NAD Family Expands

We are excited to share that four new staff members have joined the NAD Family recently! Please join us in welcoming Teddy Dorsette III as our new Outreach Specialist, Jenilee Marques as our new Front Desk Assistant, Sean Norman as our new Office Manager, and Brittany Shrader as the newest addition to our team of staff attorneys.

As the Outreach Specialist, Teddy will be working closely with Lizzie Sorkin, the Director of Communications, on video related projects. Additionally, he will be representing the NAD in various outreach capacities and working with collaborating organizations. Teddy is a filmmaker from the Detroit area, who is truly passionate about the deaf community. He has dedicated his time towards being a member of the National Black Deaf Advocates member, and served in 2016-2018 as the President of the Detroit Black Deaf Advocates.

Jenilee joins the NAD as our Front Desk Assistant where she will be providing support by responding to the community’s concerns and questions through calls and emails. Jenilee was born and bred a New Englander and eighteen years later, she found herself living in D.C. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Gallaudet University. When she isn’t working, you’ll find her exploring D.C.’s hidden gems.

While we are sad to see Thinaja Nadarajah go back home to Canada, we are excited to have Sean take over as the Office Manager. Sean is responsible for all front line communications with the community and ensuring smooth operations at the NAD Headquarters. Sean believes a positive work environment produces an efficient functioning organization for everyone. Prior to joining us first as a part-time Front Desk assistant, Sean did not really know much about the NAD. Thanks to his experience since then, he has come to understand the daily operations that the NAD undertakes to serve the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Earlier this year, the Law and Advocacy Center bid farewell to Debra Patkin, who had been with the NAD for eight years. Debra moved on to work with the Federal Communications Commission as an Attorney Advisor. Taking over her civil rights legal work will be Brittany who comes to us with ten years of litigation experience! Before the NAD, she worked as a senior litigation associate and trial attorney for Eisenberg & Baum, LLP’s Law Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing in New York City. In addition to English and American Sign Language, Brittany also has proficiency in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese! In her free time, Brittany enjoys musicals, traveling and spending quality time with family.

Teddy, Jenilee, Sean, and Brittany — we’re glad to have you with us!

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The NAD was established in 1880 by deaf leaders who believed in the right of the American deaf community to use sign language, to congregate on issues important to them, and to have its interests represented at the national level. As a nonprofit federation, the mission of the NAD is to preserve, protect, and promote the civil, human, and linguistic rights of deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States. The advocacy scope of the NAD is broad, covering the breadth of a lifetime and impacting future generations in the areas of early intervention, education, employment, health care, technology, telecommunications, youth leadership, and more.