Estill-Varner became involved with the Deaf community in 2005 and after spending an academic year in Costa Rica, shifted focus to working with international deaf communities.

In May of 2015, she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in American Sign Language/English Interpreting and International Studies from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Shortly after, she was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Research grant to conduct research in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Her project titled “Improving Deaf Access in the DR: Researching Service Deficiencies, Creating an ITP”, collaborated with the Dominican Republic’s National Deaf Association as well as the National Interpreting Association to research service deficiencies and contribute to the ongoing effort of establishing an interpreter training program.

Through her research, she learned of the challenges, concerns, and goals of the community which allowed her to identify shortcomings in interpreting services. Upon completion of her research, she provided the interpreting association with recommendations that would enable interpreters to better serve and empower the Deaf community.

In addition to serving as DDW’s Co-Executive Director, Estill-Varner works as a nationally certified (NIC) freelance interpreter in Washington, D.C. providing interpreting services for a variety of federal government agencies. She also serves as a Fulbright Alumni Ambassador promoting the Department of State’s flagship program at conferences, colleges and universities across the United States.

In her free time, Estill-Varner enjoys exploring and has spent nearly 2 years traveling and living outside of the U.S. When she isn’t working or planning her next adventure, she can be found at the local Latin dance club dancing salsa, bachata, kizomba, and zouk.

Sachiko Flores was born profoundly Deaf in New Mexico and grew up in Texas with her Japanese-Mexican family. She graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Wildlife and Fishery Sciences at Texas A and M University in 2011. When she went on study abroad in Fiji and Australia, she was inspired to study more about natural resources and conservation, so she decided to joined AmeriCorps and worked in various conservation corps programs.

Working with local communities and in conservation field influenced her decision to graduate with a Masters in International Development from Gallaudet University in 2014. From there, she worked for Asia Pacific Development Center on Disability in Thailand for almost 2 years. She assisted to initiate a project, 60+ Bakery and Cafe, that promote an accessible and barrier-free, inclusive bakery and cafe for all people in society. She also facilitated a regional training of women with disabilities in South Asia to take part in the discussion process of the Beijing+20 Review at the Asian and Pacific Conference on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment.

After coming back to the U.S., she saw the chance to create a new opportunity in expanding Deaf representatives in the outdoor community. This led her co-founding an non-profit organization, CorpsTHAT, in 2016. Not only she is dedicated to community involvement, she also promotes Deaf ecosystem.

Other than engaging with international community, she enjoys doing some hobbies including hiking, running, crafting, sewing, woodworking and repairing bicycles.

Julia loves connecting with people from all over the world and learning from their life stories. In 2012, Julia moved overseas to live in Sweden, and held board positions within local, national and European organizations. Julia served two years as a board member for the Swedish Deaf Youth National Association, Sveriges Dövas Ungdomsförbund (SDUF) and the European Union of the Deaf Youth (EUDY). In 2018, Julia returned to her alma mater, Gallaudet University, to work as the Program Coordinator for the Gallaudet Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute.

In her free time, you will find Julia in the kitchen, experimenting with new recipes and baking her famous chocolate chip cookies. As an aspiring astronaut, Julia aims to share her love for space exploration. When she's not busy baking cookies or stargazing, Julia enjoys traveling, climbing, hiking, swimming, and playing water polo. To this day, Julia has traveled to over 30 countries and strives to visit every continent in the world.

Shane Feldman is Director of Strategic Partnerships and Development at the Communication Service for the Deaf where he supports a passionate team devoted to providing innovative technology and services that will transform the Deaf community’s experience with their access to communication. CSD's philosophy is centered around providing its technology and services through partnerships with key agencies, corporations, organizations that serve the community.

Prior to his current position, Feldman served as Executive Director of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and prior to that, as the Chief Operating Officer of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). At both organizations Feldman created systematic changes that led to renewed focus on the organization’s mission, strategic plan, and sustainable financial management. These efforts brought the organizations to a higher level of advocacy, efficiency and accountability.

Feldman holds a Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), an association of nonprofit professionals who manage and lead trade, membership, and charitable organizations across the nation and worldwide. He received his Master’s degree in Management and Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Financial Management from the University of Maryland University College and his Bachelor’s degree in Professional and Technical Communication from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Feldman has a distinguished history of civic involvement and advocacy. He served as Co-Chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Video Programming Emergency Accessibility Advisory Committee Working Group, which submitted recommendations to the FCC for Internet Protocol captioning regulations in response to the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. He served as an officer of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Action Network (DHHCAN), where he helped lead the development of the Consumer Group Telecommunications Relay Service Policy Statement, which established consumer’s expectations for telecommunications including video relay services (VRS) and guides the policy advocacy of a coalition of organizations representing deaf and hard of hearing people. In the past he also served as Chair of the Maryland Governor’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Advisory Council and as a member of the Maryland School for the Deaf Board of Trustees.

