About

We are Linguabee, nice to meet you!

Passionate worker bees who share the same mission of making a difference in providing sign language interpreting services.

Acacia Clark

dispatcher dispatch bee

Acacia thrives as a dedicated dispatcher with Linguabee. With precision and efficiency, she helps facilitate communication among interpreters, clients, and within the Hive, allowing everyone involved to connect seamlessly, much like worker bees collaborating for the success of their colony. Always focused on teamwork and adaptability, Acacia believes there is no task too big or too small and is committed to providing assistance however possible to keep the Hive operating smoothly. Acacia is happy to have found a family with Linguabee and is proud to be able to help provide communication access for the Deaf community.

Born a Northern city girl and raised as a Southern baby, Acacia is a laidback, bubbly person who loves people and always has a smile on her face. Her passions and hobbies include cooking, aerial dance, discovering new music and video games, playing the cello, photography, crocheting, interior decorating, hosting parties, and planning activities with friends. A phrase that speaks to her heart is “Bee a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.” Acacia happily celebrates life with her partner/long-time best friend and is mother to three fur babies: a beautiful tabby cat and two rambunctious Huskies.

Allison Torgove

lead dispatcher lead dispatch bee

Allison is our highly motivated and results-oriented Lead Dispatcher. As the first point of contact for all email and phone inquiries, she excels at providing efficient and timely support to our customers and interpreters. Prior to joining the hive, Allison was a scheduler at Accommodating Ideas, working closely with Southern California businesses and local interpreters. She is dedicated to serving the Deaf community and is thrilled to be doing so at a Deaf-owned company like Linguabee.

Allison hails from Texas and currently lives with her family in Los Angeles. Her favorite activities are walking her dog on the beach, pilates and hiking in the Santa Monica mountains. She is grateful to the incredible teachers at Los Angeles Pierce College for providing her with an education in Deaf culture and sign language interpreting.

Ashley Vickers

customer experience specialist colione happy bee

Ashley Vickers is a customer experience expert and sign language interpreter scheduler with a proven track record of managing and supporting teams nationwide. At Linguabee, she plays a key role in ensuring the seamless coordination of interpreting assignments. In addition, Ashley serves as the Social Media Manager for the American Society for Deaf Children, where she amplifies the organization's mission and fosters strong connections within the Deaf community. With a background in accessibility marketing and a commitment to inclusive representation, she has led initiatives at Apple, supporting Deaf representation in accessibility content.

Ashley Vickers is a passionate artist and creative based in Atlanta, where she enjoys running, reading, and spending time with her Boston Terrier. A proud graduate of RIT, Ashley is dedicated to exploring the arts and engaging with diverse communities, both online and in person. She loves visiting NYC, drawing inspiration from its rich culture. As an advocate for the Deaf community, Ashley integrates her personal and professional life to promote inclusion and creativity.

Christi Mason

customer/interpreter experience specialist caliwa happy bee

With nearly two decades in a Deaf Educational environment, including 16 years dedicated to supporting interpreting in Deaf Educational settings, Christi brings a wealth of experience in support, operations, and leadership. She has played key roles in driving organizational transformations and takes pride in fostering growth within teams and the broader organization. Passionate about inclusive education, Christi strives to create collaborative environments that empower consumers, incorporate service providers’ unique perspectives, and address overall access needs.

Christi is a nature-loving mother with a talent for nurturing both plants and people. As an introvert who values balance in all aspects of life, she thrives in environments where she can support critical missions with a thoughtful, human-centered approach. Her passion lies in fostering growth, creating harmony, and making meaningful contributions to the world around her.

Damon Timm

director of tech geek bee

Damon Timm joined Linguabee in 2016 as a software engineer and now oversees technology and finance for Linguabee. He remains deeply inspired by Linguabee’s mission to integrate technical innovation with deaf-centered interpreting.

Damon learned sign language in high school and continued studying ASL in college. He began working as a certified interpreter in 2002 and later joined UMass Memorial Medical Center as a medical interpreter. There, Damon leveraged his expertise in computer programming and data management to design and implement an internal scheduling platform tailored to the needs of the hospital’s interpreting staff and freelancers.

With his unique blend of technical expertise and firsthand interpreting experience, Damon brings a distinctive perspective and invaluable contributions to Linguabee’s mission. He resides in Maryland with his partner, children, and a flock of chickens.

Emily Cassese

director of corporate services beekeeper

Emily Cassese is the Director of Corporate Services at Linguabee, where she oversees financial operations, human resources, and compliance. Since joining Linguabee in 2023, Emily has focused on streamlining organizational processes and fostering a foundation for efficient, transparent operations. With a career focused on advocacy, strategic planning, and writing, Emily brings a deep commitment to building policies and systems that empower both internal teams and external partners while advancing accessibility and equity in workplace practices.

When she's not fine-tuning policies at Linguabee, Emily Cassese can be found with a coffee in hand, exploring bookstores or planning her next adventure. With a love for exploration, Emily enjoys traveling to new destinations, soaking in live music, and uncovering the quiet history in old cemeteries. At home, she shares life with her partner, two dogs (including a world-famous corgi), and a cat, while creating engaging video content about daily life as a Deaf person and how to advocate for an accessible world. An avid reader and proud Boston Bruins fan, Emily brings curiosity and enthusiasm to everything she does--whether it's cheering on her team or sharing her experience with the world.

