Board of Directors
Kathy Petrus
President
Kathy has over 28 years of federal budget/finance experience, having worked in all phases of the budget cycle. She now continues her career path working at Gallaudet University as a financial and planning analyst. Kathy majored in marketing and a minor in minority relations from Rochester Institute of Technology, and also received her Master's degree from Troy State in public administration. She was an avid tennis player, playing through high school and college levels as the #1 singles and doubles player.
Khari Balogun
Vice-President
Khari “Cal” Balogun graduated from Northern Arizona University with a bachelor's degree in Parks and Recreation Management. He is the founder of black deaf golf players, a non-profit organization, with the mission to create a community of alliance through the culture of golf with deaf and hard-of-hearing adults and children, once challenged by reason of race, economics, & language. bdgp received a huge donation of golf equipment from First Tee - Dallas. For 6 years, he has been teaching middle and high school students at different schools. In 2019, bdgp succeeded in hosting a local event in Austin, TX, with support from Greater Austin Foundation for the Deaf. Currently, he’s been working with individuals in developing their golf skills. His passion is to work within the golf industry to open doors for potential black deaf golf players!
Christopher Mortenson
Secretary
Director of Employment and IL Services at Bridges Oregon
ACRE, DI
(he, him,his, Deaf, fluent in American Sign Language [ASL], Biracial)
Chris has extensive experience with Employment and IL services delivery, as well as developing a successful service delivery model that serves the Deaf/DeafBlind/Deaf Plus/Hard of Hearing (D/DB/Deaf+/HH) community with direct language access and culturally competent services. Chris’ 17 years of experience serving people who are Deaf with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) has given him a specialized understanding of the unique challenges facing this population. Chris has served as a fierce advocate on multiple state and national boards addressing issues impacting the Deaf community. Over the past 3 years, Chris has been highly invested in supporting youth in transition at Oregon School for the Deaf (OSD) in partnership with Oregon Vocational Rehabilitation Services to ensure students have access to appropriate assessments for Developmental Disabilities services eligibility as well as quality, Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS), Employment and IL services.
Maria Lado
Treasurer
A part-time adjunct faculty at Hagerstown Community College ( HCC), with over 25 years of experience in teaching American Sign Language (ASL) to a range of hearing High School students up to corporate employees. My passion is to expand that knowledge to Deaf children from a linguistic standpoint. In addition, my teaching skill set of evaluating, reviewing, and correcting are useful for this position as a treasurer.
Tracey Saville
Board Member
A former employee as a Rehabilitation Counselor for the Deaf under the Maryland Division of Rehabilitation Services (DORS) for over 26 years, working with Deaf and Hearing Impaired Adults to become successfully employed with the help of financial assistance with vocational training, job readiness or college training, job placement including Job Coaching services as well as for High School Deaf Students in Pre- ETS. Mrs. Tracey Saville worked with a variety of Rehabilitation Counselors for the Deaf individually as well as for RiseHands Communication to provide support to MD DORS Deaf consumers to prepare for Employment.
Jill Jicha
Board Member