Dr. Maribel Gárate is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Education at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. She has Masters degrees in Deaf Education: Elementary and American Sign Language Linguistics and a Ph.D. in Deaf Education with a focus on Bilingual Education. Her research interests focus on the implementation of bilingual methodologies to allocate ASL and English in classrooms for Deaf and hard of hearing children, and the ways in which teacher beliefs about ASL/English Bilingual Education influence their practice. She regularly conducts trainings and gives presentations to teachers, parents, and school administrators and consults with schools for Deaf students both nationally and internationally. She is the co-editor of Maximizando el Potencial de los Niños, Jovenes y Adultos Sordos [Maximizing the Potential of Deaf Children, Youth and Adults.], author of Educating children with cochlear implants in an ASL/English bilingual classroom, Developing bilingual literacy in Deaf children and co-author of Collaboration for Communication, Language and Cognitive Development among others. Her book, articles and book chapters have been published in the United States, Italy, Germany, Panama and Japan. Dr. Gárate is also the current Vice-Chair of DAWN's Board of Directors. She is originally from Texas and resides in Washington. DC.

Mike Servé served as NTID's Assistant Vice President for Finance and Budget. He began his career with NTID in 1980, and since 1982 managed the office that is responsible for all of NTID’s financial operations. He was responsible for ensuring that NTID’s budget was in balance and that all of the college’s expenditures conformed to the rules and regulations of the federal government. He worked closely with other RIT divisions and provides assistance to NTID’s president in working with Congress and the U.S. Department of Education to secure the federal funding necessary to support NTID programs.

In 1992, Servé was awarded the NTID National Advisory Group’s Outstanding Service Award, and in 2001, he received the RIT Staff Recognition Award for Excellence in Increasing Work Productivity. Again in 2012 he recieved the RIT Staff Recognition Award for his contribution as a part of the Campus Advocacy and Response Team. He has served on a number of NTID and RIT committees, including the NTID Strategic Planning Committee, and is a past president of RIT’s Staff Council.

Servé earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business from RIT. Prior to joining NTID, he worked for the Monroe County Department of Social Services and the Hearing and Speech Center of Rochester.

He lives in Pittsford with his wife, Barbara. They have three sons and six grandchildren. He retired from NTID in August 2014.

Leah Katz-Hernandez is a leading expert on disability and diversity issues, public communication strategy, and civil rights.

Currently serving as Manager of Special Projects at Gallaudet University President’s Office, Leah is arguably best known as the celebrated ROTUS, Receptionist of the United States, for President Obama. The first ever deaf person to hold the position, Leah was appointed to the West Wing after serving in First Lady Michelle Obama’s communications office and for the Obama campaign during the 2012 election cycle. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Leah’s groundbreaking grassroots digital communications resulted in an award-winning blog and international attention. Throughout her career at the White House, in the non-profit sector, political campaigns, and on Capitol Hill, Leah has consistently used her specialty knowledge to urge equal access for the deaf, disability and Latina communities.

With more than a decade’s worth of experience to share, Leah is a dynamic contributor to the U.S. Speaker Program vis the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs. In 2017, Leah joined as a Board Member to the American Association of People with Disabilities and served as an advisor with the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation Advisory Committee.

Leah earned her MA in Strategic Communication from American University and a BA in Government from Gallaudet University. In addition to being bilingual in written English and American Sign Language, Leah enjoys learning new sign languages from deaf communities all over the world.

Fatima Muhammad was born in Lahore, Pakistan, and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. She enrolled in Rochester Institute of Technology and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing. She later received her MBA from University of Maryland University College. She is currently employed full time with the federal government as a Contracting Officer and lives in Howard County, Maryland.

Since 2007, She has been with Global Deaf Muslim (GDM), a non profit organization that mainly focuses on providing full access to Islamic education for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Muslims all over the world, as a member on the executive team as well as a volunteer. Through GDM, she was involved with two international conferences for the Deaf in Qatar and Malaysia.

Dr. Kim Kurz is the Chairperson of the American Sign Language & Interpreter Education department at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). She earned her doctorate in education with emphasis on deaf and hard of hearing students from the University of Kansas. Her areas of expertise include ASL pedagogical methods, ASL national standards, and ASL learning outcomes. She is the co-author of the American Sign Language and Deaf Culture series and is primary author of Learning Outcomes for American Sign Language Skills: Levels 1-4. She was a consultant for “Outcomes for Graduates of Baccalaureate Interpreter Preparation Programs Specializing in K-12th Grade Settings”. She is a member of the American Sign Language Standards National Committee.

