Cheryl Heppner, Executive Director

Cheryl Heppner became Executive Director in January 1991 after previous careers as a librarian, writer/editor, public relations consultant, state outreach specialist and teacher. Deafened by spinal meningitis shortly before her seventh birthday, she likes to have as many tools in her communication tool box as she can. She signs, speechreads, once studied cued speech, and is an avid user of assistive technology. In February 2000, she left behind a hearing aid and had cochlear implant surgery. Cheryl has received numerous awards from national organizations including the Association of Late-Deafened Adults, National Association of the Deaf and Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc., state awards from the Virginia Association of the Deaf, and local awards from Self Help for Hard of Hearing People and Northern Virginia Association of the Deaf. She is actively involved in advocacy and education activities on the national, state, regional and local level.  Recent leadership positions include chairing the national coalition Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network, chairing the national Coalition for Movie Captioning, and serving as president of the international Association of Late-Deafened Adults.

Kalen Beck, Program Manager, Interpreting and Transliterating Services

The Interpreting Program is managed by Kalen Beck (CI and CT) who has been in the field of interpreting for more than 21 years.  Kalen was an interpreter with Sign Language Associates (SLA) for the past 16 years where she moved into an operations manager role for last seven of those years.  While providing services as an interpreter, Ms. Beck has worked in diverse settings such as medical, legal, government, community, VRS, performing arts, post-secondary education, and conferences.  Kalen was a formal mentor with SLA’s nationally recognized Mentorship Program and has been trained in screening and diagnostic evaluation of interpreter skills.

Marla Dougherty, Arlington/Alexandira Outreach Specialist

Marla Dougherty joined our staff in October, 2009 as the Outreach Specialist for Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. A late-deafened adult, Marla provides educational and peer support services to seniors, their families and caregivers. She also puts her talents to good use helping with special events, membership services and coordinates the ASL classes. Marla started to lose her hearing in her twenties and was diagnosed with Otosclerosis.  Marla has lived in five countries where she experienced hearing tests in three languages with varying results.

Debbie Jones, Resource and Technology Specialist

Debbie Jones came to NVRC in January 1995 and is most often the first point of contact for NVRC. Debbie answers consumer questions such as where to find audiologists, Sign Language classes, interpreters or support groups. She is also in charge of the Demonstration Room, and is the person to talk to about assistive devices and technology for people with hearing loss. Additionally, Debbie provides technology trainings to individuals with hearing loss, as well as outreach trainings for businesses, agencies and organizations who work with deaf and hard of hearing people.

Bonnie O’Leary, Outreach Manager

Bonnie O’Leary has been an Outreach Specialist for NVRC since 2002, focusing on educational and peer support services to seniors, their families and caregivers in Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. She recently moved to the position of Outreach Manager upon the retirement of Gay Nagy.  A late-deafened adult, Bonnie has been instrumental in developing programs such as a 4-part ‘Coping with Hearing Loss’ series, ‘Grief and Hearing Loss’, “Speechreading: An Overview”, and co-created the ‘Mis-Communication or Missed Communication’ workshop teaching communication strategies for families and caregivers. Bonnie has been an active member of the HLAA-Northern Virginia Chapter since 1997 and received her certification in Peer Mentoring for people with hearing loss from Gallaudet University in June 2007. Prior to losing her hearing, Bonnie owned Walton Recording, Inc., in Fairfax, VA. for ten years. Her 24-track, mid-range studio served musicians, actors, and corporate professionals in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and was nominated for ‘Studio of the Year’ and ‘Engineer of the Year’ in 1998 and 1999 by the Washington Area Music Association.

Contractors

Joan Cassidy, Loudoun County Outreach

Joan Cassidy has been actively advocating for deaf and hard of hearing people in Loudoun County since 1988 first as a member of the Board of Directors and now as an Outreach Specialist for NVRC. Focusing on Loudoun County she is well known as the “go to” person for questions about hearing aids, cochlear implants and coping with hearing loss. She can regularly be found at the County’s Libraries and Senior Centers.

Linda Miller, Mid-Peninsula Outreach

Through a contract with VDDHH, Linda Miller provides Outreach services to deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the Mid Peninsula / Northern Neck region of Virginia.