Pat Avery

Pat brings 20+ years of Operational experience to the Advisory Board. She has served as the Chief of Operations for the government sponsored clinical trials on AIDS. She is currently the Program Director for the National Cancer Institute Investigational Drug Research.

Micky Ballotta

Mickey Ballotta has more than 20 years experience in fund raising for national and local-level organizations, including the Food & Friends, the Human Rights Campaign Fund, Friends of the Earth, and Gallaudet. Mickey is the new Executive Director of a non-profit, Tour de Friends, that is organizing a four-day, 330 mile bike ride to raise money for AIDS services. As the first director of the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day, Mickey was committed to making it (a 3-day walk with 4,000 participants and 500 volunteer crew raising $10 million) the first fully accessible event of its kind. With the help of VLI, she achieved this. She is especially proud of this achievement.

Andrew N. Brenneman

Andrew is a Senior National Account Executive with Sprint in Herndon, VA, responsible for all aspects of the nationwide sales efforts for Sprint Relay. Andrew previously worked for the prestigious Wall Street firm, J.P. Morgan & Co in New York City. He earned his BS in Business Management from the Rochester Institute of Technology/NTID in Rochester NY in 1988. Mr.. Brenneman served on the NTID alumni Campaign Leadership Committee, responsible for the Institute's fund raising efforts. In addition, he participates in charity events sponsored by Sprint. Andrew was born and raised in Syracuse, NY and currently resides in Leesburg, VA with his wife and two children. His passion is golfing and he is an avid fly fisherman.

Betty Colonomos

Betty, currently serving as Director of the Bilingual Mediation Center, is the oldest daughter of Deaf parents and a fluent ASL/English bilingual. Her academic training has been in Deaf Education/Speech Pathology (undergraduate), Counseling (graduate) and Linguistics (doctoral). Betty was awarded the Masters Comprehensive Skills Certificate (MCSC) from RID in 1980. Betty is well known as an educator of interpreters and language consultant. In addition to developing the most widely used model for teaching processes used in interpreting, she has consulted with schools and the legal system as an expert on linguistic and cultural issues impacting on the Deaf Community.

Sherry Duhon

Sherry is the Assistant Director of Alumni Outreach/Student Programs at Gallaudet University. With a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Gallaudet University, she has been the assistant director of public relations at Gallaudet University and distinguished presenter on various issues ranging from Deaf Culture to Deaf Parents of Hearing Children. Among her previous experiences include, international interpreting, coordinator of the visitor's center at Gallaudet and Coordinator of Residence Education at MSSD.

Michael E. Hurley

Michael is a visiting assistant professor, and serves as the Undergraduate Program Coordinator in the department of Psychology at George Mason University. Dr. Hurley has been on the faculty at George Mason University since December 1993, and has taught statistics, sport psychology, and psychology in the community.

Kristy Langbehn

Kristy is the Logistics Coordinator for the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) in Washington, D.C. She is responsible for coordinating all logistical aspects of the IL NET and NCIL trainings and teleconferences, board meetings, and conferences. Kristy has served as the Senior Accounts Manager and Interpreting Services Scheduler for a local sign language interpreting Agency. She is a charter member and past Vice-President of the Northern Virginia Sign Language Club and coordinator of the Beginning Interpreters’ Group for the Northern Virginia Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.

Dan Mathis

Dan, a graduate student at Gallaudet University is currently studying in the newly established MA of Deaf Studies Program. He works full-time as a Research Specialist for the Clerc Center at Gallaudet University in their Signs of Literacy program. He is President of the Washington D.C. Deaf Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He resides with his wife and three young children in Maryland.

Jeff Rosen

Jeff Rosen is a third generation deaf person with long time involvement in the advocacy of the civil rights and equal opportunity for people with disabilities.