Dr. Amie Fornah-Sankoh
Opening Ceremony-Keynote Speaker
Dr. Amie Fornah-Sankoh is proud to graduate with a PhD from the University of Tennessee’s department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology. Amie’s journey into scientific research began at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where she earned degrees in laboratory sciences and biochemistry. She completed several internships and committed to continuing her scientific research by coming to UT in 2017 for her PhD. Amie has accomplished much during her time at UT. She won a National Institute of Health (NIH)-supported Fellowship for her first two years in graduate school, a three-year Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Tanni Anthony
Colorado Department of Education
Closing Ceremony Keynote Speaker
Tanni Anthony is a supervisor in the area of low-incidence disabilities with the Exceptional Student Services Unit within the Colorado Department of Education. She serves as the State Consultant on Blindness/Low Vision and the Project Director of the Colorado Services for Children and Youth with Combined Vision and Hearing Loss. She served twice on the AER Board of Directors and for six years on the Colorado AER Board.
Shelby Zimmerman
California School for the Blind
Shelby Zimmerman (TSVI, COMS, GDMI) works on the Assessment team at California School for the Blind, with Occupaws Guide Dog Association, and as a lecturer at San Francisco State University. Additional experience includes teaching orientation and mobility and independent.
Stephanie Herlich, MA
California School for the Blind
Stephanie Herlich (TSVI, OMS) is the Assessment Center Coordinator for California School for the Blind, a lecturer at San Francisco State University, and an educational consultant for Exceptional Teaching. She authored The Mangold Braille Program Unit 3, was a researcher on the ABC Braille Study, and has lectured internationally on braille, technology, and social skills for students with visual impairments.
Dr. Patrick Graham
Rochester Institute of Technology
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Dr. Patrick Graham is the Department Chair of the Master of Science in Secondary Education Program at RIT/NTID. He focuses on multilingual multimodal pedagogies, especially in the STEM fields. He has worked with teachers all over the world with curriculum development, multicultural education, and working with deaf children with special educational needs.
Dr. Christopher Kurz
Rochester Institute of Technology
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Dr. Christopher Kurz is a Deaf professor at the National Technical Institute for Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT/NTID). While teaching courses in STEM pedagogy and signed language pedagogy, he directs projects on deaf literacy using the World Around You (WAY) crowdsourcing platform which has an online library of free signed storybooks for Deaf young children in sign languages and provides training in signed storybook development and translation.
Dr. Wyatte Hall
University of Rochester Medical Center
Wyatte Hall, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He directs the Visual Language Access and Acquisition Lab and co-directs the Future Deaf Scientists program. He also directs the language deprivation track of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Child Resilience Center at Gallaudet University.
Jessica Chandler
Washington State School for the Blind
Jessica Chandler is the Associate Director of Outreach, Birth-to-5 Services/ Statewide Coordinator of Birth-to-3 Services for Children who are BLV (blind or have low vision) at Washington State School for the Blind. She has been working with learners with significant support needs for 20 years. Jessica has a B.S. in Deaf Education, a M.A. in Early Childhood Special Education, Certification as a Teacher of Students who are Blind/ Low Vision and a M.S. in Orientation and Mobility.
Lee Chandler
Washington State School for the Blind
Lee Chandler is a Statewide STEM/AT Consultant, at Washington State School for the Blind. As a member of the newly formed Outreach Access Services, he provides statewide support in the realms of STEM and access technology.
Jennifer Gentzke
Rochester Institute of Technology
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Ms. Jennifer Gentzke has mentored over 20+ preservice and new teachers as they navigate through the system of teaching. She is the Clinical Experiences Coordinator for the MSSE program at RIT/NTID. She discusses topics ranging from classroom management to curricular design. Jennifer focuses on the project based instructional strategies in mentoring and encourages reflective thinking and differentiation of strategies based on culture, language, and lived experiences.
Timothy Sanger
Rochester Institute of Technology
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Mr. Timothy (TJ) Sanger II is the coordinator of Graduate Advising, Engagement and Retention. He oversees and leads a mentoring program of 82 students and 6 faculty/staff to ensure quality programming. TJ focuses on data driven and culturally informed practices to ensure engagement and collaboration in the program.
