The DDW team is pleased to announce the addition of three members to its Board of Directors. While we welcomes fresh talent to the board, it also means that we will be bidding farewell to three board members.
The following individuals represent board members whose terms have recently ended:
- Dr. Rosen Roz will be stepping down after 4 years of service with DDW.
- Dr. Benjamin J. Soukup will be stepping down after 3 years of service.
- Mr. Gregoire Youbara will be stepping down after 1 year of service.
A Message from Board President, Shane Feldman:
“I want to express my sincere gratitude to three DDW Board members for their service to our organization, Ben Soukup, Roz Rosen, and Gregoire Youbara. These three individuals allocated their time toward the success of our organization. For this reason, they have my deepest gratitude.
Ben Soukup served on the board for three years where he supported our fundraising, including hosting events in his hometown, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He brought years of experience at the helm of national and international Deaf organizations to guide our work.
Roz Rosen served on the board for four years, including over two years as our fund development chair. She provided insight into international affairs as a former World Federation of the Deaf board member and provided tremendous contributions to our fundraising activities.
Gregoire Youbara served on the board for one year until he decided to pursue his Ph.D. During his time, he was enthusiastically engaged in dialogue on our future direction and frequently challenged us with compelling questions on our role in international development.
These board members provided meaningful contributions to DDW and were an important part of our organization’s growth in the past several years. Thank you, Ben, Roz, and Gregoire.
We are thrilled to welcome three new board members to the DDW Board who will be part of an important governance transition over the next year when we go through a significant shift in the leadership and composition of our board. They are Carrie Pezzarossi, Franklin Torres, and Travis Zornoza. They each bring important knowledge, experience, and skills that our board needs to continue the pursuit of our mission.”
The following individuals represent new additions to the DDW’s Board of Directors:
Dr. Caroline Kobek Pezzarossi, 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. KobekPezzarossi 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.
Dr. Franklin C. 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.
Mr. Travis Zornoza, an owner of his own accounting business with TZORNOZA, LLC that provides accounting, consulting, and educating small businesses nationwide. Mr. Zornoza is 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.
For more background information on each board member, please go to https://www.deafworlds.org/about-us/.