Board of AGBell New York
President: Edward McGibbon (bio)
Treasurer: Eileen Solla-Diaz (bio)
Board Member: Jonathan Berger (bio)
Board Member: Leo Jafet (bio)
Board Member: George Oberlander (bio)
Edward received his first cochlear implant in December 2008, after wearing hearing aids for over 60 years. He has been actively involved in a number of organizations including: NYS Self Help for the Hard of Hearing (now known as the Hearing Loss Association of America-HLAA) as both Vice President and President; Advocate Better Communication (A.B.C.) under the umbrella for the League for the Hard of Hearing; Disability Network of New York City as an elected officer of the Board of Trustees; the Deaf and Hard of Hearing with New York State Rehabilitation Association (NYSRA) as Co-Chair Focus Group for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; the Brooklyn Queens New York Catholic Charity, and have been reappointed yearly by the Bishop of Catholic Charity of Brooklyn and Queens to the Access Board with People with Disabilities.
Honors: 2005: “Volunteer Award” from the League for the Hard of Hearing. 2006: Martha Fitzpatrick Citizen Advocate Award from the NYSRA Mr. McGibbon’s main focus has always been on advocating for people with hearing loss of all ages. He tries not to miss an opportunity to teach someone more about living life with a hearing loss.
Eileen is the mother of a seven year old with bi-lateral cochlear implants. Her son, M.J., is currently mainstreamed and doing well in 2nd grade. She joined AG Bell immediately after his diagnosis at 15 months to become as knowledgeable as possible on hearing loss. Eileen has a B.B.A. in Finance from Pace University and works at TD Securities in the US Fixed Income Department. Her passion is to ensure that her son succeeds in his mainstream setting and to help others through AG Bell and other great organizations. She is also very active in HLAA and Walk4Hearing.
Jonathan has had a bilateral severe-to-profound hearing loss since childhood. He is an active member of AG Bell, a member of DHHS (Deaf and Hard of Hearing Section), and a bilateral cochlear implant user. He is an attorney specializing in intellectual property law and is an associate with Levisohn Berger LLP.
Leo is the father of a happy and healthy boy with bi-lateral CI. He was born and raised in Brazil, moved to the U.S. in 1993 and now lives with his wife and three kids in northern Westchester. He earned a MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and works in NYC in finance. He joined AG Bell as a member in 2004 and the NY Chapter as a Board member in 2008. Leo is attracted to AG Bell because of the challenges, opportunities and rewards in helping to support people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing to realize their full potential in the normal-hearing world.
George Oberlander, Board Member
George has a severe to profound bi-lateral sensorineural hearing loss. He is an active volunteer for the Center for Hearing and Communication and former Vice President of the New York Chapter of AG Bell. George is a recipient of the 1997 Personal Achievement Award given by the League for the Hard of Hearing. He was also featured in Jim Reisler’s book Voices of the Oral Deaf.
George is the director of the Facilities Management Group of Gannett Fleming, working with many large prestigious clients such as NewYork-Presbyterian, the City of New York and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.