CHS Staff

Karen Aguilar

CHS Executive Director & VP of Communication Access at Anixter Center

KAguilar@anixter.orgKaren Aguilar received an undergraduate degree in Pre-law from Michigan State University and a Masters of Jurisprudence in Health Law from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Ms. Aguilar is Vice President of Communication Access for Anixter Center, and Director of the Chicago Hearing Society, its division. Chicago Hearing Society is a 102-year-old non-profit organization, with a Hearing Health Clinic, Interpreter Services Department and Community Outreach and Advocacy Department that houses CHOICES for Parents, Domestic Violence and Victim Assistance Programs, Youth and ARMED Programs, tax assistance and various support programs.

Ms. Aguilar’s past work includes serving as Coalition Director for CHOICES for Parents, a statewide coalition of parents and professionals that provides information, support, resources and advocacy to families whose children have a hearing loss. Her work also includes creating a center based early intervention program for families while providing developmental therapy, on-going service coordination and family support individually and in a group setting.

Ms. Aguilar has trained the legal community about the rights of persons who are deaf/hard-of-hearing, and educated the Deaf Community about their rights under state and federal laws in her work with the Midwest Center on Law and the Deaf. Ms. Aguilar has been signing since childhood and is a nationally-certified state-licensed sign language interpreter. Ms. Aguilar has served on statewide and national committees and boards and has presented locally, nationally and internationally. Her work is published and she has received numerous awards for her work.

Michael Albert

Staff Interpreter, Interpreter Services

CHSInterp@anixter.org

Michael Albert has been on the staff of the Chicago Hearing Society since 1998. He holds a bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a masters degree in Clinical Psychology from Bowling Green State University. He obtained his interpreter training at Western Oregon State College – Monmouth. After completing an internship at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Michael worked as a disability services counselor and interpreter for the University of Arkansas – Little Rock (1992-1995) and the University of Georgia at Athens (1995-1998). He joined the staff of CHS as an interpreter coordinator, and transitioned to the role of full-time staff interpreter one year later. He has served as a mentor, and has presented programs on interpreting in religious settings, and interpreting in LGBT settings for the Columbia College Interpreter Training Program, and for CHS.

Abigail Bensel

Scheduling Coordinator, Interpreter Services

CHSInterp@anixter.org

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Amanda Concepcion

Scheduling Coordinator, Interpreter Services

CHSInterp@anixter.org

Amanda graduated from MacMurray College with a degree in ASL/English interpreting. She enjoyed freelance interpreting in the Chicagoland area for years before settling into her current full-time position as a homemaker. Amanda has worked with CHS as an overnight coordinator since 2018. She looks forward to assisting you with any last-minute interpreting needs that might arise.

Melva Flores

Staff Interpreter, Interpreter Services

CHSInterp@anixter.org

Michele provides advocacy and support for our Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing clients in the CHS Community Outreach & Advocacy (COA) department. Programs include: Domestic Violence, DeafBlind (providing independent living instruction, advocacy and support), Tax (assisting with tax preparation and filing), Youth (assisting with programming and sign language classes), and ITAC (providing technology demos). Michele is available in-person, via videophone or text to assist anyone with miscellaneous questions/issues. Michele is very actively involved in the Deaf community.

Karla Giese

Coordinator, Training and Education

CHSLearn@anixter.orga>

Dr. Karla Giese serves as the Coordinator of Training and Education at CHS. Karla’s background in Deaf Education as an instructor, administrator, educational consult, and Deaf advocate puts her in a unique position to provide professional development trainings and workshops on numerous Deaf-related topics. She is passionate about effective communication and equitable access across all settings for Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing children, youth, and adults. Karla is personally and professionally active in the Deaf Community and enjoys sharing her experiences with others.

Rose A. Hart

Clinical Audiologist, Hearing Health Clinic

CHSAudiology@anixter.orga>

Dr. Rose Hart received her Doctorate of Audiology (Au.D.) and her Master of Science (M.S.) in Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences from Gallaudet University and completed her audiology externship year at the VA Puget Sound. She completed her undergraduate coursework at University of Connecticut, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts focused on Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She is proficient in American Sign Language (ASL) and uses it daily when counseling, examining, and treating patients with varying levels of hearing needs. At CHS, Dr. Hart primarily sees adult for hearing examinations and hearing aid related services. Dr. Hart holds the Certificate of Clinical Competency (CCC-A) from the American Speech Language Hearing Association.

