Our Board Members
The Washington State Hands & Voices board meetings are open to the public with sign language interpreting provided. Meetings are bi-monthly and held via Zoom.
If you would like to attend one of our board meetings or are interested in becoming a committee or board member, please email our board of directors.
About Christine
Christine and her husband Steve are the proud parents of two young adult children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Her family began this journey in 2001 when both children were identified six months apart from one another. Through their journey her family has accrued many supporters as they have encountered barriers and steep learning curves a long the way.
In 2008 Christine found a home with Hands & Voices, knowing that regardless of communication their family used she could benefit from their support and up to date information. This support has made all the difference in the world to Christine and her family over the years.
In 2017 Christine earned a M Ed in Adult Education with a focus on parents as adult learners. Today, she works as Coordinator of our WA Hands & Voices Guide By Your Side program, and is on the training team with Early Support for Infants and Toddler (ESIT) program with Washington State Children, Youth and Families.
About Laura
Laura Gramer and her husband, Brendan, transplants from Chicago, reside in north Seattle. They are deaf parents to two deaf sons. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy.
Laura is currently a busy stay at home mother who volunteers in WA Hands & Voices as a secretary and a commissioner on the Seattle Commission for People with Disabilities. She joined WA Hands & Voices to meet other parents with children who are deaf/HH/CI for social events and advocacy to make sure our children have access to education and socialization with peers regardless of their communication methods.
About Tad
Tad Miller is a licensed speech-language pathologist who joined the Hands and Voices board as Secretary in 2021. In 2015 she received her MA in Communication Sciences & Disorders from Western Washington University. She worked in the Tacoma Public Schools for four years supporting Deaf and hard of hearing children and is currently providing listening and spoken language intervention at Listen and Talk.
Tad is excited to contribute to the Hands & Voices mission of supporting and guiding families, regardless of communication modality.
About Erik
Erik has spent his career in the field of Non Profit Management and is currently the Chief Operating Officer for Birth to Three Developmental Center, a non profit organization serving children birth to three years old with developmental delays and disabilities.
In 2014, after a decade working within the Boys and Girls Club movement, Erik began working for Listen and Talk. This is where he began to get familiar with and understand the unique stories and challenges of families who have a child with hearing loss. Supporting and giving back to these families has become an important mission for him. This passion aligns so perfectly with the mission of Washington Hands & Voices, where Erik became a Board Member in 2021. He is excited to give his time and talents to support all the families across the state of Washington in their unique journeys.
Erik resides in Gig Harbor with his wife Allison and two children. He loves the northwest and considers himself a life long Washingtonian!
About Kris
Kris Rydecki Ching is the Outreach Director, birth-to-5, for Washington State Center for Childhood Deafness & Hearing Loss (CDHL). She has a master’s degree in Deaf Education from San Francisco State University and recently graduated from Gallaudet University Infants, Toddlers and Families Collaboration & Leadership Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate program. She is involved in cooperative efforts to strengthen statewide systems to ensure all families receive balanced information and have access to specialized services, regardless of where they live.
Kris has served as a board member for Washington State Hands & Voices for over 8 years, and fully supports Hands & Voices open mindedness about communication modalities and believes in their motto, “What works for your child is what makes the choice right.™”
About Kim
Kim Hamren is the Parent Infant Coordinator and Early Interventionist at Listen and Talk in Seattle. Over the years Kim has served as a preschool teacher, LSLS, Cert. Auditory Verbal Therapist, preschool coordinator and presenter at various national conferences.
She received her Teacher of the Deaf certification and her B.S. in Education from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, her M.Ed. in Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and her certification as a LSLS Certified Auditory Verbal Therapist. Email Kim
About Kimberly
Kimberly Peters, Ph.D., is a parent as well as a speech-language pathologist, audiologist, and former public school English teacher. She completed her graduate education and clinical training in communication sciences and disorders at the University of Connecticut in 2001. She worked at the New England Center for Hearing Rehabilitation for 9 years as a rehabilitative specialist, consulting with school districts and providing spoken language intervention to infants, children, and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing.
In 2002, she accepted a position at Western Washington University. Kimberly is a Professor, Chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Director of the Aural Rehabilitation Clinic at Western. She provides clinical services, supervises graduate students, teaches courses in pediatric hearing loss and habilitation, and conducts research in language, cognitive development, academic outcomes, and social competence in children who are deaf and hard of hearing.
In her spare time she enjoys hiking and running the trails in Whatcom County with her family and Jolie, her 10-pound agility dog.
About Siri
Siri Adams is a new board member with Washington Hands and Voices. Siri connected with Hands & Voices after her youngest daughter was diagnosed as Hard of Hearing. Hands & Voices has been a support and reference for the Adams family as they work to make sure their daughter has the support she needs to succeed.
As a parent of a young child with Hearing Loss, Siri understands the need and the value of this organization. She is excited to provide support to this program and help other children and families in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community.