CM Hall | Co-Director
CM smiling
CM Hall, Ed.M., NIC Advanced, EIPA K-12, is the Co-Director of the Protactile Language Interpreting National Education Program (PLI) and from 2007-2016 served as the Project Coordinator of the Western Region Interpreter Education Center at Western Oregon University.
She holds a Master’s in Education with an emphasis in LGBTQ and Gender Studies from Oregon State University and a Bachelor’s in ASL/English Interpreting from Western and completed their one-year interpreter training program prior to that. CM has worked in K-12 and post-secondary environments as a staff interpreter and also brings considerable experience with platform and DeafBlind interpreting. CM has volunteered in the DeafBlind community since 1992 and created an academic service-learning project for ASL-fluent students to engage with the DeafBlind community, partnering with the Washington State DeafBlind Citizens organization and the annual Seabeck DeafBlind Retreat.
CM teaches DeafBlind Interpreting in Western’s interpreting program and is a past co-chair of the National Task Force on DeafBlind Interpreting. She is currently the Communications Chair for the DeafBlind Member Section of RID and formerly served as Secretary for DBMS, as well as having served on the national RID board as the former Member at Large. Among other roles, she previously served as Oregon RID President and Vice President and currently serves as ORID Scholarships Chair. In 2014, under the NCIEC grant collaborative initiative, CM co-coordinated the first-ever DeafBlind Self Advocacy Training of Trainers with 10 DeafBlind leaders from across the country.
In 2015, CM was recognized by the Oregon Association of the Deaf for her advocacy work and was a featured TEDx presenter on the topic of linguistic access as a social justice issue.
In her spare time, CM produces the Coming Out Monologues, a storytelling event highlighting LGBTQ+ community members’ experiences across the state of Oregon and gleefully lives oceanside in Newport, Oregon.
She holds a Master’s in Education with an emphasis in LGBTQ and Gender Studies from Oregon State University and a Bachelor’s in ASL/English Interpreting from Western and completed their one-year interpreter training program prior to that. CM has worked in K-12 and post-secondary environments as a staff interpreter and also brings considerable experience with platform and DeafBlind interpreting. CM has volunteered in the DeafBlind community since 1992 and created an academic service-learning project for ASL-fluent students to engage with the DeafBlind community, partnering with the Washington State DeafBlind Citizens organization and the annual Seabeck DeafBlind Retreat.
CM teaches DeafBlind Interpreting in Western’s interpreting program and is a past co-chair of the National Task Force on DeafBlind Interpreting. She is currently the Communications Chair for the DeafBlind Member Section of RID and formerly served as Secretary for DBMS, as well as having served on the national RID board as the former Member at Large. Among other roles, she previously served as Oregon RID President and Vice President and currently serves as ORID Scholarships Chair. In 2014, under the NCIEC grant collaborative initiative, CM co-coordinated the first-ever DeafBlind Self Advocacy Training of Trainers with 10 DeafBlind leaders from across the country.
In 2015, CM was recognized by the Oregon Association of the Deaf for her advocacy work and was a featured TEDx presenter on the topic of linguistic access as a social justice issue.
In her spare time, CM produces the Coming Out Monologues, a storytelling event highlighting LGBTQ+ community members’ experiences across the state of Oregon and gleefully lives oceanside in Newport, Oregon.
Heather Holmes | CO-DIRECTOR
Heather smiling
Heather Holmes is the Co-Director of PLI. Her responsibilities include development of online materials and courses, management of a national online resource repository, and provision of technical assistance to stakeholders across the country. Her areas of interest include online accessibility, adult learning, content and course development, and curriculum design. Heather codeveloped Map It: What Comes Next, an online, interactive, transition program and curriculum for Deaf and and Hard of Hearing youth. This program focuses on the development of self-advocacy and self-determination skills, and is currently being used by students across the United States. Heather also teaches an Assistive Listening Technology course at Western Oregon University.
Heather has a Master of Science degree in Education: Information Technology from Western Oregon University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Arizona State University. She is a nationally certified (NIC – Advanced) American Sign Language interpreter and a member of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID).
