarin

Luqi Jia was born in Handan within Hebei Province in northern China, and is a native speaker of Mandarin. She attended college in the United States, however, in Binghamton, New York. While enrolled she met her current husband, and after graduating they moved to the Bay Area to pursue both of their careers. Since then, she and her husband tied the knot in both the US and China, so they have two anniversaries for the price of one. Luqi joined Accent on Languages in September 2015. Luqi is also an Associate Member of ATA (American Translators Association).

When she has free time she relaxes by doing hot yoga, painting with watercolor or by making clay art.