Presenter Biographies

Alisha Bronk

Alisha Bronk is a proud alumnus of Gallaudet University where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. While earning her Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL): Applied Linguistics from Portland State University, she became involved in international education and has worked and lived in deaf communities around the globe. Currently, she is an instructor for American Sign Language (ASL) and Interpreting (ASLIE) at Rochester Institute of Technology/National Technology Institute for the Deaf (RIT/NTID), University Kansas Edward Campus, and the Center for Continuing and Online Education at Gallaudet University. Ms. Bronk has more than 30 years of teaching experience in American Sign Language (ASL) and sign language interpretation. She also has 27 years of experience interpreting in legal, medical, education, and immigration settings. She was one of the core creators of ASL Tales, a book/DVD series designed used in education for families and classrooms in all levels of ASL learning. She also works as a certified Deaf interpreter (CDI) in medical, legal, workshops, classrooms, mental health, etc. all over the United States and knows universal sign (IS). One of her highlights as a CDI, she interprets for the press conferences in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

She is a native of Kenosha, Wisconsin. She is part Native-American, Deaf, and sighted woman and has helped to raise four lovely nephews and nieces. She has 8 grand nephews and nieces aged from 1 to 21 years old and all are boys and only one girl. She enjoyed providing ASL Anchor, ASL language coach, ASL filmmaker, ASL translations from English texts, language specialist. She loves spending time with family and hiking with friends to the top of any mountain.

Niesha Washington-Shepard

Niesha Washington-Shepard is a proud alumnus of Gallaudet’s Master of Arts in Sign Language Education (MASLED)and currently serves as a MASLED program co-director and she is a faculty member of the American Sign Language program.

She is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, and is a Creole African-American, Deaf & sighted woman who is a devoted member of DC Area Black Deaf Advocate (DCABDA), social justice activist, and motherly warrior in the Black Deaf community. Over several years of her combined experience at the Louisiana School for the Deaf and Gallaudet University, the best sites in the world have helped turn her into the women she is today. She has many accomplishments in her life. She was involved in a 2006 protest to address her concerns regarding the hiring process without being scared at Gallaudet University, along with the students of color. She was the first person to receive both BA and MA degrees in her family. She was one of the first two people to be hired as a Black Deaf interpreter in the Results Visiting Interpreting (RVI) program at Gallaudet University. She was participated for the first time in a group of all Black Deaf women to perform in a play, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enough” at Gallaudet University. She was most recently featured in Romper’s Doula Diaries Season 2, which was the first time many women in the U.S. witnessed childbirth. Despite the challenges she has faced in a racist, sexist & audist society, she does not allow barriers to get in her way. And now she is a candidate for a doctorate program at Maryville University.

Niesha loves teaching different languages, Deaf history, and culture. Outside the classroom, she contributes to many community causes, such as presenting at conferences, hosting workshops, and providing tutoring services nationally and internationally. She is enthusiastic about her dedication to fostering social change and the inclusiveness of people’s jobs and lives. She also dabbles in video and graphic production, as well as creating ASL translations from English texts. She has voluntarily interpreted at schools, hospitals, government, and courts. She is currently residing in D.C. with her husband and her three lovely children.