Biographies

Carlos I. Colon was born in Dayton, Ohio to two hearing Puerto Rican parents who learned ASL as soon as they discovered their child was Deaf at around 2.5 years old. He attended a variety of educational settings, including schools with Deaf programs, a Deaf school, homeschooling, and later a mainstream school. In 2012, Carlos enrolled at Gallaudet University and earned a BA in Mathematics and Secondary Education. Before pursuing an MA in ASL from the University of Northern Colorado, he worked as a part-time American Sign Language instructor at a university in Ohio. Since August 2019, Carlos has been teaching American Sign Language at the University of Illinois in the Champaign area.

In addition to teaching, he has been serving as president of the Illini Chapter of the Illinois Association of the Deaf (IAD) since February 2024 and is a current member of the Board of Directors for a local nonprofit organization supporting people with disabilities in the Champaign area. Carlos looks forward to serving and representing the Deaf community in the State of Illinois as a member of the IDHHC.

Wendy Deters has over 20 years of experience serving children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families. She is a licensed Speech Language Pathologist and Listening and Spoken Language Therapist. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Child’s Voice, a non-public LSL program for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Wendy has been an adjunct professor at Midwestern University, Northwestern University, and Illinois State University.  She also has a lifetime of personal experience in the deaf community as the child of two amazing deaf parents.  

Originally from Philadelphia, Michael Dubowe received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from California State University, Northridge in California. Starting a career in Environmental Occupational Health & Safety Engineer for several years, he then switched to a different career in graphic design/book cover design spanning over 20 successful years. Michael currently resides in Normal, IL and is an active member of the community by being part of Illinois State University Mentoring Program and Illinois State University Art Station. He also serves as a committee member of McLean County Unit 5 School District Parents Teacher Advisory/Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and is a substitute teacher for Metcalf Lab School Deaf and Hard of Hearing program, which is part of the Illinois State University system. One of Michael’s goals as a commissioner for IDHHC is to be a strong advocate for current and future social service needs for deaf and hard of hearing people, including communication access and equal opportunities in Illinois.  A serious Pickleball player, Michael serves as a Board Member at Large for Deaf Pickleball of USA and as an alumni of the American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association, he also enjoys watching ice hockey. In his spare time, Michael enjoys riding his bike and hiking with his rescue dog, Moe. A lifelong supporter of the arts, he also loves to create ceramics pieces, either hand-built or on the wheel, as well as working on acrylic painting at local art studios.

John Jun was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and is hard of hearing from birth. He attended St. Gall Grade school and graduated from St. Rita High School. Graduate of Northern Illinois University with B.S. in Elementary and Special Education, where he continued received a M.S in Educational Administration. He has a M. A. from Northwestern University in Speech and Hearing and post graduate studies in Special Education finance at Illinois State University. John has over 50 years of experience and support of the deaf and hard of hearing community, as a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing, administrator of deaf and hard of hearing programs, part time university instructor of deaf education at Illinois State and Northern Illinois, and as a director of special education. In post-retirement he continued as an administrative consultant to deaf and hard of hearing programs with both public and private schools and served as Superintent of the Mississippi School for the Deaf. He served on the numerous boards and study committees: Best Practice Committee for Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Teacher Certification, Advisory committee to the Illinois School for the Deaf, Advisory Board to the Regional Education Center, Steering Committee of the Educational Interpreters Certification committee and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Steering Committee of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission. Also, served on professional committees with the Department of Rehabilitation and ITAC. He also served as a school board member of the Minooka Consolidate District 201 and Trustee of Village of Minooka. Currently, he serves on the Illinois Deaf Blind Advisory Board. He continues to be and active member of the American Society for Deaf Children, Hearing Loss Association of America, Association of Late Deaf Adults, Illinois Teachers of the Hearing Impaired, Illinois Supervisors of the Hearing Impaired, and the Illinois Administrators of Special Education. In his home community, John is an active member of the Minooka LIONS club, Joliet Moose and Elks, St. Mary’s Church Administration committee and has served on the Joliet Diocese Deaf and Hard of Hearing Advisory board.

Born and raised in Illinois, Kimberly Mokris comes from a Deaf family. She is a proud graduate of Illinois School for the Deaf. She got her bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Gallaudet University and a master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Texas Tech University. She is a Rehabilitation Counselor Senior with the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Rehabilitation Services. She enjoys volunteering when possible, giving back to the community as much as possible, and getting involved with organizations. In her free time, she, along with her husband, enjoys traveling, camping, hiking, going to the beaches, playing pickleball and bowling, spending time with family, spending time with her dog and cats, and reading books. 

Roy Pyers was born and raised in Central Illinois, a hearing child of deaf parents, with bilingual proficiency in sign language.  Currently he works as a Senior Strategic Account Executive at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois with over 20 years healthcare insurance experience, focusing on National Account Management and expanding Behavioral Health networks.

Roy serves on the board for Illinois Children of Deaf Adults (CODA) and is an active member of CODA International.  He co-founded the Phoenix Center, the largest outreaching LGBTQIA+ community center in Central Illinois.  He is the former Membership Chair of Scouting America, Abraham Lincoln Council, and actively serves as Co-Chair for Springfield PrideFest in downtown Springfield, IL.

Roy is also the co-owner of Interurban Merchant, a weekend coffee shop in Williamsville, IL, right in the heart of Illinois, off Route 66. In his free time, Roy enjoys fitness, community theater and spending time with his husband in their historical home and loving pets.

Jennifer M. Sender leads RSP’s litigation efforts in support of its Disability Rights practice.  She has used her litigation skills to represent clients with disabilities in their claims of discrimination against public entities under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  Specifically, Jennifer assists clients in obtaining equal access to goods and services, primarily in the health care field, including national health care providers, regional hospital systems and regional physicians’ groups.  She has tried cases and assisted with appeals in both state and federal courts.

Jennifer has been successful in ensuring that persons who rely on the use of mobility devices are able to obtain physical access to health care providers and are able to receive equal care and treatment through availability of accessible medical equipment (i.e. wheelchair accessible scales and examination tables and chairs) and policies and procedures addressing accessibility. Additionally, she has been successful in ensuring that persons who are deaf or hard of hearing are provided with aids and services, such as live sign language interpreters when meeting with their health care providers.  In support of that work, Jennifer routinely presents to disability advocacy groups to provide them with information to allow them to better advocate for themselves or their family members.

In addition to her representative matters regarding disabilities, Jennifer often counsels foreign and domestic business clients involving contract disputes, distributor disputes, product defects, personal injury claims, construction, transportation, and environmental litigation.

Jennifer was recently recently appointed as a Commissioner of the Illinois Deaf Hard of Hearing Commission. The appointment becomes effective immediately through November 14, 2024.  She also holds current & past leadership roles with the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, Past President; and Diversity Scholarship Foundation, Vice President.

Joshua D. Sevier, AuD, LLM, F-AAA, CCC-A, is an audiologist and Co-Director of the Auditory Implant Program at Rush University Medical Center. Prior to his current position, he was an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Cochlear Implant Research Audiologist at Boys Town National Research Hospital. As a Nebraska Speech, Language, and Hearing Association board member, he served as Vice President of Advocacy and chair of legislative affairs. He was also on the board of the Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, appointed by Governor Pete Ricketts. Dr. Sevier was the founder and former coordinator of the Cochlear Implant Programs at both the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Children’s Hospital of Omaha in Nebraska. He has published peer-reviewed articles, presented at numerous conferences, and taught cochlear implant programming courses for multiple universities.