Dr. Kurz serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Mark Seven Deaf Foundations, a non-profit organization that provides camp programs for deaf and hard of hearing children, children of deaf adults, deaf senior citizens, and ASL learners, in the beautiful Adirondacks.

Caroline K. Koo, originally from New York City, has multiple roles in Austin, Texas, her hometown. She is an Adjunct Professor of the Strategies for College Success course and a Tutoring Specialist at Austin Community College. She also assists the Deans with registration during each session. Moreover, she is a doctorate student in Deaf Studies Deaf Education at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Her research interests include mental health, language deprivation, and intersectionality. She enjoys giving back to her community through volunteer work with different projects. She also loves spending quality time with family and good friends, reading, and pursuing creative arts. She dotes on her nephew, a toddler, in Hong Kong.

Shelley Oishi, a proud Japanese-Canadian, obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design from Rochester Institute of Technology and a Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling for the Deaf from Western Oregon University. She then spent 12 years in various positions ranging from Mental Health Counselor, Job Developer, and Youth Transition Specialist. She then transitioned into the Telecommunications industry conducting sales for Sprint Relay and Purple Communications as Enterprise Account Manager and Regional Sales Director.

From 2007 to 2013, she served on the Board for Deaf Women United. Currently, she is working on establishing a chapter for the Asian Deaf Chapter in Austin, Texas and looks forward to serving on the board with Discovering Deaf Worlds.

Dr. Jessica Lee is an expert in Monitoring and Evaluation for foreign assistance programs and an anthropologist who has been studying deaf people and communities since 2001. She was the first hearing student to graduate from the Deaf Studies M.A. program at Gallaudet University and won the Veditz Deaf Studies Student of the Year award in 2004. She has spent years studying deaf communities in East Africa, specifically Tanzania, and has worked as an advocate for increased government protections and programs for deaf people. Dr. Lee is an adjunct professor at Gallaudet University and works as a consultant with the Department of State.

Dr. Lee has an M.A. in Deaf Studies from Gallaudet University (’04) and an M.A. (’06) and Ph.D (’12) in Anthropology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Dr. Franklin C. Torres is a native of Peru and came to the United States when he was 17 years old. He obtained a Ph.D. in Post-Secondary and Adult Education from Capella University in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2011. He earned an MA in Deaf Education from Gallaudet in 2002, and was the recipient of the Daniel T. Cloud Award. In 2004, he received the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from the Gallaudet University Alumni Association. His 2011 doctoral dissertation was entitled, "An Examination of Literacy Experiences in First Generation Deaf Latino College Students.

Dr. Torres has worked at Gallaudet since 2002. He is involved in teaching a variety of developmental non-credit and credit courses in the English Department. He has also taught interdisciplinary courses within the GSR Program. He especially enjoys teaching deaf Latino topics/issues. He has served on departmental and university faculty committees including the University Senate. He was a Gallaudet Office of Diversity and Inclusion's Faculty Fellow. He is a key member of the Leadership Council of the Faculty of Color Coalition.

In addition, Dr. Torres is actively involved in various organizations at the local, national, and international level. He is one of the founders and served two terms as the President of the Latino Deaf and Hard of Hearing Association of the Metropolitan DC Area. He is also the current Treasurer of LDHHAMDC. In the past, he was Treasurer and served on the Board of Trustees for the National Council of Hispano Deaf and Hard of Hearing (now known as Manos de Council). He is fluent in Peruvian Sign Language (LSP), and Spanish. During his free time, he enjoys cooking, woodworking, filming, and spending time with his family.

Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi has known since she was 12 years old she wanted to go into the field of psychology. After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Lenoir-Rhyne University, she worked as an employment consultant for people with developmental disabilities. After two years she returned to school, this time as a graduate student at the University of Arkansas where she earned her Master of Science degree in Rehabilitation Counseling for People who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, she worked as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for the State of Indiana. Her area of specialization was within the Deaf and Hard of Hearing population in Indianapolis, Indiana. In realizing she still had a dream of a degree in psychology, Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi then enrolled at Gallaudet University's Clinical Psychology doctoral program where she earned a Master of Arts degree as well as a Doctor of Philosophy degree.

Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi is now a Professor of the Gallaudet University Department of Psychology. Her areas of teaching include Human Sexuality, Psychology of Gender, Social Psychology, Abnormal Psychology among other courses. Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi focuses her research in intimate partner violence (IPV) and the impact of media on mental health within the Deaf, DeafBlind, Deaf Disabled, and Hard of Hearing (DDBDDHH) community.

When she is not with her students in and out of the classroom or attending events at Gallaudet University, you can often find her with a book. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends as well as trying new food (she could talk about books and food all day long if you let her).

Travis Zornoza is originally from the bluegrass state, Kentucky. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Gallaudet University in year 2013. He currently lives in Los Angeles. He worked as an accountant for Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, Inc. While he worked there, he returned to school and got Master’s Degree in Financial & Accounting Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in year 2016. Shortly after, He transferred and worked for Space & Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base as a Budget Analyst. He is now owning his own accounting business with TZORNOZA, LLC by providing accounting, consulting, and educating small businesses nationwide. During his time at TZORNOZA, LLC, he also currently studying and pursuing to become Certified Public Accountant.

His passion is to help small businesses with an understanding of the financial measurements that indicate the health of their businesses and empower the businesses their ways toward profitability included to increase their cash flow, bottom line, and overall business value through advanced financial analysis using the QuickBooks Online platform.

During his free time, he loves to spending time with his wife, hiking, doing CrossFit, and reading books.

Native to Rochester NY, Justice is a co-founder of DDW and dedicated over 12,000 volunteer hours to the start up of this organization since its inception in 2006. He is currently serving a Staff Support position, is an active member of DDW’s Executive, Strategic Planning, Fund Development, and Governance Committees, and has had in-depth involvement with DDW’s management and operations.

Under grants funded by the US Department of State and US Agency for International Development, Justice has served as DDW's Program Coordinator to provide capacity building and organizational development training to the Philippine Federation of the Deaf. He also coordinated DDW Journeys to Costa Rica, Thailand, and Cambodia. In addition, Justice has networked with approximately 300 Deaf schools and associations in fifty countries on behalf of DDW.

Justice first learned American Sign Language in 2000 and quickly became involved with the Deaf community. He formerly served as a counselor for the Aspen Camp School for the Deaf, worked on language development research for the Colorado Home Intervention Program, and as an ASL/English interpreter. Justice also established a supportive employment service center for the Southwest Washington Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and worked part time as a job developer for D&T Services and the Rochester School for the Deaf. He earned a B.A. in Sociology from Ithaca College with concentrations in Clinical Sociology and the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System and studied abroad in London, England and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He holds an A.A.S. in ASL/English Interpreter Preparation from Front Range Community College.

Justice believes the power of education is an essential tool to eliminating ignorance and strives to be an intermediary of cultural understanding between Deaf and hearing worlds. When not on the go with DDW, he is running, skiing, or seeking new adventures.

Searls, a Deaf person and native American Sign Language user, hails from Rochester, NY, from a culturally Deaf family. Searls joined DDW in 2008 after spending nearly a year teaching at a deaf university in Changchun, China, and was the catalyst behind DDW’s move to non-profit status. He served as a full-time volunteer from 2008 until 2013, at which point he became a paid employee of DDW as Executive Director.

Under direction of DDW’s Board of Directors, Searls was responsible for leading DDW toward the realization of its vision and consistent achievement of its organizational mission, strategic goals and financial objectives. Searls has managed two federal grants with a cumulative budget of over $600,000.

Searls has given presentations on human rights, advocacy, and diversity within the global Deaf community to audiences from around the world. He has also conducted leadership, teambuilding, and organizational development training with Deaf community leaders in several regions of the Philippines and throughout five cities in India, including over 400 representatives at the National Association of the Deaf Grassroots Leadership Conference.

Since 2012, Searls has chaired the International Experts Group of the National Association of the Deaf, the premier civil rights organization of, by and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the USA.

A lifelong advocate, perpetual traveler, and visionary, Searls holds a BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College.

Christy Smith is a co-founder of Discovering Deaf Worlds. During DDW's 2007-2008 World Tour, she connected with over 100 deaf associations, schools and non-profit organizations and interviewed community leaders in eight countries. Smith co-directed DDW’s first documentary, Discovering: Shuktara and has served as a volunteer coordinator for Shuktara.

Originally from Basalt, CO, Smith graduated from Gallaudet University with a B.A. in Criminology and Sociology. After surviving 33 out of 39 days as a contestant on CBS's Survivor: The Amazon (2003), she became a well known role model to the deaf community. Smith directed and co-produced a children's television show called Christy's Kids: Challenge Yourself, and has visited over 100 schools and organizations across North America as a motivational speaker. She is currently pursuing her Master of Science degree in Secondary Education at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Estill-Varner became involved with the Deaf community in 2005 and after spending an academic year in Costa Rica, shifted focus to working with international deaf communities.