Jill Dunway
Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind
Center of Assistive Technology Training
Jill Dunaway is a CTVI with a Master of Arts in Education, a certified braille transcriber, and holds certifications in JAWS, ZoomText, NVDA, and as a certified Chromebook accessibility expert. She serves as AT trainer at the Center for Assistive Technology Training. Prior to joining CATT, she taught AT at the Alabama School for the Blind. A braille and screen reader user herself, Ms. Dunaway likes to say that AT and braille literacy are keys to independence.
Dr. Susie Thomas
Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind
Center of Assistive Technology Training
Dr. Susie Thomas is a CTVI and COMS. She holds degrees in Secondary Biology and English, Special Education - VI, and Instructional Leadership. She is also a National Board Certified Teacher and a certified Braille Transcriber. Before joining the Center for Assistive Technology, she served as a classroom teacher, CTVI, and COMS. Dr. Thomas is a proponent of early learning skills to lay a firm foundation for the future.
Cara Wilmot
Alabama institute for Deaf and Blind
NTID Regional STEM Center
Cara Wilmot is the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind - NTID Regional STEM Center (NRSC @AIDB) academic and transition specialist. She has a BA in Deaf Education and Elementary Education from Flagler College. Her MA is in Special Education from the University of North Florida (UNF). She is a UNF: Project SPIDERS Scholar pursuing a doctorate in deaf education with a focus on rural districts. Her specialties are in Reading Intervention, Transition, Itinerant Services, and Specially Designed Instruction for DHH.
Dr. Cecily Whitworth
Montana Family ASL
Dr. Cecily Whitworth is a deaf Montanan with a Ph.D in Linguistics and over 20 years of experience working with ASL learners of all ages. A former professor, she is currently working as an advocate and educator. She is dedicated to the prevention and remediation of language deprivation in deaf/hh children who live in rural and/or underserved areas.
Carol Good
University of Washington
Carol Good, MSW, LICSW, IMH-E Clinical Mentor ® provided infant/early childhood mental health services in both a community mental health setting and in birth to three developmental (Part C) services in Washington State from 1992 - 2019. Her focus of practice has consistently been assisting parents in better understanding their child’s social and emotional needs and the interplay between trauma and attachment relationships. She has been providing reflective supervision and consultation to practitioners in the field of infant and early childhood mental health since 2001. She joined the University of Washington as a Continuing Education Specialist in 2014. Since that time she has provided workshops and training on a variety of topics including Promoting First Relationships (PFR) throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Janet DesGeorges
Hands & Voices Headquarters
Janet DesGeorges is mom to a daughter who is deaf/hard of hearing. She is Executive Director of Hands & Voices Headquarters and is the co-author of the book Educational Advocacy for Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Janet believes in the guiding philosophies of H&V towards a parent-driven, professionally collaborative approach when supporting families in the education years.
Lisa Kovacs
Hands & Voices Headquarters
Lisa Kovacs is the Director of Programs for Hands & Voices Headquarters, overseeing the implementation and operations of Hands & Voices Guide By Your Side (GBYS) and Advocacy Support & Training (ASTra) programs. Lisa has many years of experience advocating and training for appropriate services in deaf education for children and their families including her own son.
Lauryn Gressel Boyette
American School for the Deaf
Leon County, Florida
Lauryn Boyette is a remote teacher that provides itinerant services and teaches classes. Lauryn earned the Bachelors from UNF in Deaf Education with minors in ASL and Chemistry, and then received a Masters degree from Lamar University in Deaf Education and Deaf Studies.
Suzanne Dinwiddle
Tennessee DeafBlind Project
Suzanne Dinwiddie, M.Ed., COMS, CTVI, CEIM is a teacher of students who are blind/visually impaired (CTVI), orientation and mobility instructor (COMS), and early childhood special education specialist. Currently, she serves as the educational consultant for the Tennessee DeafBlind Project (TNDB), a federal grant associated with Vanderbilt’s Children Hospital in the Division of Developmental Pediatrics.
Janea Johnson
Hamilton County School System, Tennessee
Janéa earned her bachelor’s degree in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education from Eastern Kentucky University and master’s degree in Visual Impairment Education from Vanderbilt University. She has worked the last decade as a self-contained classroom teacher at a residential school for the blind and as itinerant serving students with dual sensory loss.
