Instructional Team 

Alicia is so excited to be a mentor for IRIS. She has worked as a mentor for more than ten years. Currently, she lives in Maine but she travels a lot. She works for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) working with different disasters. She is looking forward to working with IRIS participants and instructional team members.

Cheryl is a freelance interpreter in Mississippi. Cheryl began her interpreting career in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada prior to moving to Arkansas in 1999. A Deaf Parented Interpreter, and raised in a large Deaf family, Cheryl lives in Louisville Mississippi with her husband, and has 4 children and 6 grandchildren.  For fun, she enjoys riding her motorcycle and spending time with her grandchildren.

Dan holds a B.S. in aerospace engineering and an Ed.M. in education of the Deaf both from Boston University. Before becoming a freelance interpreter in 2002, Dan was a teacher and principal at Governor Baxter School for the Deaf in Falmouth, Maine. Passionate about ASL acquisition and development in Deaf children, he has been an advocate for the provision of natural ASL environments in educational settings for over three decades. A certified chess instructor, Dan coached the US Deaf chess team at the 2019 Deaflympics in Chiavenna, Italy. He has four children and lives on an organic farm in Maine.

Donna, after earning her interpreting degree in 1996,  entered the field of interpreting in higher education and quickly moved into the freelance interpreting arena. In the last 25 years, she has earned several national certifications including CI, CT, NIC-Advanced, SC:L, and QMHI. She is honored and grateful to serve on the Washington State Supreme Court Interpreter Commission as the ASL representative and the WSRID Legal Interpreter’s Committee Chair. The biggest joys in her career are serving the interpreting community as a mentor, team member, and workshop coordinator and presenter.

Jeremy continues to share his love of life and his language through workshops and performances nationally. He started out as a medical interpreter by becoming the first staff CDI for the University of Rochester Medical Center. From that point forward medical interpreting became his focus. By combining his CATIE Center training, his ASL mastery skills & life experience, Jeremy provides interpreter workshops with a phenomenal range of tools for the medical setting. Currently, Jeremy works as a VRI interpreter in medical settings. 

LaShawnda is a freelance interpreter in Alabama. Her interpreting experience includes mental health, K-12, post-secondary, medical, and VRS. LaShawnda received a bachelor’s degree in American Sign Language/Interpreting from Valdosta State University and a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Walden University. She completed her clinical internship with the Alabama Department of Mental Health Office of Deaf Services. LaShawnda has an interest in presenting and looks forward to exploring those opportunities. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, working out, and spending time in nature.

Lianne, a Boston native, has been an interpreter in private practice in New Hampshire and Vermont for over 40 years. She happened into ASL and the Deaf world with no thought of ever becoming an interpreter. But, life happens. Fortunately, in those early days she connected with MJ Bienvenu and Betty Colonomos and has been a practitioner of the Integrated Model of Interpreting ever since. Lianne developed the Vermont Mentorship Program which worked with pre-certified interpreters across the state and held numerous board positions in both NHRID and VTRID. She was also the coordinator of the Etna Project in NH and has participated in NH and MD Etna seminars for twenty years. For fun, Lianne enjoys cycling, gardening, knitting, reading, and spending time with her family, especially her two fabulous granddaughters.

Margaret has been in the field of interpreting for 35 years, give or take. She started her career in the Boston area and then moved up to Maine where she’s been for most of those 35 years. She has been a freelance interpreter working in the community for the majority of her career. She also teaches as an adjunct at the University of Southern Maine, in Portland, in their interpreting program. She is soon moving to a new home in Belfast, Maine with her husband. She has two daughters, one in Maine and one out west in Utah.

Mary is from the Green Mountain State of Vermont. She has worked with the US Agency for International Development, Canadian International Development and various other organizations coordinating projects with deaf people in Peru, Turkey, and China. These projects allowed her to live and work and learn the local sign language dialects. She completed her interpreter training with the Road to Deaf Interpreting Program and has been a Certified Deaf Interpreter since 2015. She currently does Freelancing in the New England and New York areas.

Michelle has worked as an Interpreter for 30 years in a variety of settings. She also has worked as a parent infant mentor (PIP). This work, with families with a newly identified Deaf child, was an incredible learning experience and provided a new perspective and insights of families as they are learning about navigating their new normal. Educational Interpreting has been a consistent focus and passion. Raised by Deaf parents, Michelle has been and continues to be heavily involved in the Deaf community. For the past 25 years she has lived in Vermont with her two children who now are young adults and are now navigating the world outside of college. For fun Michelle loves water and anything related to water. Her goal is to explore as many bodies of water as possible her lifetime!  Life is an adventure and she looks forward to the journey!

Summer has been working as a certified sign language interpreter for over 20 years. Summer is a native user of American Sign Language and holds a master’s degree in Counseling from The University of Memphis. In addition to being a professional interpreter, Summer is also a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. Summer has provided training to law enforcement, sign language interpreters, counselors, and community members on various topics over the last 15 years. Summer is the former President of both Children of Deaf Adults, Inc. (CODA International) and the Tennessee Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.

Trenton has lived in each of the 4 corner states and now calls Utah home. Drawn both to the mountains and the desert, Trenton, Bonnie, and their two kids enjoy exploring much of the Southwest on bikes, skis, kayaks, and ATVs. When not playing outside, Trenton enjoys his work as a CDI and as a mentor to other interpreters, both deaf and hearing. AND when not playing with his kids OR working, Trenton can be found in his workshop trying to finish any one of his many projects!