In May of 2015, she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in American Sign Language/English Interpreting and International Studies from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Shortly after, she was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Research grant to conduct research in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Her project titled “Improving Deaf Access in the DR: Researching Service Deficiencies, Creating an ITP”, collaborated with the Dominican Republic’s National Deaf Association as well as the National Interpreting Association to research service deficiencies and contribute to the ongoing effort of establishing an interpreter training program.

Through her research, she learned of the challenges, concerns, and goals of the community which allowed her to identify shortcomings in interpreting services. Upon completion of her research, she provided the interpreting association with recommendations that would enable interpreters to better serve and empower the Deaf community.

In addition to serving as DDW’s Co-Executive Director, Estill-Varner works as a nationally certified (NIC) freelance interpreter in Washington, D.C. providing interpreting services for a variety of federal government agencies. She also serves as a Fulbright Alumni Ambassador promoting the Department of State’s flagship program at conferences, colleges and universities across the United States.

In her free time, Estill-Varner enjoys exploring and has spent nearly 2 years traveling and living outside of the U.S. When she isn’t working or planning her next adventure, she can be found at the local Latin dance club dancing salsa, bachata, kizomba, and zouk.

Sachiko Flores was born profoundly Deaf in New Mexico and grew up in Texas with her Japanese-Mexican family. She graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Wildlife and Fishery Sciences at Texas A and M University in 2011. When she went on study abroad in Fiji and Australia, she was inspired to study more about natural resources and conservation, so she decided to joined AmeriCorps and worked in various conservation corps programs.

Working with local communities and in conservation field influenced her decision to graduate with a Masters in International Development from Gallaudet University in 2014. From there, she worked for Asia Pacific Development Center on Disability in Thailand for almost 2 years. She assisted to initiate a project, 60+ Bakery and Cafe, that promote an accessible and barrier-free, inclusive bakery and cafe for all people in society. She also facilitated a regional training of women with disabilities in South Asia to take part in the discussion process of the Beijing+20 Review at the Asian and Pacific Conference on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment.

After coming back to the U.S., she saw the chance to create a new opportunity in expanding Deaf representatives in the outdoor community. This led her co-founding an non-profit organization, CorpsTHAT, in 2016. Not only she is dedicated to community involvement, she also promotes Deaf ecosystem.

Other than engaging with international community, she enjoys doing some hobbies including hiking, running, crafting, sewing, woodworking and repairing bicycles.

Julia loves connecting with people from all over the world and learning from their life stories. In 2012, Julia moved overseas to live in Sweden, and held board positions within local, national and European organizations. Julia served two years as a board member for the Swedish Deaf Youth National Association, Sveriges Dövas Ungdomsförbund (SDUF) and the European Union of the Deaf Youth (EUDY). In 2018, Julia returned to her alma mater, Gallaudet University, to work as the Program Coordinator for the Gallaudet Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute.

In her free time, you will find Julia in the kitchen, experimenting with new recipes and baking her famous chocolate chip cookies. As an aspiring astronaut, Julia aims to share her love for space exploration. When she's not busy baking cookies or stargazing, Julia enjoys traveling, climbing, hiking, swimming, and playing water polo. To this day, Julia has traveled to over 30 countries and strives to visit every continent in the world.

Shane Feldman is Director of Strategic Partnerships and Development at the Communication Service for the Deaf where he supports a passionate team devoted to providing innovative technology and services that will transform the Deaf community’s experience with their access to communication. CSD's philosophy is centered around providing its technology and services through partnerships with key agencies, corporations, organizations that serve the community.

Prior to his current position, Feldman served as Executive Director of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and prior to that, as the Chief Operating Officer of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). At both organizations Feldman created systematic changes that led to renewed focus on the organization’s mission, strategic plan, and sustainable financial management. These efforts brought the organizations to a higher level of advocacy, efficiency and accountability.

Feldman holds a Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), an association of nonprofit professionals who manage and lead trade, membership, and charitable organizations across the nation and worldwide. He received his Master’s degree in Management and Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Financial Management from the University of Maryland University College and his Bachelor’s degree in Professional and Technical Communication from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Feldman has a distinguished history of civic involvement and advocacy. He served as Co-Chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Video Programming Emergency Accessibility Advisory Committee Working Group, which submitted recommendations to the FCC for Internet Protocol captioning regulations in response to the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. He served as an officer of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Action Network (DHHCAN), where he helped lead the development of the Consumer Group Telecommunications Relay Service Policy Statement, which established consumer’s expectations for telecommunications including video relay services (VRS) and guides the policy advocacy of a coalition of organizations representing deaf and hard of hearing people. In the past he also served as Chair of the Maryland Governor’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Advisory Council and as a member of the Maryland School for the Deaf Board of Trustees.