Kerianne Christie
Washington DHH Outreach Services
Regional Early Acquisition Language
Kerianne Christie has worked in the field of Deaf Education for 21 years. She grew up in New York and her pursuit of education brought her to the Pacific NW. She has Master’s degrees in Deaf Education: Early Intervention & K-12. She is also a National Board Certified Teacher. Kerianne is currently Co-Director for Birth-to-Five DHH Outreach Services in Washington.
Victoria Haggarty
Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind
Regional Early Acquisition Language
Victoria Haggarty joined the REAL Project as a Trainer in November 2022. Previously, Victoria worked in deaf education for almost 10 years, teaching ages 3-21 at Tennessee Schools for the Deaf. In August 2021, she earned her Ed.S in Deaf Education with a concentration in ASL/English Bilingual Deaf Education for Ages 0-5 at Gallaudet University. She also graduated from Gallaudet University’s Infants, Toddlers and Families Graduate Certificate program in August 2022.
Dr. Scott Gentzke
Rochester Institute of Technology
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Scott Gentzke, PhD, is a visiting assistant professor in the Master of Science in secondary education program at RIT/NTID. He is one of the coauthors of the Arts chapter in STICK-IN-MIND: Multilingual Strategies for Diverse Deaf Students. He was a former art teacher at Rochester School for the Deaf for more than 10 years.
Jenny Wheeler
American Printing House for the Blind
Jenny has worked in the field of visual impairment for 20 years as a paraprofessional, braille transcriber, TVI, COMS, and AT specialist. She has a special interest in providing individualized technology education to children who have visual impairments and multiple disabilities, and in working with innovative schools and organizations to promote students’ technological and academic success.
Sara Kennedy
Hands & Voices
Sara Kennedy is the Editor for Hands & Voices, serving as an educational advocacy trainer (ASTra) and regional technical assistance advisor for Chapters and family-based organizations. Sara has many years of successful collaborative advocating and training in early intervention and school-age services, with a background in occupational therapy. One of her children is Deaf and working in healthcare.
Jill Radford
Gallaudet University
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center
Jill Radford is the director for National Programs and Outreach programs for the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center. Jill has worked as a professor in higher education, administrator for prek - 12 day school program, and a classroom teacher. She has a master's degree in Deaf Education (Utah State) and an education specialist degree in Change Leadership in Education (Gallaudet).
Joshua Mora
Rochester Institute of Technology
National Technology Institute of the Deaf
Joshua holds an EdM in Language and Literacy Education and serves as the assistant director for outreach at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. With a background in protactile language interpreting and research on language deprivation, he brings a unique perspective. Joshua's goal is to create STEAM programs tailored to the diverse needs of K-12 students, including those who are D/deaf, hard of hearing, DeafBlind, and Deaf Disabled. These programs aim to equip them with valuable skills and confidence to excel in various industries and aspects of life.
Stacy Abrams
Gallaudet University
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center
Regional Early Acquisition Language
Stacy Abrams grew up in Arkansas with a deaf sister and hearing parents. Her experiences varies from being a teacher of the deaf and a deaf mentor program coordinator to her current position as the Project Manager of Early Intervention at the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center for the past seven years.
Jessica Chapa
Alabama Institute of the Deaf and Blind
Short Term Program
Jessica Chapa is the Director of Short Term Programs at the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind. Prior to this position, Mrs. Chapa was a teacher at the Alabama School for the Blind where she taught for twelve years as an elementary and middle school teacher. She obtained her B.S. in Elementary Education from Jacksonville State University. Mrs. Chapa went on to obtain her M.A. in Special Education with a concentration in Visual Impairment from the University of North Dakota. During the same time, she became Library of Congress certified in Braille. Later, she also obtained her UEB (Unified English Braille) certificate. Recently, she obtained her certificate in Educational Leadership from the University of Alabama.
Kris Rydecki Ching
Washington Center for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Youth
Regional Early Acquisition Language
Kris Rydecki Ching, co-director of Birth-5 Outreach Services for Washington Center for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Youth, CDHY. Focusing on statewide systems that ensure all parents and families receive accurate and complete information. Kris graduated from Gallaudet University’s ITF Collaboration & Leadership Interdisciplinary graduate program and proudly served on the board of Washington Hands & Voices since 2008.
