Honoring Leeanne Seaver & Her Influence on Hand & Voices
Leeanne announced her transition from active status on the Hands & Voices Board of Directors effective July 31, 2024. Since her decision to move to emeritus status, I have been reflecting on her influence to the development of this unique organization and would like to share my appreciation of her impact on Hands & Voices.
Of all her traits, it might be her vision that has impacted Hands & Voices most significantly. Leeanne’s vision was operational even before Hands & Voices existed. Since the early days of the evolution to parent-driven/family-centered practices, Leeanne has shaped and given voice to the critical role of parents in our journey to support and educate deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children. We began about 34 years ago, with Laura Lunde, an audiologist at Denver Ear Institute, who created the space for parent input and the development of parent-to-parent support. Under Leeanne’s leadership, this effort grew in Colorado to the Hearing Impaired Family Support Network, (yes, we did need a different name!) then with Janet’s involvement to Colorado Families for Hands & Voices, and finally, Hands &Voices Headquarters where Leeanne served as our first Executive Director.
Leeanne’s vision had a leading role in naming our organization, our vision, the focus on parent leadership for our national conference, our newspaper, The Communicator, and forging our place at the table of professionals. She even brought us our motto that has stood the test of time: “What works for your child is what makes the choice right.” This vision supported H&V to influence local, national, and international parent leadership within EHDI, (Early Hearing Detection and Intervention), the Global Coalition of Parents of Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing (GPODHH), and the practice of Family-Centered Early Intervention principles, as well as the FCEI conference in Austria.
In the early days of Hands & Voices, the discussions to go national started early and persisted. A small focus group met in Denver and interests from parents in other states moved us from an idea to implementation and establishment of a Board of Directors. The parent partnership in deaf education took off to where we are today.
This very brief summary represents some of the many ways Leeanne has influenced the direction and work of Hands & Voices. We are not losing her support; fortunately, we can look forward to her continued visionary influence even as she moves to emeritus status on the Board of Directors.
We love and appreciate you, Leeanne, and wish you continued success in your writing and publication endeavors.
Your forever friend and partner in our unwavering quest to ensure families of DHH children have everything they need so their children can be who they want to be in this world and an educational system that will provide the resources to fully support attainment of their goals.
Other Reflections
As Leeanne leaves her current role with us at Hands & Voices, I love what Christie Yoshinaga-Itano said recently when reflecting on Leeanne’s contributions, “I always say it (H&V) happened because of the people. I am so privileged to have spent my career working with some of the most remarkable people on the planet!!” That has been true in the past, as Leeanne has contributed so much to the organization’s foundations of vision and mission in the early days as she began to ‘see’ Hands & Voices and what it could be, and is certainly true in the present with our emerging leadership across our Chapters. I know as the future unfolds our organization will be in good hands with continued leadership as Leeanne’s legacy resonates throughout this organization. Thanks, Leeanne, for all you have given to get us where we are today. – Janet DesGeorges, H&V Executive Director
Having sat with Leeanne early on at the Colorado table, and (lightly) edited her columns for quite awhile now, I appreciate that vision to see H&V “Global”. It was a gift, and thus the Seaver Vision Award was aptly named. Leeanne could give a thoughtful but persistent nudge or encouragement depending on what you needed; and was always thinking beyond this one situation to the larger process. I think hers was the nudge that created the impetus for so many articles and presentations: on the beauty and mayhem of siblings, teaching our kids about sex using the correct terms, the Art of Story, and one of my favorite of her columns on lullabies. I am glad Leeanne and her son Dane took their victory lap at the Leadership Conference last fall in Michigan. We have learned to lactate and lead, to inspire leadership in others, and to thrive even in the unexpected life. We also learned we can have a whole lot of fun while working hard, too. – Sara Kennedy, H&V FL3 Core Team, Editor
Board member and Louisiana ASTra Coordinator Rana Ottallah shared that she was sad to say she only shared about a year of close interaction with Leeanne on the Board, but that year was enough to help her see Leeanne’s vision. The nomination to receive the Seaver Vision Award was an honor, but after getting to know Leeanne more closely, it filled her with so much pride. She knows Leeanne is now watching from a few steps away making sure we are carrying the vision and building on those 34 years of greatness, with many more to come.
Editor’s note: Leeanne Seaver will return to wrap up her “A Perfect World” column in our Winter 2025 issue.
H&V Communicator – Fall 2024