Dr. Maribel Gárate is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Education at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. She has Masters degrees in Deaf Education: Elementary and American Sign Language Linguistics and a Ph.D. in Deaf Education with a focus on Bilingual Education. Her research interests focus on the implementation of bilingual methodologies to allocate ASL and English in classrooms for Deaf and hard of hearing children, and the ways in which teacher beliefs about ASL/English Bilingual Education influence their practice. She regularly conducts trainings and gives presentations to teachers, parents, and school administrators and consults with schools for Deaf students both nationally and internationally. She is the co-editor of Maximizando el Potencial de los Niños, Jovenes y Adultos Sordos [Maximizing the Potential of Deaf Children, Youth and Adults.], author of Educating children with cochlear implants in an ASL/English bilingual classroom, Developing bilingual literacy in Deaf children and co-author of Collaboration for Communication, Language and Cognitive Development among others. Her book, articles and book chapters have been published in the United States, Italy, Germany, Panama and Japan. Dr. Gárate is also the current Vice-Chair of DAWN's Board of Directors. She is originally from Texas and resides in Washington. DC.

Mike Servé served as NTID's Assistant Vice President for Finance and Budget. He began his career with NTID in 1980, and since 1982 managed the office that is responsible for all of NTID’s financial operations. He was responsible for ensuring that NTID’s budget was in balance and that all of the college’s expenditures conformed to the rules and regulations of the federal government. He worked closely with other RIT divisions and provides assistance to NTID’s president in working with Congress and the U.S. Department of Education to secure the federal funding necessary to support NTID programs.

In 1992, Servé was awarded the NTID National Advisory Group’s Outstanding Service Award, and in 2001, he received the RIT Staff Recognition Award for Excellence in Increasing Work Productivity. Again in 2012 he recieved the RIT Staff Recognition Award for his contribution as a part of the Campus Advocacy and Response Team. He has served on a number of NTID and RIT committees, including the NTID Strategic Planning Committee, and is a past president of RIT’s Staff Council.

Servé earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business from RIT. Prior to joining NTID, he worked for the Monroe County Department of Social Services and the Hearing and Speech Center of Rochester.

He lives in Pittsford with his wife, Barbara. They have three sons and six grandchildren. He retired from NTID in August 2014.

Leah Katz-Hernandez is a leading expert on disability and diversity issues, public communication strategy, and civil rights.

Currently serving as Manager of Special Projects at Gallaudet University President’s Office, Leah is arguably best known as the celebrated ROTUS, Receptionist of the United States, for President Obama. The first ever deaf person to hold the position, Leah was appointed to the West Wing after serving in First Lady Michelle Obama’s communications office and for the Obama campaign during the 2012 election cycle. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Leah’s groundbreaking grassroots digital communications resulted in an award-winning blog and international attention. Throughout her career at the White House, in the non-profit sector, political campaigns, and on Capitol Hill, Leah has consistently used her specialty knowledge to urge equal access for the deaf, disability and Latina communities.

With more than a decade’s worth of experience to share, Leah is a dynamic contributor to the U.S. Speaker Program vis the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs. In 2017, Leah joined as a Board Member to the American Association of People with Disabilities and served as an advisor with the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation Advisory Committee.

Leah earned her MA in Strategic Communication from American University and a BA in Government from Gallaudet University. In addition to being bilingual in written English and American Sign Language, Leah enjoys learning new sign languages from deaf communities all over the world.

Fatima Muhammad was born in Lahore, Pakistan, and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. She enrolled in Rochester Institute of Technology and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing. She later received her MBA from University of Maryland University College. She is currently employed full time with the federal government as a Contracting Officer and lives in Howard County, Maryland.

Since 2007, She has been with Global Deaf Muslim (GDM), a non profit organization that mainly focuses on providing full access to Islamic education for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Muslims all over the world, as a member on the executive team as well as a volunteer. Through GDM, she was involved with two international conferences for the Deaf in Qatar and Malaysia.

Caroline K. Koo, originally from New York City, has multiple roles in Austin, Texas, her hometown. She is an Adjunct Professor of the Strategies for College Success course and a Tutoring Specialist at Austin Community College. She also assists the Deans with registration during each session. Moreover, she is a doctorate student in Deaf Studies Deaf Education at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Her research interests include mental health, language deprivation, and intersectionality. She enjoys giving back to her community through volunteer work with different projects. She also loves spending quality time with family and good friends, reading, and pursuing creative arts. She dotes on her nephew, a toddler, in Hong Kong.

