2026 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 15-17, 2026 • Jacksonville, FL
3/12/2025 | 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM | Bridges to Partnership | 306/307
Bridges to Partnership
Effective collaboration between advocacy organizations, hearing healthcare partners and state agencies can break through the impact of silos on parent engagement and leadership. Creating a bridge to partners inside governmental public health and on the outside is needed to build community power and advance systems of change for parent leadership and training. These collaborations can lead to shared parent resources and provide opportunities for parent-parent connections, engagement and parent leadership training opportunities.
The goal of this session is to explore how to bridge collaborations and build partnerships to increase parent engagement and leadership opportunities within your state or territory. Families need support from other parents who share their lived experience and underserved families need added support. Furthermore, some parents have the desire to become family leaders and would like to be aware of opportunities, develop leadership skills, and serve in the EHDI system in meaningful ways.1
Creating and providing parent leadership training at the local, state and territory levels can be challenging. There is a collective desire to find creative ways to engage families, establish and grow parent leadership opportunities, and utilize existing parent leadership training to build competency and confidence in being a leader. This session invites parents, Family Based Organizations, partnering EHDI groups, clinicians, service providers in areas associated with meeting the needs of children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and their families, leaders in education, health care or public health, and all interested others to participate.
There will be structured time to learn and network with each other to identify and share resources that meet the unique needs of the populations you serve. The session will be divided into two segments.
In the first segment:
• Attendees will receive a summary from a small EHDI working group that met to discuss this topic in 2024
• Learn about unique parent training resources from an expert panel
• Network to identify untapped resources to support parent engagement, training and leadership
In the second segment:
• Build a Collaborative Plan to work across sectors and share resources
• Identify key partnership opportunities and next steps to act in your state/territory
Learning Objectives:
1. Learn 5 innovative ideas for engaging parents
2. Identify 2 existing education and training resources applicable to own state’s/territory’s needs
3. Identify 2 new untapped resources to cultivate and promote parent engagement and leadership trainings applicable to own state’s/territory’s needs
1. Ward, A. C. Hunting, V. & Behl, D. D. (2019). Supporting Families of a Deaf or Hard of Hearing Child: Key Findings from a National Needs Assessment. Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention, 4(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.26077/5f99-5346
Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/jehdi/vol4/iss3/6
- Participants will learn five new ideas for engaging parents.
- Participants will identify two existing education and training resources applicable to own state's/territory's needs.
- Participants will identify and create at least one network to cultivate and promote parent engagement and leadership champions.
Presentation:
3545975_18074LindaHazard.pdf
3545975_18074Valeri V.Le Beau.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Janet DesGeorges
(Co-Presenter), Hands & Voices, Headquarters, janet@handsandvoices.org;
Janet DesGeorges lives in Boulder, Colorado and is Executive Director of Hands & Voices Headquarters and the P.I. for the FL3 Center. Janet has presented to groups worldwide about the experiences of families as they journey through life with a child with deafness or hearing loss. Ms. DesGeorges received a program certificate from the MCH Public Health Leadership Institute in 2011 at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
As an EHDI Systems advocate, Janet believes in the principles and guiding philosophies of Hands & Voices towards a parent-driven, professionally-collaborative approach when supporting families in the early years. Her areas of interest include Leadership Development for parents who participate in systemic improvement; Deaf Education Reform and Improvement; Children’s Safety and Success(preventing child abuse and neglect); Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Systems; and Parent/Professional partnerships in Quality Improvement processes.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Valeri V. Le Beau
(Primary Presenter), Advanced Bionics, valeri.lebeau@advancedbionics.com;
Valeri V. Le Beau, M.S., CCC, SLP, Senior Rehabilitation Program Manager at Advanced Bionics brings a lifetime of personal and professional expertise to the field of hearing impairments. Working as a teacher for the hearing impaired and a speech language pathologist, she has trained, mentored, and lectured locally and internationally.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Advanced Bionics.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Advanced Bionics.
Nature: .
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Helen Tinsman
(Co-Presenter), Advanced Bionics, helen.tinsman@advancedbionics.com;
Helen Tinsman, MS-CCC-SLP, is the Senior Manager for Sales Enablement with Advanced Bionics. In her role, she manages and supports the AB Community through training and engagement of mentors, recipients, and candidates. Helen received her Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology from Arizona State University. She has experience working as an assistant in cochlear implant centers, as a Speech Pathologist specializing in Augmentative and Alternative Communication, and as a former Board President and Executive Director of Arizona Hands & Voices. Being the parent of a deaf adult, Helen is passionate about family involvement and family leadership and has over 20 years of experience in this area.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Advanced Bionics.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Advanced Bionics.
Nature: Salary.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Linda Hazard
(Co-Presenter), Vermont Department of Health, linda.hazard@partner.vermont.gov;
Linda Hazard, is the Program Director for the Vermont Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program (VTEHDI) and an audiologist. She earned her audiology degree from Boston University and a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Social Policy from the University of Vermont. Dr. Hazard is one of the Co-Past Presidents of the Directors of Speech and Hearing Programs in State Health and Welfare Agencies (DSHPSHWA). She currently represents DSHPSHWA on three committees, Audiology Quality Consortium (AQC), Health Care Economics Committee (HCEC) and the Parent Choice Alliance. Additionally Dr. Hazard has been appointed by the Vermont Governor to serve on the Vermont Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind Advisory Council and the Vermont Interagency Coordinating Council. Dr. Hazard is also one of the Vermont State Champions for the American Cochlear Implant Alliance. She has several scientific publications to her credit, including peer reviewed articles and has presented both nationally and internationally. In February of 2017 Dr. Hazard received the prestigious Antonia Brancia Maxon Award for EHDI Excellence and published a chapter for the EHDI I book on qualitative research. In April of 2023 Dr Hazard received the University of Vermont Medical Center Leadership award.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.