hknc

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Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults 
Names New Executive Director and Associate Executive Director

SANDS POINT, NY, October 14, 2014 – Helen Keller National Center for
Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC), the only comprehensive national
vocational and rehabilitation organization that exclusively provides
services to individuals with combined vision and hearing loss, announced
two new leadership appointments today.  Susan Ruzenski, Acting Executive
Director, was named Executive Director.  Christopher C. Woodfill,
Regional Representative for the Mid-Atlantic Region, was named to the
newly created position of Associate Executive Director.

HKNC’s eight member search committee included individuals from the Helen
Keller Services for the Blind (HKSB) Board of Trustees (including the
Board Chair), HKSB staff and two members from the greater DeafBlind
community. A comprehensive six-month, nationwide search was conducted.
Applicants included internal and external candidates, as well as
individuals from the DeafBlind, Deaf and Blind communities. 

“We are very excited to have two highly skilled and qualified
professionals on the HKNC leadership team,” said Thomas J. Edwards,
President of HKSB, which operates HKNC. “Sue has the experience, skills
and passion to carry out HKNC’s mandate. We are pleased that Chris has
accepted this new role, and the chance to enhance the development of
members of the DeafBlind community.”  
       
“We are confident we have chosen a great leadership team for HKNC, a
team that will continue providing innovation, training, technology and
opportunities for individual growth and independence for members of the
communities we serve,” said Christopher Maher, Chair of the HKSB Board
of Trustees.

“I’m privileged to have worked at HKNC for the past 35 years and to have
been a part of many stages of growth and change,” said Ms. Ruzenski. “It
is a joy and an extraordinary learning experience to be part of this
active community working in partnership with consumers, families and
professionals across this country.  I am excited about having an
opportunity to guide the next phase of our growth, to working with the
DeafBlind community building leadership opportunities and experiences.
We will work to expand and improve services within the organization and
across the country. Our focus and approach will be in areas of
self-advocacy, mentoring, and community development. Our values and
shared vision is for HKNC to be a conduit for members of the community
to have the knowledge and tools to be their own change agents and to
achieve self-empowerment and self-leadership. I look forward to the new
leadership team’s collective efforts propelling us to a new era.” 

“Sue has a wealth of experience and I’m excited about the opportunity to
work with her and the rest of the leadership team,” said Mr. Woodfill.
“Sue and I are united in our goals to advocate for and mentor other
DeafBlind individuals, to increase our leadership ranks in this
organization and throughout the business world, to capitalize on
technology, to promote networking, to expand HKNC’s reach.” 

Ms. Ruzenski, who has been serving as Acting Executive Director for the
past fifteen months, has dedicated her career to working with and
advocating on behalf of the DeafBlind community.  She served in many
positions at HKNC prior to taking on the Acting Executive Director role,
the most recent of which was as Director of Direct Services. Ms.
Ruzenski has led and worked with employees across the organization to
implement innovative changes in vocational rehabilitation programs.

Ms. Ruzenski, a Doctoral candidate at Teachers College, Columbia
University, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Special Education from Dowling
College and a Master of Arts in Deaf Education from New York
University. 

Mr. Woodfill, as Associate Executive Director, will continue and expand
his role as a leader in the DeafBlind community by developing and
enhancing HKNC programs and services along with the rest of the HKNC
leadership team. He will be responsible for operations management and
supervision of some HKNC direct services and programs. As an advocate
and HKNC ambassador, Mr. Woodfill will strengthen HKNC’s collaborative
efforts among the DeafBlind community and help to establish strategic
priorities that align the HKNC mission with the community.  Working with
the Executive Director and others at HKNC, Chris will share HKNC
representation to a variety of coalitions and professional organizations
whose objective is improving social, educational and political practices
with and for the DeafBlind community.  

Mr. Woodfill has more than seventeen years of professional experience
working in the DeafBlind and deaf communities. Most recently he served
as the HKNC Regional Representative for the Mid-Atlantic Region and was
instrumental in starting up the New York Deaf-Blind Equipment
Distribution Program (NYDBEDP). He is a very active member of the
DeafBlind community locally, nationally and internationally and serves
on the Board of the World Federation of the DeafBlind, Board of the
American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB), HKNC Consumer Advisory
Council and on the Bylaws Committee for the National Association of the
Deaf.

Mr. Woodfill taught English as a Second Language to deaf students for
three years at Gallaudet University and for thirteen years was a high
school teacher at Wisconsin School for the Deaf. He holds a Bachelor of
Arts in History and Spanish from Gallaudet University, a Master of Arts
in Latin-American Studies from the Elliott School of International
Affairs and a Master of Arts in Deaf Education from McDaniel College.

About Helen Keller National Center

Operated by Helen Keller Services for the Blind, the Helen Keller
National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC) is the only
comprehensive national program that provides information, referral,
support, and training exclusively to youths and adults who are
DeafBlind. The residential-based training program, located at its
headquarters in Sands Point, NY, provides evaluation, short-term
vocational and rehabilitation training as well as assistance to
consumers in locating employment, housing, and community resources in
their home states. In the New York metropolitan area HKNC’s Community
Services Program provides rehabilitation, vocational, and support
services to individuals who are deaf-blind in their homes, worksites,
and communities.

Field services include 11 regional offices and Senior Adult Services.
Professional training seminars are also conducted both on campus and in
the community. HKNC maintains a national registry of individuals who are
deaf-blind. For more information, go to www.hknc.org.