Dr. Jessica Lee is an expert in Monitoring and Evaluation for foreign assistance programs and an anthropologist who has been studying deaf people and communities since 2001. She was the first hearing student to graduate from the Deaf Studies M.A. program at Gallaudet University and won the Veditz Deaf Studies Student of the Year award in 2004. She has spent years studying deaf communities in East Africa, specifically Tanzania, and has worked as an advocate for increased government protections and programs for deaf people. Dr. Lee is an adjunct professor at Gallaudet University and works as a consultant with the Department of State.

Dr. Lee has an M.A. in Deaf Studies from Gallaudet University (’04) and an M.A. (’06) and Ph.D (’12) in Anthropology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Dr. Franklin C. Torres is a native of Peru and came to the United States when he was 17 years old. He obtained a Ph.D. in Post-Secondary and Adult Education from Capella University in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2011. He earned an MA in Deaf Education from Gallaudet in 2002, and was the recipient of the Daniel T. Cloud Award. In 2004, he received the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from the Gallaudet University Alumni Association. His 2011 doctoral dissertation was entitled, "An Examination of Literacy Experiences in First Generation Deaf Latino College Students.

Dr. Torres has worked at Gallaudet since 2002. He is involved in teaching a variety of developmental non-credit and credit courses in the English Department. He has also taught interdisciplinary courses within the GSR Program. He especially enjoys teaching deaf Latino topics/issues. He has served on departmental and university faculty committees including the University Senate. He was a Gallaudet Office of Diversity and Inclusion's Faculty Fellow. He is a key member of the Leadership Council of the Faculty of Color Coalition.

In addition, Dr. Torres is actively involved in various organizations at the local, national, and international level. He is one of the founders and served two terms as the President of the Latino Deaf and Hard of Hearing Association of the Metropolitan DC Area. He is also the current Treasurer of LDHHAMDC. In the past, he was Treasurer and served on the Board of Trustees for the National Council of Hispano Deaf and Hard of Hearing (now known as Manos de Council). He is fluent in Peruvian Sign Language (LSP), and Spanish. During his free time, he enjoys cooking, woodworking, filming, and spending time with his family.

Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi has known since she was 12 years old she wanted to go into the field of psychology. After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Lenoir-Rhyne University, she worked as an employment consultant for people with developmental disabilities. After two years she returned to school, this time as a graduate student at the University of Arkansas where she earned her Master of Science degree in Rehabilitation Counseling for People who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, she worked as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for the State of Indiana. Her area of specialization was within the Deaf and Hard of Hearing population in Indianapolis, Indiana. In realizing she still had a dream of a degree in psychology, Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi then enrolled at Gallaudet University's Clinical Psychology doctoral program where she earned a Master of Arts degree as well as a Doctor of Philosophy degree.

Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi is now a Professor of the Gallaudet University Department of Psychology. Her areas of teaching include Human Sexuality, Psychology of Gender, Social Psychology, Abnormal Psychology among other courses. Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi focuses her research in intimate partner violence (IPV) and the impact of media on mental health within the Deaf, DeafBlind, Deaf Disabled, and Hard of Hearing (DDBDDHH) community.

When she is not with her students in and out of the classroom or attending events at Gallaudet University, you can often find her with a book. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends as well as trying new food (she could talk about books and food all day long if you let her).

Dr. Kim Kurz is the Chairperson of the American Sign Language & Interpreter Education department at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). She earned her doctorate in education with emphasis on deaf and hard of hearing students from the University of Kansas. Her areas of expertise include ASL pedagogical methods, ASL national standards, and ASL learning outcomes. She is the co-author of the American Sign Language and Deaf Culture series and is primary author of Learning Outcomes for American Sign Language Skills: Levels 1-4. She was a consultant for “Outcomes for Graduates of Baccalaureate Interpreter Preparation Programs Specializing in K-12th Grade Settings”. She is a member of the American Sign Language Standards National Committee.

Dr. Kurz serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Mark Seven Deaf Foundations, a non-profit organization that provides camp programs for deaf and hard of hearing children, children of deaf adults, deaf senior citizens, and ASL learners, in the beautiful Adirondacks.

Shelley Oishi, a proud Japanese-Canadian, obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design from Rochester Institute of Technology and a Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling for the Deaf from Western Oregon University. She then spent 12 years in various positions ranging from Mental Health Counselor, Job Developer, and Youth Transition Specialist. She then transitioned into the Telecommunications industry conducting sales for Sprint Relay and Purple Communications as Enterprise Account Manager and Regional Sales Director.

