S2E9: Hearing Loss Advocate & Talent Development Professional - Anna Garza c/o 2010

What this episode covers

In this episode, we speak with c/o 2010 English & Language Arts Alumna, Anna Garza! Through time at UTSA, she learned the value of being involved on more than just a student level. Anna was a Terry Scholar and went to the Honors College, while also working at the Study Abroad Office in which she participated with time in Europe. Upon graduation, she started her career at Broadway bank working through the ranks to ultimately becoming an AVP for Learning and Instructional Design. During her time at Broadway, she also completed her Masters in Christian Ministry - Leadership Theory & Development from Dallas Baptist University. Her career development also lead her to strong volunteer experience with time at: Habitat for Humanity, Mexican American Unity Council, Compassion International, Mission City Church, and Aid the Silent. In 2018, her first daughter was born deaf which exposed her to a culture that she knew nothing about. She learned that culture is not just geographical but also social (and local!). Her degree in English and Education helped her aspire to be a lifelong learner and help others learn to be effective and resilient leaders – traits she now uses personally as a mom of deaf children. Today, she works in talent management, specifically leadership development, at Cochlear - the global company who makes the cochlear implants that her daughter uses to hear! She train leaders in North, Central, and South America in English and Spanish, and she volunteers with Aid the Silent (a local non-profit run by a former Miss San Antonio woman who is deaf) that helps kids with hearing loss. Her daughters attend Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children, a local non-profit school for children with hearing loss who use technology. Her message in this episode is all about inclusion! Use person-first language like “the girl who is deaf” versus “the deaf girl”, use deaf-friendly language like “deaf or hard of hearing” versus “hearing impaired”, if your child points to hearing technology and asks “what’s that on their head / ears” use that as a learning opportunity versus shh-ing them. Tell them to ask the person what it is so they can learn terminology and interact with others who are not like them. if you’re talking to someone who uses an interpreter, look at THEM versus the interpreter; provide closed captioning when possible, face people when you speak, practice inclusion (“diversity is inviting people to the party; inclusion is inviting them to dance”);

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