Conference Workshops

========Keynote & Plenary Sessions========

Forthcoming 

========Panel Discussion Sessions========

How Deaf and Hard of Hearing State Agencies Can Maximize Collaborations with Black Deaf Communities?
Hosted by: National Association of State Agencies of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NASADHH)
Moderator & Panelists: State Directors TBA
NASADHH state directors will be the panelists engaging discussion in roundtable format with audience members to address on how deaf and hard of hearing state agencies can maximize collaborations with Black Deaf Communities. Discussion will include how Black Deaf Communities can capitalize on this kind of collaboration to enhance services and access for Black Deaf citizens.

=========Presentation Sessions=========

A Interconnectedness Pathway In the Leadership Development Model
Presenter: Franly Ulerio-Nunez
Category: Leadership Development & Mentoring
A chain of command in an organizational system conunitually disconnects a feeling of self-beloning from the community. Therefore, the struggles in fostering a quality of leadership development are prevailing across the marginalized members. The climate of fear within organizations and business entities is increasing at an unprecedented rate. It disempowers employees and community members from authentic engagement in the shared space. The restorative approaches with a principle of interconnectedness rebuild collective awareness. A principle of interconnectedness transmutes corporate-boss centric structure into a dignity-self-belonging structure in the organization and business entities..

African American English - Our language and How It Impacts Interpreting
Presenter: Sharon Hill
Category: History, Language & Culture
African American Language is used by many in the Black/African-American community.  Yet, for many, it is not considered a language and some consider it to be "bad English" or "street talk".  Learn more about this rich language and explore research that shows its value in the deaf community and in the work of ASL/English interpreters.

Audistic, Linguistic, & Racial Battle Fatigue: A Cultural Taxation of Black Deaf Faculty Members
Presenter: Rezenet Moges-Riedel
Category: Educational Success & Opportunities
The Black Deaf faculty members serving higher education institutions across the U.S. nation. Some narratives will be selected from several Black Deaf participants sharing about their intersectional experiences and how their retention is on the brink of a fallout. The cultural taxation of these members will be covered so there may be some audience interaction to discuss and elicit some personal challenges of the intersectionality of being Black and Deaf.

Best Decision Ever: Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Deaf Students
Presenters: Lissa Ramirez-Stapelton, Tia Ivanko & Latisha Porter-Vaughn
Category: Educational Success & Opportunities
How do you decide which college is right for you? Could a historically Black college support your academic dreams? This workshop will provide resources for what students and parents should consider when navigating higher education and selecting a college, share an overview of the historical and current connections between HBCUs and Deaf students, and conclude with a panel discussion with Deaf students sharing their college experiences at an HBCU. The past relationships between HBCUs and Black Deaf education give us hope that HBCUs can continue to be a supportive and culturally enriching academic home for Black Deaf students today.

Beyond Interpreting: The impact of the Educational Interpreter in K-12 from the Deaf Perspective
Presenter: Stephaine Beatty
Category: Interpreter Professional & Development
Aside from being the communication facilitator, an ornamental term that has helped to professionalize the interpreting field, what do Deaf students really think of and want from their interpreter(s). What qualities constitute an effective/ineffective interpreter in k-12 from the Deaf perspective?

Black Deaf Health: 6 Years Later
Presenter: Emmanuel Perrodin-Njoku
Category: Health Issues
At the 2017 NBDA conference, the Center for Deaf Health Equity presented preliminary health outcomes among Black American Deaf Adults. At that time, data from approximately 50 adults was summarized and presented. In 2022, the same team had gathered patient reported outcomes data from over 300 Black Deaf adults and published an article using this data in Medicine journal. This paper compared health outcomes between Deaf Black and hearing Black adults. We will discuss findings and engage workshop attendees on what Black Deaf community can do to improve the health of its members. 

Black Deaf History from 1818 to 1982
Presenter: Lindsay Moeletsi Dunn
Category: History, Language & Culture
This presentation will attempt to present the stories of Black Deaf people from slavery to the late 20th century.  It will start with the early 19th century when the first group of Black Deaf students were educated at integrated schools for the Deaf in the North East of the United States.  Black Students from the New York, American and Pennsylvania Schools for the Deaf will be presented and known information of their lives shared. This presentation will discuss the challenges faced by newly freed slaves after the American Civil War, the challenges faced during reconstruction and dealing with Jim Crow during the period when slaves were transitioning into a free democratic and "unified" nation.  This period also included the establishment of segregated schools for Black Deaf throughout the Southern states.  Accomplishments during this period will be discussed as well as factors leading to attempts to organize as a Black Deaf community. Finally this presentation will cover the middle 20th century to the period when the National Black Deaf Advocates was established and provided us a platform from which our presence in society is no longer limited to the shadows or the bottom of the barrel.

