Board Members

Who Are We?

Laurene Simms, PhD

President
Laurene E. Simms is Professor of the Department of Education at Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C. After graduating from the Indiana School for the Deaf, Indianapolis, Indiana, she received a B.S. Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and a M.Ed. in Deaf Education from Western Maryland College, Westminster, Maryland. She received a Ph.D. Degree in Language, Reading, and Culture from the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. Laurene has hands-on experience in the implementation of a bilingual/multicultural educational environment for diverse Deaf and Hard of Hearing children and is an acknowledged expert on the topic of using ASL/English as the languages of instruction.

[image: A Black Deaf woman is posed, smiling. She is bald, wearing black wired glasses and small earrings. She wears a bright red cotton blouse. Background is grey, photo has a slight vignette effect.]

Tawny Holmes, Esq.

Vice President
Tawny Holmes, Esq. is a deaf attorney with a Masters’ Degree in Deaf Education and experience in teaching students of all grade levels. Born in West Palm Beach, Florida, she attended mainstream school there before graduating from the Alabama School for the Deaf. Tawny then obtained her degrees in Deaf Studies, Sociology, and Deaf Education from Gallaudet University along with receiving her law degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law. Tawny currently resides in Germantown, MD and works full-time as the Education Policy Counsel at the NAD. She also serves as the chair of the National Education Strategy Team and as the coordinator of the Education Advocates Program at the NAD. Tawny is the proud godmother of four deaf children: Avant, Leilani, Oriana and Talon. She loves reading fiction books and scrapbooking inbetween her travels around America for many education advocacy related presentations!

[image: A light-skinned Deaf female with medium-length brown hair is posted and smiling in a dark suit and blue blouse with a white/blue necklace. Background is gray/white.]

Leigh Crane

Secretary
Leigh Crane is a classroom early childhood educator at Lexington School for the Deaf. She received her B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Leadership Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and her M.A. in Deaf Education and Early Childhood Education at Gallaudet University.

[image: A light-skinned hearing female with medium-length blonde hair, is posed and smiling wearing a black short-sleeved shirt. Background is dark gray]

Bobbie Jo Kite

Treasurer
Originally from Pennsylvania, Bobbie Jo received her B.A. in Early Childhood Education in 2004 and her M.A. in Deaf Education in 2005 from Gallaudet University. She has taught Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School for 5 years and Kindergarten-First grade at New Mexico School for the Deaf for a year. She is currently a faculty at the Department of Education at Gallaudet University and is working on her Ph.D. from George Mason University, specializing in Early Childhood Education and Multilingual/Multicultural Education. In addition, Bobbie Jo provides consulting services to ASL & English bimodal bilingual programs nationwide.

[image: A black and white photo of a Deaf light-skinned female with medium-length brown hair is posed, and smiling in a black sleeveless dress. Background is white]

Regional Representatives

Onudeah Nicolarakis

Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Region
Bilingual ECE teacher at Public School 347
Onudeah Nicolarakis, also known as Oni, is the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic region representative. She currently teaches the 1st grade at P.S. 347 in New York City.

[image: A multiracial Deaf woman with a caramel complexion is posed, smiling. She has shoulder length wavy black hair and wears an emerald green lace top. Background is grey.]

Nancy Milner

Midwest Region
Bilingual ECE teacher at Kansas School for the Deaf
Nancy Milner is an ASL/English Bilingual Early Childhood teacher in the Early Childhood Center at Kansas School for the Deaf. She has taught since 2003. She is also a Mentor for ASL English Bilingual Professional Development (AEBPD) from 2006 to 2011. She participates in the Shared Reading Project and Deaf Mentoring program, working with families who have young children. Since graduating from High School in New York, she has received a B.S. degree from Mid America Nazarene University, Olathe, KS in Elementary Education and a M.S. degree from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS in Special Education/Deaf Education in Early Childhood Education. Besides teaching, Nancy is a mother of 3 bilingual sons and enjoys being with family. Her other interests include reading, jogging, swimming, and cooking.

[image: A Deaf woman is posed, smiling. She has brown long hair. Wears pewter earrings. She wear Royal Blue shirt for KC ROYAL Baseball team. Background is grey.]

Patrick Graham

West Region
Assistant Professor at Western Oregon University
A long time advocate of equity and excellence in Deaf Education, Dr. Patrick Graham obtained his PhD in Educational Theory and Practice with a concentration in Early Childhood Education. Dr. Graham is interested in equity in education, disability studies, multicultural education, and culturally sustaining pedagogy. Dr. Graham is one of the co-founders of the National Deaf Education Conference and the current conference chair.

[image: A Deaf male, is posed, smiling. He has dark hair and a gray pullover on. Behind him are window blinds.]

Susanne M. Scott

South Region
Bilingual Education Consultant
Susanne M. Scott is an ASL and English bilingual education consultant. She recently retired from the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., where she worked as a cochlear implant/bilingual specialist. She earned her Master’s Degree in Audiology from Gallaudet University in 1980, and then worked in various positions at Gallaudet University and the Clerc Center since that time. During her tenure at the Clerc Center, she was actively involved in ASL and English bilingual planning and program implementation for children who are deaf and hard of hearing (including children with cochlear implants), both at the Clerc Center and throughout the nation. She has presented at numerous conferences, provided consultations and trainings to professionals, and has authored several articles and books.

[image: A hearing, white, female, is seated with a gray background. She has long gray hair and dark red framed glasses and is smiling.]

Stacy Abrams

Southwest Region
Family Mentor Program Coordinator at Arizona School for the Deaf
Stacy is the Family Mentor Program Coordinator at Arizona Schools for the Deaf after seven years in New Mexico ensuring that hearing families have access to deaf adults to learn from and interact with. Stacy started as a teacher and realized her passion lies in working with hearing families with deaf children. So many families lack access to deaf adults, and opportunities to interact & learn from them. Stacy is also the proud mom of two deaf bilingual children.

[image: A Deaf female, is leaning on a wall of cinder blocks. She wears black rimmed glasses and has long wavy brownish hair. She is wearing a #whyisign shirt.}

Susan C. Searls

2017 Summit Representative at Rochester School for the Deaf
Susan started her career in 1978 as a teacher at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, and she has been involved with the education of Deaf and hard of hearing children in many different capacities over the years. She has been at the Rochester School for the Deaf since 1993 and is entering her sixth year as Director of Early Childhood Programs at the school. Susan believes that a solid foundation starts with effective and engaging early childhood education and strong family involvement.

[image: A Deaf female is posed. She wears glasses, has grey hair, and a periwinkle blue top.}