From 2007 to 2013, she served on the Board for Deaf Women United. Currently, she is working on establishing a chapter for the Asian Deaf Chapter in Austin, Texas and looks forward to serving on the board with Discovering Deaf Worlds.

Travis Zornoza is originally from the bluegrass state, Kentucky. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Gallaudet University in year 2013. He currently lives in Los Angeles. He worked as an accountant for Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, Inc. While he worked there, he returned to school and got Master’s Degree in Financial & Accounting Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in year 2016. Shortly after, He transferred and worked for Space & Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base as a Budget Analyst. He is now owning his own accounting business with TZORNOZA, LLC by providing accounting, consulting, and educating small businesses nationwide. During his time at TZORNOZA, LLC, he also currently studying and pursuing to become Certified Public Accountant.

His passion is to help small businesses with an understanding of the financial measurements that indicate the health of their businesses and empower the businesses their ways toward profitability included to increase their cash flow, bottom line, and overall business value through advanced financial analysis using the QuickBooks Online platform.

During his free time, he loves to spending time with his wife, hiking, doing CrossFit, and reading books.

Searls, a Deaf person and native American Sign Language user, hails from Rochester, NY, from a culturally Deaf family. Searls joined DDW in 2008 after spending nearly a year teaching at a deaf university in Changchun, China, and was the catalyst behind DDW’s move to non-profit status. He served as a full-time volunteer from 2008 until 2013, at which point he became a paid employee of DDW as Executive Director.

Under direction of DDW’s Board of Directors, Searls was responsible for leading DDW toward the realization of its vision and consistent achievement of its organizational mission, strategic goals and financial objectives. Searls has managed two federal grants with a cumulative budget of over $600,000.

Searls has given presentations on human rights, advocacy, and diversity within the global Deaf community to audiences from around the world. He has also conducted leadership, teambuilding, and organizational development training with Deaf community leaders in several regions of the Philippines and throughout five cities in India, including over 400 representatives at the National Association of the Deaf Grassroots Leadership Conference.

Since 2012, Searls has chaired the International Experts Group of the National Association of the Deaf, the premier civil rights organization of, by and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the USA.

A lifelong advocate, perpetual traveler, and visionary, Searls holds a BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College.

Native to Rochester NY, Justice is a co-founder of DDW and dedicated over 12,000 volunteer hours to the start up of this organization since its inception in 2006. He is currently serving a Staff Support position, is an active member of DDW’s Executive, Strategic Planning, Fund Development, and Governance Committees, and has had in-depth involvement with DDW’s management and operations.

Under grants funded by the US Department of State and US Agency for International Development, Justice has served as DDW's Program Coordinator to provide capacity building and organizational development training to the Philippine Federation of the Deaf. He also coordinated DDW Journeys to Costa Rica, Thailand, and Cambodia. In addition, Justice has networked with approximately 300 Deaf schools and associations in fifty countries on behalf of DDW.

Justice first learned American Sign Language in 2000 and quickly became involved with the Deaf community. He formerly served as a counselor for the Aspen Camp School for the Deaf, worked on language development research for the Colorado Home Intervention Program, and as an ASL/English interpreter. Justice also established a supportive employment service center for the Southwest Washington Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and worked part time as a job developer for D&T Services and the Rochester School for the Deaf. He earned a B.A. in Sociology from Ithaca College with concentrations in Clinical Sociology and the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System and studied abroad in London, England and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He holds an A.A.S. in ASL/English Interpreter Preparation from Front Range Community College.

Justice believes the power of education is an essential tool to eliminating ignorance and strives to be an intermediary of cultural understanding between Deaf and hearing worlds. When not on the go with DDW, he is running, skiing, or seeking new adventures.

Christy Smith is a co-founder of Discovering Deaf Worlds. During DDW's 2007-2008 World Tour, she connected with over 100 deaf associations, schools and non-profit organizations and interviewed community leaders in eight countries. Smith co-directed DDW’s first documentary, Discovering: Shuktara and has served as a volunteer coordinator for Shuktara.

Originally from Basalt, CO, Smith graduated from Gallaudet University with a B.A. in Criminology and Sociology. After surviving 33 out of 39 days as a contestant on CBS's Survivor: The Amazon (2003), she became a well known role model to the deaf community. Smith directed and co-produced a children's television show called Christy's Kids: Challenge Yourself, and has visited over 100 schools and organizations across North America as a motivational speaker. She is currently pursuing her Master of Science degree in Secondary Education at the Rochester Institute of Technology.