Calibration: Black Interpreters; White PhD - A Success Story
Presenters: Kent Schafer, Kenton Myer and LaShawnda Lowe
Category: Interpersonal Effectiveness
Working together effectively to promote advanced degrees and specializations is possible. In this presentation, we aim to create an environment for exploring the social challenges that may affect choices through interpreting or achievement. We will share some interpersonal dynamics with hopes to develop more transparent and authentic collaborations for others to thrive.

Contribution of Black Deaf Peforming Arts
Presenter: Fred Beam
Category: History, Language & Culture
The history of black deaf performing arts, black deaf performing artists and their accomplishments in theater. It is not just a portray of Deaf African American, but for all of us, because the issues of our identity, self-portrayal, culture and language are related to the experiences of an individual who has wondered about who they are and to every group who feels “ invisible” in the eyes of our country. This presentation will also present the "First" in the field of BlackDeaf Performing Arts.

Deaf Schools: Suspension and the Impact of Language Deprivation
Presenter: Dr. Lisalee Egbert
Category: Education and Social Justice
Deaf school classrooms are the optimal environment for Deaf students to fully access a language and to do so with peers’ interactions and adult language models. High suspension rates remove students from the environment and as such, deprives students of accessing the language-rich classroom environment. This workshop presents data from 2 Deaf schools and shows how Black Deaf students, especially males, are receiving disproportionately high suspension rates. Suspensions have been and continue to be a racially biased educational practice in all schools. We need to systematically change the discipline policies in Deaf schools and address the racial biases.

Deaf Success in Healthcare: How AMPHL Strives to Increase Capacity of Health Professionals with Hearing Losses
Presenters: Diane Bass and James Huang
Category: Educational Success & Opportunities
the mission and vision of Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses (AMPHL), and how AMPHL strives to increase the number of healthcare professionals with hearing losses. Led by Diane, a Black Deaf nurse, and Dr. Huang, an Asian Deaf doctor, this session will highlight how AMPHL provides mentorship for DHH students, promotes innovative strategies on how to use accessible resources like electronic stethoscopes, and enhances professional development through advocacy. They will share their lived, intersectional experiences in their respective careers and share lessons learned to encourage more DHH students of color to enter healthcare fields.

DeafBlind Cultural Awareness
Presenters: Korian Thomas & Earl Terry
Category: Social Justice & Intersectionality
DeafBlind Culture: We will provide a presentation about DeafBlind culture, intersectionality, and inclusion. The presentation will provide inclusive best practices. We will present about the diversity of Deafblind culture, autonomy, communication, and boundaries/spaces.

Education Around the World: You are the Ambassadors
Presenter: Joel Barish, DeafNation - No Barriers with Joel Barish
Category: Educational Success & Opportunities
Joel Barish is an adventurer and advocate who has visited 94+ nations worldwide to live as much of the Deaf experience as possible. He has discovered Deaf individuals in every hidden corner of the world and shared thousands of unique stories with others through sign language videos and social media channels. Joel is invested in supporting local Deaf communities in his travels and videos, working with local tourism offices to help increase awareness and accessibility for traveling Deaf individuals. In his travels, videos, and interactions with others, Joel emphasizes patronage for Deaf-owned businesses as well as businesses that are accessible for traveling Deaf individuals.

Embracing Artificial Intelligence and Chat GPT
Presenter: Bakar Ali
Category: Technology & Social Media 
This workshop aims to provide an overview of the benefits of embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) technologies, specifically Chat GPT, in various industries. Participants will learn the basics of AI and NLP, explore the advantages of using these technologies, and gain hands-on experience with Chat GPT. By the end of the workshop, participants will have a solid understanding of why and how to embrace AI and Chat GPT in their respective fields

Enhance Your Skills in Spreadsheet App
Presenter: Bakar Ali
Category: Technology & Social Media 
This workshop is designed for individuals who are new to Excel or who want to refresh their skills in using Excel for data management and analysis. No prior experience with Excel is necessary.

