BOARD MEMBERS
THE BOARD
Nicki Turano – Co-President
NTurano@agbellnewyork.org
Nicki is the mother of a young boy who is profoundly deaf. Her son, Sam, has a cochlear implant and is currently mainstreamed in his local school district. In the years since her son was first diagnosed, she found other parents to be one of the greatest resources for information and support. One of the reasons she joined AG Bell and became a NY State Chapter Board Member was to offer support and help to guide parents to resources that may be helpful to their family. Feel free to email her directly with any questions.
Ana Maria Robben – Co-President
AMRobben@agbellnewyork.org
Ana Maria is the mother of a young girl who has severe to profound hearing loss. Her daughter, Isabella, wears bilateral hearing aids and is mainstreamed in her local school district. Ana Maria is so grateful to the New York School for the Deaf (NYSD) in White Plains for the guidance and support she received there while Isabella was part of the Infant/Pre-school program. Ana Maria credits Isabella’s successful transition to the mainstream to NYSD and the support of other families and professionals in the deaf/hard of hearing community, as well as to AG Bell. Ana Maria joined as a Board Member so that she could give back to the community that helped her so much those first critical years since learning of Isabella’s hearing loss. Ana Maria has a B.B.A in Marketing from Baruch College and worked in the marketing industry for 10 years before Isabella was born. She hopes to serve the NY Chapter of AG Bell with the same passion and dedication that those before her have. Feel free to e-mail her directly with any questions.
George Oberlander JR – Vice-President
GOberlander@agbellnewyork.org
Leonardo Jafet – Secretary
LJafet@agbellnewyork.org
Leonardo is the father of a happy and healthy five-year-old 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 at UPenn and works in NYC in banking. He joined AG Bell as a member in 2004 and the NY Chapter as a Board member in 2008. Leonardo was attracted to AG Bell and its NY Chapter because of the challenges, opportunities and rewards in helping to further its committment to supporting Deaf and HoH people to thrive in the normal-hearing world.
Eileen Solla-Diaz – Treasurer
ESolla-Diaz@agbellnewyork.org
Eileen is the mother of a four year old with bi-lateral cochlear implants. Her son, M.J., is currently mainstreamed in a Catholic Pre-K program. 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 worked on Wall Street for over 15 years. Her new passion is to ensure that her son succeeds in his mainstream setting and to help others through AG Bell and other great organizations.
Jonathan Berger
JBerger@agbellnewyork.org
Jonathan Berger has had a bilateral severe-to-profound hearing loss since childhood. He is an active member of AG Bell and is a member of DHHS. Jonathan received a cochlear implant in 2005. He is an attorney specializing in intellectual property law and is an associate with Levisohn, Berger and Langsam, LLP. He would love to offer his support to parents who have questions regarding growing up and going to mainstreamed school with a hearing loss.
Amanda Eckert
AEckert@agbellnewyork.org
Amanda is an Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf in Lower Westchester. She has an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Loyola College in MD, as well as a Master's in Deaf Education from Columbia University, Teacher's College. She has a passion for teaching and loves working with a variety of students. Amanda decided to become a part of the AG Bell board to help many of her families and students connect, as a way for them to realize they are not alone.
Tara Gallagher
TGallagher@agbellnewyork.org
Tara is a speech language pathologist in Westchester County. She has a Masters of Arts in Speech Language Pathology from Lehman College.
Prior to school, she was a nanny for a hearing impaired child and ever since then
knew that she solely wanted to work with that population of children. She practices auditory therapy to increase a child's ability to learn spoken language auditorily. Tara is finishing additional requirements to be certified as an Auditory Verbal therapist. She joined AG Bell to help connect her families with each other. Feel free to contact her with any questions.
Michael Janger
MJanger@agbellnewyork.org
Michael Janger, born profoundly deaf in both ears, was mainstreamed throughout public school, college and graduate school. He works for American Express as Manager of Business Analysis for the Travelers Cheques & Prepaid Services group. Prior to American Express, he worked for West Group (a Thomson Corporations subsidiary), WorldTravel BTI, and IBM. More recently, he was a business consultant providing finance and marketing support to technology companies. He received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Strategic Management and Marketing, and a BA from Brown University in Political Science. He has been an active member of A.G. Bell and DHHS since 1988, and received a cochlear implant in January of 2005.
Edward McGibbon
EMcGibbon@agbellnewyork.org
Edward McGibbon 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.
