Board of Directors
Patrick Graham
Chair
Ph.D., Educational Theory and Practice, University of Georgia
Assistant Professor, Secondary Education, Rochester Institute of Technology
A long time advocate of equity and excellence in Deaf education, Patrick worked with Dr. Joseph Tobin at the University of Georgia and his colleagues on a Spencer funded research project, studying deaf preschools in Japan, France, and the United States. He is also interested in equity in education, disability studies, multicultural education, and culturally sustaining pedagogy.
Christopher Kurz
Secretary
Ph.D., Foundations of Education, University of Kansas
Professor, Secondary Education, Rochester Institute of Technology
Chris is on the faculty of RIT/NTID and is an avid traveler. His research and development interests are mathematics and science language and learning. In addition, he has done collaborative projects internationally where he trains and develops a teacher training curriculum for future teachers of deaf.
Kyle Duarte
Treasurer
Ph.D., Information and Communication Sciences, Université de Bretagne-Sud
Owner, The Kyle Duarte Company
Kyle is a nationally-certified sign language interpreter based in Washington, DC. His firm provides interpreting and captioning services to a number of academic, nonprofit, and business clients. Previously, his doctoral research considered the practical applications of avatars as a form of accessible technology for deaf users. In his leisure time, Kyle is a wine reviewer and avid traveler.
Marie Coppola
Founder
M.A., Ph.D., Brain & Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester
Professor, Departments of Psychology and Linguistics, University of Connecticut
Marie’s interest in language and effective communication is long-standing, being rooted in her experience as the hearing daughter of two Deaf parents who use American Sign Language. Her academic research focuses on the importance of sign language input and a linguistic community for deaf children’s linguistic and cognitive development. Through Signs and Smiles, she strives to connect deaf children and their families with linguistic resources.
Mary Grace Hamme
M.S., Speech-Language Pathology
Support Services Coordinator, The Learning Center for the Deaf
Mary Grace was born and raised in Rochester, NY and now lives in New England. She is the Support Services Coordinator and a speech-language pathologist at The Learning Center for the Deaf. As an advocate for language access and development and an avid traveler, she has focused her career working with the Deaf and supporting Deaf education and empowerment efforts in Ethiopia.
Tommie Sarchet
Ed.D., University of Rochester
Assistant Professor, Deaf Education, Rochester Institute of Technology
Thomastine A. Sarchet-Maher, Ed.D. is assistant dean and director of the Center for International Educational Outreach in the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She has over fifteen years’ experience as a Deaf education researcher, teacher, professional development trainer, curriculum developer, program evaluator and international project manager. Her primary work focuses on building local community partnerships, documentation and dissemination of local sign languages into schools, and expanding educational and employment opportunities of Deaf people through professional and community development.