Celena Ponce our president and the proud godmother of a Deaf Latina young adult whose journey inspired the creation of this nonprofit. Through her relationship with her goddaughter, Ms. Ponce was able to connect with both the Latino and Deaf communities and realize how few services were available in families’ native language, furthering the impact of language deprivation that starkly affected her goddaughter. She also has a history of working with immigrant communities, curriculum creation, technology skills and community organizing that has been key to getting the word out about our services, thereby increasing our impact.

Janice Stotts, our secretary, is a Deaf educator with over 30 years of experience teaching English/Language Arts through ASL to students facing language challenges. She has taught middle and high school at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont and the Washington School for the Deaf in Vancouver. Ms. Stotts holds a master’s in special education from Lewis and Clark College and a bachelors in counseling from The Evergreen State College. Along with her teaching, she has helped establish several non-profit Deaf services programs, including Hands United.

Our treasurer and right-hand woman is Dorinda Davidson. Dorinda, who is Deaf-blind, has had the opportunity to connect with many Latino and Latina young adults alongside Ms. Ponce. It has been an incredible journey watching these young adults grow. As a Deaf individual, Ms. Davidson has witnessed firsthand the lack of resources and support available for families who speak languages other than English. This realization sparked the idea and inspiration to collaborate with Ms. Ponce and create our nonprofit. Ms. Davidson is currently pursuing her Master of Science Rehabilitation Counseling from Western Oregon University.

Abisai Denson is a trilingual interpreter as well as one of our instructors. With her extensive background in advocating for Spanish-speaking families, her skills have been a great addition to our team. Abisai is also a mother of 3, including a daughter with CHARGE syndrome.

Ál Jimenéz is one of our Mexican Sign Language intepreters and instructors. He has his Masters degree from Gallaudet University in Spanish. His unique language skills and ability to adapt to the client has helped us grow in our ability to communicate with the larger immigrant community.

Dani is our tech support and professional workshops coordinator. She brings a pleathora of skills to the team, including experience with video editing, spotlighting, running Zoom meetings and tech in general. She has a bachelors degree, majoring in Deaf Studies with an emphasis in ASL interpreting, a minor in languages, and a Global/Intercultural distinction.

Making ASL accessible to everyone.

Born Deaf and raised in Miami, Florida, Federico Quintana brings over 15 years of classroom teaching experience across middle school, high school, and college levels. A graduate of the Model Secondary School for the Deaf, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in American Sign Language with a minor in Psychology from Gallaudet University and a Master’s degree in Education from Lamar University. He holds educator certifications in Deaf Education and ASL in two states and is the author of the ASL Yes! curriculum textbooks. Federico is a first-generation American of Nicaraguan and Cuban heritage. Outside the classroom, he enjoys art, cooking with his wife, and spending time with his two Deaf sons.

Karen Macías is one of our Mexican Sign Langauge instructors. She brings with her the lived experience of recently-arrived Deaf immigrant, and has created an amazing curriculum for US-based individuals to learn LSM. Her interactive and visually engaging class is always popular!

Mayra Castro is an ASL educator and Deaf community advocate who teaches Driver Education to immigrant Deaf students through Hands United’s 10-week Zoom program. Her instruction emphasizes visual learning, ASL, captioned media, and family collaboration to build confidence, safety, and understanding of road concepts. She has nearly three years of experience as an ASL instructor in the Families and Infants program at the New York School for the Deaf and previously taught ASL and Deaf Culture to high school students with disabilities at Barnstable Academy. Mayra studied Linguistics at Montclair State University, deepening her understanding of Deaf identity and language, and has served as Director of Camp Sol of the Deaf, Inc. since 2016, supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing youth of color in developing self-esteem, identity, and leadership skills.

Mónica Gallego is our community liaison. She brings with her years of experience as a trilingual interpeter, mentor, and mental health professional. Her ability to bring people together and advocate not only for the needs of DHH but also the needs of interpreters is unparalleled. This gives us the ability to give trilingual intepreters a safe place to grow and practice their skill, therby better serving our families.

Razaq Fakir is our international sign langauge instructor. His unique background as a UN interpreter for international sign, academic teaching experience and over 15 years teaching and interpreting at high level events brings with it a mountain of experience. His classes have been very popular and we are honored to have him on our team.

Olivia McFadden is our volunteer coordinator. As our number of volunteers has grown, we needed someone with communication experience and flexibility. Olivia has done a great job of rounding up our volunteers and getting them plugged into one of the many opportunities we have. If you are interested in volunteering, feel free to fill out our volunteer form!