Exposure to interpreting as a career option: Connecting the community to prospective interpreters to build a thriving diverse workforce
Presenter: Jonathan Roman
Category: Interpreter Professional & Development
Based on his research, Jonathan will discuss the most common ways interpreters initially come into contact with ASL and the Deaf community and the differences and similarities in this process for white and BIPOC interpreters. After discussing the most common occurrences, Jonathan will elaborate on how important first impressions are to people who are initially exposed to ASL and the Deaf community as this has a strong influence on their decision to pursue interpreting as a career. Then he will open up the floor to the audience to Q&A on how to recruit more prospective BIPOC interpreters into the field.

Financial Education and Investing in Real Estate are Key to Building Generational and Transitioning Wealth
Presenter: Alex Jones
Category: Economic Empowerment
While there are many avenues that families have used to build generational and transitioning wealth, real estate is generally the oldest "tool" or “vehicle" that is used.  Investing in real estate is the most common way people start building and transitioning wealth. Real estate investment can include residential and/or commercial properties. This presentation will focus on residential real estate.

Gentrification and Mental Health
Presenter: Danielle Thompson
Category: Economic Empowerment
Gentrification is the transformation of neighborhoods from low value to high value.  This causes displacement of longtime residents and businesses.  Displacement occurs when residents and businesses must move from their neighborhoods to another area due to higher rents, mortgages, and property taxes. Mental health of gentrification is a result of exposure of hazardous chemicals which leads to birth defects, diabetes, cancer, depression, anxiety, etc.

Improving Postsecondary Educational Experiences & Outcomes  for Black Deaf Students
Presenter: Tia Ivanko, Latisha Porter-Vaughn and Latoya Dixon
Category: Educational Success & Opportunities
Deaf students regularly face barriers navigating postsecondary education and training opportunities. The barriers are complex and are a direct result of structural inequities deeply embedded in programs, institutions, and agencies providing services to deaf people. At the National Deaf Center (NDC), we see the impact of barriers reflected in data collected and lived experiences of Black deaf people. NDC is committed to improving postsecondary experiences and outcomes. This session is an opportunity to learn more about NDC’s work; as well as, an invitation to share and discuss ways to better serve Black deaf students in postseconary education settings.

Intent Impact, & Institutions: Explorative Study on Microaggressions Experienced by BIPOC Students in Interpreting Education Programs
Presenters: Dr. Lisalee Egbert and Leona Michael-Makelfa
Category: Interpreter Professional & Development
This presentation will unpack the experiences of microaggressions amongst BIPOC attendees in an American Sign Language-English Interpreting Training Program (ITP), which may ultimately result in challenges to gainful employment. There has been a considerable push to increase the number of BIPOC interpreting students. The population of working interpreters has been predominantly white. This leads to interpreters who look the part but lack the cultural competencies, emotional breadth, and skill in engaging with communities that mirror their own. The goal is to shed light on a nuanced and often undiscussed issue that lacks research, therefore; encouraging similar studies of BIPOC students.

Internalized Anti-Blackness in Black Space: Dialogue, Healiing, & Reclaiming Black Joy
Presenters: Lissa Ramirez-Stapleton, Flo McHenry and Jalessa Herrington
Category: Social Justice & Intersectionality
Over the past three years, conversations addressing anti-Blackness in our society have become more sought-after. These conversations have also gained traction in Deaf education and interpreting spaces. Often these workshops are mix raced audiences, and Black people have little if any room to discuss what internalized anti-Blackness means in our communities without the White or non-Black gaze. This roundtable will hold space for Black participants to self-reflect on their socialization around Blackness, identify how anti-Blackness and audist behaviors impact the relationships between Deaf and hearing Black communities, and reclaim a centering of Black joy and community love.

Is Deaf Mental Health Black and White?
Presenters: Kent Schafer and Brian Moss
Category: Interpersonal Effectiveness
A clinical doctor and a visual gestural specialist have developed the skill and confidence to interact the clinical and communication thought world. As two deaf professionals who bring different skill sets to the table, we have developed shared discussions to create awareness, reflection, then action. During our time, we hope to share some of our innermost thoughts on this journey to advance knowledge within deaf mental health and teamwork.