Board of directors

President, Abby Long
Region 3, Term: 2021-2023

Abby Long is president and , region 3 representative. She has been a D/HH teacher in Chicago Public Schools for 20 years. Abby has lived in Chicago for 20 years and been involved with CODA Illinois for about 10 years. 

Represents US states, region 3: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin

Vice President, Janie Powell
Region 4, Term: 2020-2022

Janie Powell has been a member of CODA International for 30 years. She was honored to receive the CODA International Distinguished Service Award in 2017. Janie co-chaired two CODA International conferences in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has also served six terms as the State President of the Louisiana Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). Janie served on RID's By-laws committee for four conferences.

Represents US states, region 4: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming

Secretary, Stella Butora
Region 5, Term: 2021-2023

Stella Butora is a Michigander through and through: "I have also lived in Arizona, Ohio, Missouri, and Indiana. Then my mom was having health issues, so I decided to move to Arizona to assist her with her medical needs. I met some codas that had strong personalities, who introduced me to Coda retreats. Then I went to my first conference. It was a whirlwind and I was tempted to leave and never come back. I’ve always told myself give it three times and then decide, and that is what happened. I fell in love with CODA International. Now I am part of the Conference, I help with the LIVE and SILENT auction.We have increased our scholarship funds; which makes me proud to be a part of conference. As the Representative for Region 5, I am here for the underdog. Especially for people that do not feel heard. My goal for Region 5 is that we be open and listen as we grow."

Represents US states, region 5: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington

Treasurer, Trudy Schaefer
Member at Large, Term: 2020-2022

Trudy is an OCoda originally from Chicago who has lived in Boston since the early 90s. Married to Coda, Bob Hoffmeister, she has 4 children one of whom is Deaf and 7 grandchildren, one of whom is a koda. She has a long history of board participation with many organizations including CODA International where she served as president for 2 terms (1997-2001). She's a certified interpreter and interpreter educator. She had a dual career in state and local government for 12 years while interpreting. She holds graduate degrees in public administration and interpreter education. Trudy has been a member of CODA International for over 30 years.

Represents general membership without restrictions to regions.

Lily Pacheo
Region 1, Term: 2019-2023

Lily Pacheo is a native New Yorker, Pace University Alumni, holding a B.A. in Business Administration, Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) Certified Interpreter, and a successful business owner. She is currently serving her 2nd term as the Region 1 Director.

Represents US states, region 1: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusets, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia

Jill Sheffield
Region 2, Term: 2021-2022

Jill Sheffield, a Member of Children of Deaf Adults International, Inc since 1994. Jill Sheffield is a National Certified Interpreter (NAD V, CI and CT) and she holds a Bachelors degree in Fine Art. Jill has been involved with Southeast Children of Deaf Adults (SECODA) since it’s inception for over 28 years. She is passionate about the mission and vision of Children of Deaf Adults International, Inc and enthusiastic about the future of our organization. She is currently the President of SECODA and serving on the Executive Board since 2018.

Represents US states, region 2: Alabama, Washington, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Virgin Islands

Region 6, Term: 2021-2022

Gunilla Karlsson comes from Sweden. She has served as chairman for five years in CODA Sweden. She has worked most of her life in industry within the “hearing world”. Since 2015 however she has been able to combine engineering and her  coda experience within our family business, Lidol. Lidol is a retailer and advisory service within the area Complete Communication: accessible telephony and digital meetings on distance as well as locally, for deaf, deaf blind and people with hearing loss. Gunilla's parents Inger Malmberg and Arvid Karlsson were born in 1931 and went to the deaf school Vänerskolan. She has been to four international CODA conferences. Special interest: Codas that don't see themselves as bilingual and often live totally within the hearing world as adults. Many of these could benefit from having contact with deaf people, and most surely deaf community would benefit from having them in. Gunilla want to share information and try to inspire members to engage in arranging meetings and events or to share knowledge within interesting areas. Gunilla is the region 6 representative and as such the board liaisons for the CODA 2023 conference in Incheon, South Korea.

Joseph Ameho
Region 7, Term: 2021-2023

Joseph Toyin Ameho, the eldest son of three children and a professional Sign Language Interpreter. He was born into the prestigious Deaf family of Mr. Oliver Ameho & Mrs. Victoria Ameho. He attended Holy Cross Catholic primary school, Ojoku High School, Lagos Government College and Lagos Tolu complex where he completed West African Examination. He further studied English Language and Deaf Education at the Federal College of Education (Special) in Oyo. He proceeded to the better by far University, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria for his Bachelors Degree in Education majored in English Education. He has worked as a Teacher in various Deaf schools, at Wesley School for the Deaf and State Grammar School Special Unit. He has also worked as a Sign Language Interpreter at the Federal College of Education (Special) in Oyo and the University of Ilorin, Ilorin. He is currently based in Sweden since 2019, where he currently works as a Health Care Assistant. He has received many accolades and awards in his profession. In 2010, he was honored with the Wesley School for the Deaf’s Best Teacher of the year award, he also received the Outstanding Sign Language Interpreter Award in 2015 from the Deaf Student Association at the University of Ilorin. He is the founder and Vice President of the growing Coda association in Nigeria (CODANigeria). His first Conference was CODAHaven, hosted in Rhode Island, 2018 and CODALove hosted in Paris, 2019. 

Represents Africa & Southern Hemisphere (excluding United States & US Territories)