Vanessa Berger, President and Founder
Vanessa, has had hearing loss from childhood. Although her hearing loss was discovered, it went untreated until adulthood. She grew up in an all “hearing” world but learned sign language and connected to the Deaf community later in life.
Vanessa spent most of her childhood years in the 4-H program where her passion for volunteering and fundraising ignited. Non-Profits and raising money has always been a part of her life, and she hopes her 3 children will share her passion.
Due to her untreated hearing loss, Vanessa struggled academically in high school making the transition to college a challenge. She spent her 20s living in Europe and working in a field which didn’t require a degree or the ability to hear well. Years later, she went back to college and received a BA in Psychology and Media Studies.
After an episode which furthered her hearing loss, prompting her to start wearing hearing aids, she combined her passion with charitable work and love for the Deaf community to start a nonprofit.
Cristina Luzaj, Board Member
Originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador, Cristina moved to NJ when she was 20 years old. She completed her undergraduate degree at Montclair State University in 2005 and graduated with Masters in Taxation from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2007.
Cristina started her career in 2007 as a tax accountant and became certified and practiced until 2019 when she became a full-time mother of 2 beautiful and energetic little boys. Since then, her days have been busier than ever expected but her life has been blessed with eternal happiness.
Her focus was on corporate and individual tax preparation and review, tax compliance, tax planning and advisory services to both non and for profit organizations.
While corporate tax work was very fulfilling, her time devoted to the non for profit area was always very gratifying. Cristina had the opportunity to address boards on regulatory issues, audit findings and tax compliance recommendations.
Theresa Orth, ASL Interpreter
Theresa found her love for sign language within her first year of college and after visiting a school for Deaf children, she knew she wanted to be involved somehow. Theresa attended The College of New Jersey, earning a Bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in Deaf Studies. She has volunteered at schools for the Deaf in New Jersey and Pennsylvania working with ages 2-12 and has been a nanny for many years working with children of all ages. Theresa recently passed the National Interpreter Certification Written Exam and is now working towards taking the Performance portion, while using her signing skills in the professional field. Theresa’s love of American Sign Language continues to grow every day and she can’t wait to communicate more with the D/deaf and Hard of Hearing communities.