Halene Anderson
Halene (Hal) Anderson grew up immersed in ASL and English with a Deaf father and hearing mother. She has been interpreting professionally since 1995, is RID certified CI/CT, holds a BA in ASL/English Interpreting and a MS in Deaf Education. She has taught courses in the interpreting program at Western Oregon University and has presented workshops on discourse analysis, interpreting in educational settings, and working in Deaf/hearing interpreter teams. Additionally, she contracts with DBI to provide consultation, interpretation, and voice narration for online PTASL video materials. Halene enjoys creatively exploring language and the interpreting process and when she is not freelance interpreting, she can be found swimming, knitting, and hiking with her family.
Pauline AnnArino
For more than 40 years, Pauline has enjoyed a career as an interpreter practitioner, postsecondary interpreter educator and administrator, and as a nonprofit advocate, primarily at the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness. Pauline is actively involved in the national Grant Professionals Association, where she has served as president and lead architect of the Grant Professionals Certification (GPC). Today, Pauline is the principal of Nonprofit Navigators, a private consulting firm dedicated to nonprofit management and grant development, but mostly she is enjoying the spoils of retirement.
Mark Armstrong
Mark Armstrong is the Senior Adult Program Specialist for Helen Keller National Center. He works with seniors, age 55 and “better” who have combined vision and hearing loss. Mark facilitates the National Confident Living Program at the Helen Keller National Center in Sands Point, NY, and On-the-Road throughout the United States. Mark attended Western Michigan University and is a Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapist (CVRT). He has been married to his wife Kay for 30 years.
Anindya "Bapin" Bhattacharya
Anindya "Bapin" Bhattacharya is DeafBlind and works as the coordinator of the National Outreach Technology Development and Training Program at the Helen Keller National Center (HKNC). His responsibilities include 1) training consumers and technology trainers from all over the nation who have a wide range of vision and hearing loss to use computers via braille access, screen magnification, and speech output, 2) evaluating and beta testing various Windows- and Mac OS X-based applications, prototypes of new products, and telecommunications equipment and services for people with access needs, and 3) communicating with key people involved with designing and manufacturing these products to ensure they are accessible, user-friendly, and cost-efficient.
Bapin is also in charge of the Florida and Iowa DeafBlind equipment distribution programs and travels back and forth between these states every 2-3 months to provide technology assessments, distribute equipment, and training to all eligible consumers. He is additionally responsible for researching, purchasing equipment, and installing and configuring equipment prior to distribution.
Bapin also runs a digital online store business and is the chief executive officer of the company, Bapin Group, LLC. The company sells all digital products to customers with all kinds of backgrounds, as well as to educational and government establishments.
Bapin also serves as a member of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) to make contributions and monitor legislative activities that improve accessibility for people with disabilities including DeafBlindness.
Bapin is also in charge of the Florida and Iowa DeafBlind equipment distribution programs and travels back and forth between these states every 2-3 months to provide technology assessments, distribute equipment, and training to all eligible consumers. He is additionally responsible for researching, purchasing equipment, and installing and configuring equipment prior to distribution.
Bapin also runs a digital online store business and is the chief executive officer of the company, Bapin Group, LLC. The company sells all digital products to customers with all kinds of backgrounds, as well as to educational and government establishments.
Bapin also serves as a member of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) to make contributions and monitor legislative activities that improve accessibility for people with disabilities including DeafBlindness.
Melanie Thornton
Melanie Thornton, MA, CPAAC, is the Coordinator of Access and Equity Outreach at the University of Arkansas Partners for Inclusive Communities. She provides professional development and technical assistance on topics related to digital access, accessible design, disability, diversity, and leadership. She is very interested in working with organizations to create more accessible environments and to reframe perspectives of disability as an aspect of diversity.
Interested in joining our team? Contact us! You can reach us at dbi@wou.edu.