Heather has a Deaf partner and son and understands first-hand the importance of quality interpreters and equal access to information. Heather believes in the power of collaboration, creative thinking, and that laughter and kindness make every interaction more effective.
Heather has a Master of Science degree in Education: Information Technology from Western Oregon University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Arizona State University. She is a nationally certified (NIC – Advanced) American Sign Language interpreter and a member of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID).
Heather has a Deaf partner and son and understands first-hand the importance of quality interpreters and equal access to information. Heather believes in the power of collaboration, creative thinking, and that laughter and kindness make every interaction more effective.
Elayne Kuletz | Web Manager
Elayne smiling
Elayne Kuletz serves as the Web Manager for PLI. Elayne is responsible for establishing, developing, and maintaining a framework of web technologies to support the Center’s projects. Elayne has experience working with a variety of nonprofit organizations, private companies, and educational institutions to provide technology implementation planning and instructional design services. She also contributed to the development and facilitation of the Open Hands, Open Access: Deaf-Blind Intervener Learning Modules (OHOA) through the National Center on Deaf-Blindness. The OHOA modules are a national resource, created to improve intervention services for children who are deaf-blind or have dual sensory loss. Her professional interests include educational technology, online teaching and learning, and instructional design. In addition to her work for PLI, she teaches for the Division of Teacher Education at Western Oregon University and provides freelance consulting services.
Elayne has a Master of Science degree in Education: Information Technology, a graduate certificate in Instructional Design, and a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages. Her favorite quote is from Thomas Edison: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
Elayne has a Master of Science degree in Education: Information Technology, a graduate certificate in Instructional Design, and a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages. Her favorite quote is from Thomas Edison: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
PATRICK ALDRICH | Evaluator
Patrick smiling
Patrick Aldrich received his master’s degree in Zoology from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Prior to his graduate work, he spent 5 years in various field biology positions, studying a wide array subjects from Bowerbird mating systems in Australia to integrated pest management of ground squirrels in Northern California. For his graduate work, he studied the spatio-temporal variation of pollination networks in Hawaiian tropical dry forests. Following his graduate work, he was the project director for a project that used spatial analyses to study the random correspondence of fingerprint patterns. Through his work, he has acquired extensive experience in biostatistics. He is currently a statistician and evaluator for various projects at The Research Institute at Western Oregon University
Alyssa Alpers | Student Worker
Alyssa signing with CM
Alyssa hails from Michigan and is the current Student Worker for PLI. Alyssa is currently pursuing her Masters in ASL/English Interpreting through Western Oregon University (WOU).
After graduation, she hopes to become an ASL/English Interpreter focusing on medical interpreting and interpreting in the DeafBlind community. She became interested in learning more from the DeafBlind community after taking the “Co-Navigating and Working with DeafBlind Leaders” class that WOU offers during Winter of 2022. Alyssa dove headfirst into working alongside PLI as Support Staff during the onsite interpreting training that took place in Independence, Oregon in Spring of 2022. She gladly accepted the position to be PLI’s Student Worker for the 2022-2023 school year and is looking forward to all the opportunities and challenges working with PLI has to offer.
In her spare time, Alyssa likes to read, spend time with her friends, go to the movies, and try her hand at any and all hobbies and activities that she can possibly get involved in. On school breaks, she goes home to spend time with her family in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where she was raised.
After graduation, she hopes to become an ASL/English Interpreter focusing on medical interpreting and interpreting in the DeafBlind community. She became interested in learning more from the DeafBlind community after taking the “Co-Navigating and Working with DeafBlind Leaders” class that WOU offers during Winter of 2022. Alyssa dove headfirst into working alongside PLI as Support Staff during the onsite interpreting training that took place in Independence, Oregon in Spring of 2022. She gladly accepted the position to be PLI’s Student Worker for the 2022-2023 school year and is looking forward to all the opportunities and challenges working with PLI has to offer.
In her spare time, Alyssa likes to read, spend time with her friends, go to the movies, and try her hand at any and all hobbies and activities that she can possibly get involved in. On school breaks, she goes home to spend time with her family in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where she was raised.
