Deanna

Deanna’s introduction to American Sign Language was Linda Bove, an American Deaf actress, on Sesame Street. She was so fascinated that growing up, she took as many ASL classes she could find, and eventually, with the encouragement of a Deaf teacher and mentor Deanna pursued her degree in ASL Interpreting at Front Range Community College in Westminster, Colorado,  graduating in 2003 and gaining NIC Certification in 2005.  She completed her internship at the Community College of Denver, and began her career-long love of interpreting in the post-secondary environment- working in colleges and Universities in Colorado and Alaska, where she lived for nine years, and Video Relay Interpreting with CC Group in many colleges across the country. She has also enjoyed working in Video Relay Services (VRS), community interpreting, and platform interpreting. A highlight of her career was interpreting for Maya Angelou in Denver, Colorado. Deanna also has a passion for medical interpreting, because this is a field where Deaf and Hard of Hearing people have had to fight for equal access to communication. Deanna appreciates the vibrant, dynamic aspect of ASL, the Deaf community and culture and enjoys her work because of its many challenges and rewards.