Dawson Sieger
Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind
E.H. Gentry Technical Facility
Mr. Sieger is the Assistive Technology Specialist serving the Auburn and Opelika areas. He is one of the newest members of the AT Field Services team based in Talladega at the E. H. Gentry facility. His boundless energy and attention to detail have endeared him to many Alabama consumers in a very short period of time.
Roberto Cabrera
Rochester Institute of Technology
National Technology Institute for the Deaf
Roberto is the Director of National Technical Institute for the Deaf’s STEM Academy. Roberto is one of the leading educators with the Protactile Language Interpreting National Educational Program, promoting a touch-centric language. As a DeafBlind person, Roberto is an advocate for equal access to promote the quality lifestyle in the community of choice.
Megan Mogan, CCC-SLP
Arizona DeafBlind Project
Megan is a Deafblind Specialist with the Arizona Deafblind Project. She worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist for 18 years at the Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind-Tucson campus and in the Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson. She presents nationally on strategies related to literacy and communication for children and youth at the earliest levels of communication.
Stacy Moss
Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind
Short Term Programs
Stacy Moss is a teacher of Short Term Programs at the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind. She obtained her B.S. in Elementary Education from Western Governors University in 2010. She has worked as an elementary teacher for 10 years and has volunteered and served in public schools since 2008. She is also certified in LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling.) She has most recently obtained her UEB Certification. She is currently pursuing an M.A. in Special Education with a concentration in Visual Impairments at the University of North Dakota, as well as working towards obtaining her National Library of Congress Braille Transcriptionist certificate.
Abby Burke
Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind
Regional Early Acquisition Language
Abby Burke joined the REAL Project as a Trainer in July of 2020. Abby graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Georgia with a focus on Communication Sciences. During her time at UGA. She then attended Valdosta State University where she completed an internship at the Alabama School for the Deaf (AIDB) and graduated with her Masters of Education in Communication Sciences. Abby began her career as a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) at the Alabama School for the Deaf. After 5 years as an SLP, Abby transitioned into her role as a Trainer for REAL South.
Sarah Honigfeld
Gallaudet University
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center
Sarah Honigfeld (she/her), a Deaf adult, is the National Director of Early Intervention for the Laurent Clerc Deaf Education Center. She initially joined Gallaudet University in 2019 as an adjunct instructor while holding leadership positions in early intervention services and education policy. Prior to this role, Sarah worked in early intervention settings for over ten years, including as program director for a Parent Infant Program (PIP) for a school for the deaf. In 2022, Sarah became faculty and program director for the Early Intervention Studies Graduate Programs at Gallaudet where she continued her work in advancing language outcomes and educational services for young deaf, deafblind, deafdisabled and hard of hearing children and their families.
Debbie Gilliam
Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind
NTID Regional STEM Center
Debbie Gilliam, NRSC STEM Academy Director - Over 26 years of teaching experience in delivering enthusiastic instruction and teacher mentoring/coaching based on the learning needs of students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Debbie was the 2015 recipient of the University of Montevallo Outstanding Alumna for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education and the 2002 recipient of the Outstanding Alumni Collaborative Teacher Program for University of Alabama at Birmingham. Debbie holds an additional interdisciplinary graduate certification in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infants, Toddlers and their Families: Collaboration and Leadership from Gallaudet University.
Stephanie Pizza
Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind
Center of Assistive Technology Training
Before becoming the CATT Director, Stephanie Pizza served as a Regional Director for AIDB's Office of Field Services since April 2020. The Office of Field Services is a state-wide network of ten centers that provide services and support to individuals and their families, birth through senior citizens, who have vision loss and/or hearing differences. She is a certified TSVI and attended Florida State University where she received her BS and MS degrees in Visual Disabilities in 2012. She then obtained her Education Specialist degree in Teacher Leadership from Thomas University in 2017. Stephanie began her career in Georgia as an itinerant teacher with Gwinnett County Public Schools and worked as a TSVI and O&M for five years. Stephanie then served as the Director of Children and Youth Services at the Center for the Visually Impaired in Atlanta from 2017-2020 to oversee two year-round programs for early intervention and school-age students.