Matthew Chu joined us in a very IIBA way: through volunteering. In 2022, his sister sent him an IIBA post seeking Spanish–English interpreters for its citizenship workshops. Matthew had just graduated from UCLA and was spending much of his time caring for his grandmother, who is originally from a rural village in Peru called Corculla.
“Because most of my caregiving happened late at night, when my grandma would revert to Spanish, I ended up using it far more than I ever had. I wasn’t raised bilingual, so I built most of my fluency on those late-night shifts — flashcards at three in the morning, and a lot of Caso Cerrado. The plotlines were questionable, but the español was solid.”
Serving as an interpreter for pro bono attorneys gave Matthew an introduction to immigration law and to the people navigating an often complicated system. It also made him want to stay involved.
In 2023, Matthew joined IIBA as an Administrative Assistant in the Redwood City office. He later became a supervisor and briefly served as a program coordinator for the pro bono program. Along the way, he started noticing places where systems and processes could work better.
In 2025, Matthew stepped into the role of Quality Control and Implementation Manager — a new position created to strengthen consistency across our seven offices, mentor administrative staff, and potentially improve the systems and tools that the organization relies on every day.
One of his first major projects was leading IIBA’s move to a new phone system. Drawing on his own experience answering client calls, Matthew designed multilingual options and other improvements to make communication smoother for both staff and clients.
Today, much of his focus is on building the systems behind IIBA’s data. After teaching himself Power BI, he built an organizational dashboard to help IIBA understand trends and track progress toward its goals, and led the agency-wide data collection for the 2026–2028 Strategic Plan.
“My vision is to strengthen the operational backbone of our legal work so staff have technology and processes that let them focus on the work that matters most.”
Outside of work, Matthew has been making up for lost time caused by the pandemic. In recent years, he has joined a dance team, taken Japanese classes, become an unexpectedly dedicated gym regular, and started learning jazz piano and guitar. Travel is part of the adventure, too.
Last year, he visited Hong Kong, where his father was born, and spent time exploring the city with relatives — an experience that made his connection to the culture feel much more personal.
Next up: Matthew plans to visit his grandmother’s village in Corculla, Peru — a place he’s heard about his whole life but never seen — and hopes to film the trip.