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PRESENTERS

PRESENTERS

Rev. Dr. Raymont Anderson has frequently been referred to as a Renaissance man. One look at his resume and the reason becomes clear.  He is a martial artist and has been teaching martial arts since he was 15.  He is a visual artist, specializing in drawing and painting but also does photography and sculpture.  He became a professional interpreter in 1995 and a certified teacher of ASL in 1996.

In addition to this, he is an author of two published books: Visual Music: The Art of Interpreting Songs in American Sign Language and Moving Mountains: The Journey of Transformation and he is currently working on books 3, 4, and 5.He is an ordained non-denominational New Thought minister and an ordained Interfaith minister, and soon to be both a licensed practitioner and ordained Centers for Spiritual Living minister serving the spiritual community where he is both a member and a member of the Core Council of CSL-DC. For more information or to contact him, go to http://www.raymontanderson.com/

Rev. Susan Masters

Rev. Susan Masters has a sister and a nephew who are both deaf and has been practicing as a professional ASL interpreter since 1978. She did not attend an ITP but trained with Charlotte Baker-Shenk, MJ Bienvenu, Betty Colonomos, and Ella Mae Lentz in the late 70s. She is a signatory of the ecumenical Claggett Statement. Susan earned an MSW degree from Catholic University of American in Washington, D.C., and an MDiv degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.

As a Lutheran pastor specializing in deaf and interim ministries, she is particularly passionate about translating Protestant liturgy into ASL in a way that has both linguistic and liturgical integrity. Her approach to workshop presentation is to impart tools - not answers - so interpreters can do the work on their own once they return home. She and her husband, Bob Hulteen, live in Minneapolis, MN and have two adult daughters (who are perfect). Susan is SO excited to present with her good friend, Bill, who is one of her most favorite people in the world!

Rev. William F. Ross III, a child of Deaf parents, has been interpreting for more than 30 years and holds dual certification (CI/CT) from the Registry of Interpreters of the Deaf.  He has a Master of Science Degree in Special Education from Missouri State University.  Currently, Bill is an Associate Professor in the Carlstrom Interpreter Training Program (ITP) at North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota; it is the only Assemblies of God University with an ITP.

Rev. Oshin R. Liam Jennings 

is a Deaf Zen Buddhist monk and Dharma Holder in the White Plum lineage of Soto Zen Buddhism. Ōshin serves as the Village Zendo's representative on the Buddhist Council of New York, where he lives and works as a psychotherapist and artist. The focus of Ōshin's research is where creativity, meditation, and psychological health meet. 

As possibly the first ever Deaf Zen Buddhist priest, Ōshin is a pioneer in, and frequent lecturer on, making the Buddhist teachings accessible to communities that traditionally have had limited access to the Dharma. As part of his vision of accessibility, he founded No Barriers Zen [www.NoBarriersZen.org] to provide accessible meditation to the Greater Washington, D.C. area.

Mr. Ross was previously employed as the Director of the Communication Access Support Services Department at North Carolina School for the Deaf (NCSD); where he established the NCSD Mentorship Project and Distance Initiatives Mentoring Program to provide ongoing support to educational and freelance interpreters.  His pastoral ministry includes pastoring two Deaf churches, one in Missouri, Hands of Praise, which is still growing, but it is now named Ozark Deaf Chapel and the other church in Massachusetts. He has been married to his Christine for 25 years and they have eight children.

Rev. Leo Yates, Jr. is a CODA living in the Maryland area. After entering the interpreting field over twenty-three years ago, Leo worked for interpreting agencies as a staff interpreter until he went into private practice in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area. After obtaining his CI and CT in 1998, Leo graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in 2007 and a Master of Science in Clinical Counseling degree in 2013. Leo is the author of

Interpreting at Church: A Paradigm for Sign Language Interpreters and Deaf Ministry: Ministry Models for Expanding the Kingdom of God. Leo also participated in the development of the current RID Standard Practice Paper: Interpreting in Religious Settings. Currently, Leo is a licensed psychotherapist and serves as an associate pastor at a Deaf church in Maryland.

Laura Dreany-Pyles is a deaf clinical social worker working in Annapolis, Maryland. Her clinical background includes receiving her education at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, a Bachelors of Social Work degree, and at Gallaudet University where she received her Master of Social Work (MSW) degree in 2012. Laura currently works at the Arundel Lodge Inc. in Annapolis, Maryland and is an adjunct professor at Gallaudet University.

Laura is a member of Magothy United Methodist Church of the Deaf in Pasadena, Maryland where she served as a lay leader in Maryland.

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