Holmes, Beckman Appointed to the NAD Board

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the selection of Tawny Holmes and Joshua Beckman as appointed Board members for the 2012-2014 term. Holmes has been appointed to serve as an advisor on education and early intervention issues while Beckman will represent deaf and hard of hearing youth on the NAD Board.

“The NAD is pleased to welcome these two outstanding individuals whose contributions to the NAD Board will be invaluable over the next two years. The elected NAD Board members are excited about working with them on the well-being of our deaf and hard of hearing youth through our youth programs, partnerships with youth organizations like DYUSA, ensuring sign language is a birthright of deaf and hard of hearing babies, and our advocacy efforts to protect schools for the deaf” said NAD President Christopher Wagner.

Joshua Beckman is a 25-year old who hails from New Jersey and works for a group home as well as an adjunct professor at a community college.  He was raised by deaf parents and has a deaf brother. Beckman experienced various educational programs, including a deaf program, mainstreaming and the New Jersey School for the Deaf, from where he graduated. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Deaf Studies from Gallaudet University. Beckman was a delegate for the New Jersey Association of the Deaf at the 2012 NAD Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The NAD Youth Leadership Camp employed Beckman as Business Manager and Administrative Assistant for five summers. His passion is Deaf History.

Tawny Holmes received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Deaf Studies and Sociology from Gallaudet University along with a Masters of Arts degree in Deaf Education. Holmes lives in Laurel, Maryland, and is currently finishing her final year at the University of Baltimore Law School where she is focusing on education law. Holmes is working as a student attorney with the Mediation Clinic for Families. Her passion and expertise lies in youth leadership and advocacy to promote bilingualism with young deaf children. 

For the past eight years,  Holmes has been a dedicated volunteer for the National Association of the Deaf, from being on the administration team of the NAD Youth Leadership Camp to serving on four committees (Civil Rights, Education, Early Intervention, and the Youth Strategy Team). She recently successfully completed her term as the Chair of the Youth Strategy Team that reviewed and created recommendations for all youth programs.

Holmes has attended and presented at various conferences on educational topics over the past few years, including the 2011 National Outreach Conference, the 2011 American Society of the Deaf conference, and the 2012 Early Hearing Detection and Intervention annual meeting,  as well as its companion National Summit on Deaf Education. In addition, she recently coordinated the pilot of the National Educational Advocate Training at the 2012 NAD biennial conference, which was a success with 31 advocates coming from state associations and national organizations. 

Holmes has worked with students at every grade level from a Parents-Infant program to 12th grade through her three years at the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, where she worked as a substitute teacher, a teacher aide and a special aide. She has served as an intensive care provider for an autistic child of deaf adults. She is also currently working as a family educator at the Maryland School for the Deaf-Columbia. 

The NAD Board of Directors with these two appointed members will have its first meeting at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, California on October 11-12, 2012. Everyone is welcome to join us at the Board meeting.