Maddie Hinkle

Coordinator, Youth and Family Connections Program

CHSYouth@anixter.org

Maddie Hinkle has been involved in the Deaf community for the past ten years and is fluent in American Sign Language. After receiving an undergraduate degree in English from Oberlin College, she went on to attend Gallaudet University to complete her MA in Deaf Studies: Early Language Advocacy. Prior to arriving at CHS, Maddie worked for the Northwestern Illinois Association in various deaf educator roles with a range of age groups, most recently with preschool students. She also worked at the Center on Deafness in their youth residential homes. As a disabled person, she is especially passionate about accessibility and inclusivity. She specializes in the early development of Deaf and hard of hearing children. Her master’s thesis focused on positive representational literature in picture books aimed at young Deaf audiences.

Seung Ki

Business Support Coordinator, Interpreter Services

Octavio Martinez

Scheduling Coordinator, Interpreter Services

Michelle Mendiola

Director, Community Outreach & Advocacy

Michelle (“Elle”) Mendiola serves as the Director of the Community Outreach & Advocacy (COA) Department. Elle oversees the Youth and Family Connections Program, which includes Parent & Youth support and programming in the home, school and community. Elle’s other job duties include providing counseling, crisis intervention, advocacy, information & referral to appropriate community resources for services, coordinating income tax assistance program and overseeing the Illinois Telecommunication Access Corporation (ITAC) Program and DeafBlind Program funded through the FCC to assist DeafBlind individuals access communication equipment. Elle has given numerous trainings and presentations on different Deaf-related topics. Elle is personally and professionally active in the Deaf Community.

Jacqueline Perri

Scheduling Coordinator, Interpreter Services

CHSInterp@anixter.org

Kerri Ruddy

Scheduling Coordinator, Interpreter Services

CHSInterp@anixter.org

My name is Kerri Ruddy and I work on the after hours team. I am also an American Sign Language interpreter. During the day I work as an intake coordinator for the Autism Resource Center with Options & Advocacy for McHenry County. I work part time as an interpreter as well! Yes I’m busy but I love all my jobs. I am also a wife and mom of 2 kids, Luke 12 and Emersyn 6 and we live in Hampshire, IL. In our free time we enjoy working out, walks, and taking long weekend getaways together.

Isela Salinas-Garcia

Supervisor of Scheduling Coordinators, Interpreter Services Department

CHSInterp@anixter.org

Tyler Sproule

Scheduling Coordinator, Interpreter Services

CHSInterp@anixter.org

Emly Weems

Scheduling Coordinator, Interpreter Services

CHSInterp@anixter.org

Emily Weems is a scheduling coordinator for CHS. She is originally from Dallas, Texas and moved to Chicago for college. She has a BFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. She has been studying American Sign Language for the last couple of years and is excited to learn more about the Deaf community and combine her love of theatre and ASL.

Jason Weiland

Staff Interpreter

CHSCOA@anixter.org

Marijo Wimbush

Staff Interpreter

CHSInterp@anixter.org

Marijo Wimbush, CI/CT is Manager of CHS’s Interpreter Services Department. She is thrilled to bring her years of experience to her position as a veteran interpreter of over 35 years. After completing her interpreter training at Waubonsee Community College, she actually was assigned her first contract interpreting job through CHS. Marijo also has coordinated many national, regional and local interpreter conferences and workshops. She has presented at interpreter workshops and is a strong advocate for providing mentoring opportunities for new and student interpreters. Marijo is a cancer survivor and a triathlete who currently is training for her first full Half Ironman in the Fall of 2021.

Allison Young

Scheduling Coordinator, Interpreter Services

CHSInterp@anixter.org

Alicia Moylan

Scheduling Coordinator, Interpreter Services

CHSInterp@anixter.org

Michele Parker

COA Advocate

Mariana Conrad

COA Advocate

Maria Munoz

COA Advocate

Maria Munoz is the first person you encounter when entering or contacting CHS as our Administrative Assistant. Born in Mexico City, but a native Chicagoan, Maria is fluent in Spanish. She has been at CHS for 7 years and really enjoys serving and taking care of our patients. “Treat others as you would like to be treated

Maira Torres

Patient Referral and Scheduling Coordinator

Isabel Guidotti

Clinical Audiologist

Melanie Flores

Clinical Audiologist

Julie Markgraf

Director of Interpreter and Captioning Services

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