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Maureen Fradianni
She works as a Telecommunication Equipment Distributor providing devices such as TTY, captioned telephones and amplified telephones to deaf, deaf/blind, hard of hearing and speech impaired individuals. She also trains clients to use teletype equipment devices as well as relay services. She also focuses on outreach; she contacts agencies, speech pathologists, rehabilitation services and other businesses to let them know about the services provided by the DHHARC. She also does advocacy work encouraging people to make their decisions to live independently and productively.

Before joining our staff, Maureen worked for the Northern Nevada Center for Independent Living as advocate and TTY distributor. She has also taught ASL for over 18 years; first in Massachusetts and currently at the Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno. Maureen received her AA in Arts from the Truckee Meadows Community College.

Outside of the office, Maureen enjoys playing with her cat, riding her bike, camping, taking pictures and reading a good book.
 

Debra Salo
She works as an advocate to help clients in various areas of life. She is also a computer technology specialist; she maintains the entire DHHARC server and makes sure all the technology works smoothly.

Before joining our staff, Debra worked at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as a computer network technician. She was the only deaf employee at the university. She attended the Mississippi School for the Deaf where she was valedictorian. She earned an AA in Computing and Information Technology at the Community College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas while she was raising her four children. She was a teaching assistant in computer software program classes comprised mostly of hearing students. She graduated with honors.

Outside of the office, Debra enjoys computing, cross-stitching and teaching ASL to her grandson. She was born to deaf parents and has spent all her life in the Deaf World. She is fluent in ASL.
 

Melissa Smith
She works as a Staff Interpreter in the Las Vegas office. She answers the phone, assists the staff and interprets when needed.

Before joining our staff, Melissa worked at the Northeast Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services in Concord, New Hampshire as an Interpreter Referral Specialist. She earned A.A. from Lincoln Christian College in Illinois and a B.S. in Sign Language Interpretation from the University of New Hampshire in Manchester, NH. She moved to Nevada in December 2005.

Outside of the office, Melissa enjoys spending time with her husband and their two-year-old English bulldog, Brutus. She also enjoys traveling, watching movies and reading a good book.

Edina Jambor
She works as an advocate in the Carson City office. In addition to helping clients, she works on special projects such as emergency preparedness and early intervention plans.

Before joining our staff, Edina worked as a web designer at the University of Nevada, Reno. In addition, she has taught ASL at the University of Nevada, Reno for 6 years. She earned her B.A. in English and American Studies at the University of Szeged, Hungary. She earned an M.A. in Sociology from California State University, Northridge where she graduated with honors. She also has M.A. in Social Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Outside of the office Edina enjoys teaching ASL to interested hearing people as well as working with deaf children. She also likes to read and watch and play sports. A native of Hungary, her first language is Hungarian but is fludent in English and ASL and understands Spanish as well.

Laura Daviton
She works as a Resource Specialist. Her main responsibilities are to work as an advocate, focus on telecommunication tasks and to carry out various specialized projects.

Before joining our agency, Laura worked as a part-time Special Education Aide for a deaf student at an elementary school in Reno. Prior to that, she worked at the Northern Nevada Center for Independent Living as Deaf Services Advocate, Deaf Services Coordinator and later Operations Manager. She also did a number of volunteer works for the NVAD/DHHARC as well as for Hidden Valley Elementary School. She is currently a member of the Nevada Disability Advocacy and Law Center’s (NDALC) Board and serves as a liaison between the NDALC and the Deaf community.

Outside the office Laura works as an editor for the NVAD newsletter called The Deaf Nevadan and she also is the secretary of Camp SignShine, an annual summer camp which offers a week of fun, recreational and educational activities for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children. In her free time, Laura enjoys being a grandma for the second time, traveling and camping.