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Melanie Brunson, Executive Director of the American Council of the Blind (ACB), is a long-time advocate for individuals with disabilities. Since beginning her service with the ACB in 1998, Ms. Brunson has provided her expert assistance, in additional to her personal experience as a professional with a visual impairment, to individuals and affiliated organizations on advocacy related issues. Prior to coming to the ACB, she practiced law in the state of California for 14 years. Much of that time was spent in private practice, specializing in estate planning for people with disabilities and their families. Ms. Brunson has served on the Board of Directors for Community Advocates People’s Choice Adult Services and Board of Directors, Spanish Trails Girl Scout Council. Mrs. Brunson obtained her bachelor of arts degree in political science from Whittier College, and her juris doctorate from Whittier College School of Law. She was admitted to the California Bar in 1984 and maintains her license to practice law in California.
Maria Diaz is founding partner and CEO of Dicapta, an organization that allows communication for people with disabilities and/or language barriers through services such as captioning, video description, subtitling and dubbing, amongst others. In addition to her leadership role at Dicapta, Ms. Diaz is a researcher and developer of Spanish language video descriptions; a pioneer of this service in Latin America. She is also the Project Director for Dicapta’s government funded projects for Television Access: “Captions and Video Description: Educational Tools for Hispanic Children With Disabilities.”
Cheri Dowling is the Director of Advocacy for the American Society for Deaf Children and the Parent Coordinator of the Maryland State Family Support and Resource Center. She served as the parent representative on the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Council of Maryland for 6 years, is currently the parent representative of the Maryland Advisory Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, serves as a member of the Maryland State Parent to Parent Steering Committee, and is a member of various other committees. Cheri also served as the president of the Maryland School for the Dead PTCA for five years and continues to volunteer for the PTCA in various officer roles. She lives in Woodbine, MD with her husband and their two children, 17-year-old Patrick, who is Deaf, and 14-year-old Ryan, who is hearing.
Jim Durst is an experienced teacher and administrator for students who are
blind or have low vision. He has worked in various capacities over the last 35 years in both local
school corporations and residential schools in West Virginia and Indiana. He is currently in his
10th year as superintendent of the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired where he
previously served as the principal for 10 years.
Mr. Durst is the president of the Council of the Schools for the Blind, an international
organization of specialized schools serving blind children. Jim serves and has served on
numerous boards and committees sharing his expertise in the area of educating students who are
blind or have low vision. He is currently on the following advisory boards: Indiana Reading
and Information Services which provides a communications link for the print-impaired; Promoting
Achievement for Students with Sensory Loss (Pass); and the Education and Communities Affairs
Committee for the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
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Ernest E. Garrett III is the Executive Director of the Missouri Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. A native of St. Louis, MO, he is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), certified advanced social work case manager (C-ASWCM), certified school social work specialist (C-SSWS), certified advanced children, youth, and family social worker (C-ACYFSW), and a member of the academy of certified social workers (ACSW). The immediate past President of the National Black Deaf Advocates, Inc. (NBDA), Mr. Garrett is a recipient of the “Advocate of the Year Award” from NBDA (2009) and the “Lasting Impression Award” from Special School District of St. Louis County (2011).
Mr. Garrett received an Associate of Arts degree (general studies) and dual Bachelor of Arts degrees (professional/technical writing and history) from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He went on to earn an advanced academic degree in administration (MS) and an advanced professional degree in social work (MSW), with a school social work specialization, both from Gallaudet University. He is currently pursuing a research doctorate degree (PhD) in management from Walden University, with a specialization in leadership and organizational change.
Susan LaVenture is the executive director of the National Association for Parents
of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI). NAPVI is a national, nonprofit organization
of, by, and for parents committed to providing support to the parents of children
who are blind or visually impaired. Her involvement began with the organization
of a grassroots movement in response to her own son’s diagnosis of retinoblastoma,
a rare form of infant eye cancer.
Ms. LaVenture leads and directs the association’s programs that serve families throughout
the United States, providing information, support, and networking resources. She
often lectures before student groups at Harvard Medical School, and she continues
to influence the development of organizations around the world, strongly focusing
on the significant role of parents in their child’s development, education, and
medical care.
Robert Newhouse has been a media relations representative for educational audiovisual
materials for over 30 years. In that timeframe he has worked with such prestigious
agencies as WGBH in Boston and Annenberg Media. Presently, his responsibilities
include educational media sales for K–12 and the college market in Florida, Georgia,
North Carolina, and South Carolina. He also works with the U.S. State Department
to acquire media for American schools operating on U.S. military bases.
Mr. Newhouse has worked with the Described and Captioned Media Program for several
years. He will provide a bridge between the DCMP and the educational media industry,
keeping the organization informed about new materials that would assist students
in the classroom. He will also help inform producers about accessible materials
and advocate for their use.
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