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Board of Directors
At Signs of Self, we strongly believe it is through community effort and collaboration that needs can be identified and change can be made. Because of that, we have tried to make the Board of Directors of Signs of Self as diverse as possible to be as representative as possible. Our Board consists of individuals who identify as Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, Deaf-Blind, or are community members and/or service providers to these groups.
The Board brings together individuals with multiple skill sets and a knowledge base of over 30 years of direct service to persons with disabilities and specifically with individuals who are Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, or Deaf-Blind. While each individual board member was able to provide services or their own personal advocacy within the community; we felt that as a group we would be much better able to accomplish several important goals that as individuals they could not:
- Use the pooled wisdom and connections of each individual to get a better idea of the true needs of the communities we belong to and serve.
- Be able to work as a team to create solutions to address any identified needs.
- Be able to seek out funding sources that would make it possible to develop and/or implement solutions and also provided the services that elevate both the quality and quantity of options available to persons with a hearing loss in Hawai`i.
- Serve as a central point to help tie together the different communities being supported including service providers and to help provide more cohesive and complete services overall.
(July 1, 2013)
Our Current Board Members
Joel Matusof - President
Mr. Matusof was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania. He was born Deaf and was also visually impaired until he was 8 months old. Both his parents are Deaf and, of his 6 siblings, he has two sisters who are Deaf. Growing up he spent most of his formative years at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. Currently he resides in Honolulu, Hawai`i and has 4 beautiful children. In his 17 years of living in Honolulu he has been an active participant in the Deaf community. He was a foster parent to two Deaf boys through Catholic Charities, coached the wrestling team of Deaf and hearing students at Kalani High School, has donated his time to the Aloha State Association of the Deaf, Hawai`ian Sign Language Festival, the 50th State Fair Fundraiser and, of course, Signs of Self. Mr. Matusof feels it is fulfilling and rewarding to give his time and attention to members of his community. Now, as the president of Signs of Self, he feels it is an honor to continue to serve the community. According to Mr. Matusof, “I think our population is unique and the staff at Signs of Self are experts in working with this unique and underserved population. Without our help they would be at a serious disadvantage and the communication barriers that they currently experience would be even greater. We work tirelessly and enjoy every moment of it. The gifts we receive are the success and happiness of the people we serve."
Keano Nakamaejo - Vice-President
Ms. Nakamaejo is an island girl, born in Honolulu and raised in Kailua. She is married and has four children ranging in ages from 15 to 24 years. A 1985 graduate of California State University, Los Angeles in Speech Pathology and currently a graduate student of Vocational Rehabilitation with the University of Hawaii, Manoa, she has worked for the Hawaii Department of Education and for various educational, recreational and independent living facilities in Hawaii and California for over 15 years. She is an active member of her church and volunteers in their woman’s Relief Society organization. She is very eager and excited about working with the members of the Board of Signs of Self to provide support to enable greater service to those in need and especially to the deaf and hard of hearing population in our communities.
Kathy Thomas - Treasurer
Roberta Chiwa-Tanaka - Secretary
Head dorm parent at the Hawai’i School for the Deaf and the Blind for the past 22 years, Ms. Chiwa-Tanaka has worked with deaf and hard-of-students in a residential setting for over 34 years. Ms. Chiwa-Tanaka graduated from Gallaudet University in 1971 with a BS degree in Physical Education. After graduating and returning to Hawai’i, she was frustrated in her attempts to get a teaching job at the School for the Deaf as she didn’t have a Masters degree, but eventually did find her place and passion working with residential students and providing the home away from home and family modeling so many of the students needed and continue to need.
Linda Lambrecht
Jeff Lambrecht
Mellanie Lee
Involved in working with individuals with disabilities for over 25 years, Ms. Lee has extensive experience in providing training and educational services to not only individuals with disabilities and their families but to agencies, communities, and at the national level – providing services both within the United States and across Micronesia and Polynesia. Ms. Lee currently is the Project Director/Educational Specialist for the Pacific and Hawai’i Deaf-Blind Projects under the University of Hawai`i, Center on Disabilities Studies.
Scott O’Neal, LCSW - Executive Director
A private practice social worker, Mr. O’Neal currently works for the State of Hawai`i, Department of Health, Developmental Disabilities Division and has been contracting with various non-profit, for-profit, and State agencies over the past 12 years specially to provide services to individuals with a hearing loss. Examples of State and community agencies he has and will continue to be working with include, but are not limited to: The Hawai’i Center for the Deaf and Blind and other HDOE schools and programs serving youth with hearing loss; the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation; the Department of Human Services; the Department of Health – Developmental Disabilities Division, Child and Adolescent and Adult Mental Health Divisions; Kahi Mohala; Hale Kipa; Catholic Charities; the Hawai’i Center for Independent Living; Hawai’i Deaf-Blind Project; Ho`opono; the Successful Transitions in Diverse Environments (STRIDE) project; Hawai’i Med-Quest Division and Medicare provider organizations; Federal agencies such as the Social Security Administration; and, the Judiciary system/Family Court.
Our general board meetings are open to the public and community members are always welcome and encouraged to attend! Please check the calendar for the next scheduled meeting or contact us for more information.
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