Hanna Cotton

senior operations specialist super bee

Hanna Cotton is a Senior Operations Specialist, bringing expertise and dedication to optimizing processes while supporting teams across Linguabee. Since joining the company, she has taken on several roles to gain a comprehensive understanding of operations and now leverages her versatile skill set to foster seamless departmental collaboration and deliver exceptional service. Her work reflects a deep passion for effective communication and operational efficiency.

Born and raised in Louisiana, Hanna was introduced to the Deaf and DeafBlind communities at a young age, which inspired her to become an interpreter in 2016. Her interpreting experience spans a variety of settings, where she witnessed firsthand the biases and challenges faced by interpreters of color. This fueled her commitment to advocating for and supporting interpreters on a broader scale.

Outside of work, Hanna is embracing a more active and healthy lifestyle. You can often find her on a pickleball court or at a Pilates class. She continues to reside in Louisiana, cherishing time with her family.

Kate Lorenzo

interpreter experience specialist caliwa happy bee

Kate joined Linguabee in August 2024, adding valuable support to the team. With a strong background in problem-solving, critical thinking, and attention to detail, she assists in ensuring efficient operations in SoCal. As she fosters relationships with interpreters throughout SoCal, Kate remains committed to supporting their well-being while upholding a Deaf-centric approach to assignment scheduling.

Kate is embracing life in her mid-20s and exploring what it has to offer. In 2024, she’s ventured into skydiving, trying liver for the first time, and hitting the slopes on a snowboard. Her favorite color is yellow, and each night, she goes to sleep with her cat, Monique.

Maggie Herzog

colione contract manager colione forebee

Margaret Herzog (Maggie) is the COLIONE Contract Manager at Linguabee, leading the Colorado and Nationwide team to deliver exceptional customer, interpreter, and consumer experiences. She excels in supporting our Bees, enhancing training processes, and fostering a collaborative, positive work culture. Certified as a Transformational Leader as Coach, Maggie brings expertise in project management and team development, combined with a deep love for building meaningful interpersonal relationships. Known for her dedication and passion, she is committed to improving accessibility and providing outstanding service.

When she isn’t working, Maggie is a wife, mom of two, and housemate to a dog and two cats who think they run the place. Fueled by coffee and tea, she loves exploring international foods with her hubby and dreams of a food-cation through Sicily, Greece, France, India, and South Korea. Maggie enjoys spending time with her family, whether it’s exploring the outdoors in Colorado or trying new recipes at home. When she manages to escape the chaos of kids, you’ll find her sneaking off with a cup of tea and a good book (or two).

Maritza Alexander

customer experience specialist caliwa happy bee

Starting with her time as a coordinator for her university's volunteer interpreting program, Maritza has always loved the art of scheduling. Working to ensure customer satisfaction and request fulfillment with a touch of sweetness is what she enjoys most.

Maritza is someone who loves painting and all things creative, animals, trash reality television shows, and is obsessed with the color pink.

Nancy Hajdamacha

caliwa contract manager caliwa forebee

With over a decade of experience in the interpreting industry, Nancy brings expertise in project management and operations, ensuring communication access that bridges communities. She is passionate about fostering equity and inclusion and is dedicated to creating impactful solutions that empower the Deaf community. Giving back and supporting the Deaf ecosystem is at the heart of her work, driving meaningful connections and progress.

An adventurer at heart, Nancy thrives on exploring new horizons, camping under the stars, and chasing breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. A chai enthusiast, she savors life’s simplest joys with family and friends, especially her ever-curious preteen. For Nancy, life’s most decadent moments are found in nature, meaningful relationships, and the thrill of the journey.

Pacts Karlsson

customer/interpreter experience specialist caliwa happy bee

Pacts is a Customer Experience Specialist and Caliwa Happy Bee who supports customers and consumers in the Northern California and Washington hives by ensuring all i's are dotted and t's crossed, whether it comes to requests for interpreting services, associated documentation and communication, or accounts and billing. He is also, according to some, pretty decent at optimizing workflows, automating processes, and finding bugs in platforms, though leaves the squashing of said bugs to others. Before buzzing over to the Linguabee hive, Pacts worked in HR at a major VRS company for 5 years, and prior to that, as an educational administrator at a NYC-area community college for nearly 10 years. Pacts has degrees in art and design which, while seemingly unrelated to his professional trajectory, have instilled in him the value of creativity in problem-solving.

Pacts is a West Coast expat living on the East Coast, having grown up in Southern California followed by a 12-year stint in the Bay Area before moving to NYC more than 15 years ago; he currently lives in Brooklyn with his fiancée Jennifer, teenage daughter Ezra, and their two cats, Brioche and Galette. Pacts enjoys cooking and baking from scratch (though ironically, not necessarily French breads and pastries), arts and crafts, daydreaming about off-the-grid homesteading, geeking out over spreadsheets, and obsessing over all things lime green (he hopes to be like the Green Lady of Brooklyn when he grows up). He is known for his exacting attention to detail, liberal use of snark and wordplay as love languages, and for winning the 6th grade school spelling bee, though he can't for the life of him remember what the winning word was. (He is also rather fond of parentheticals.)

Renca Dunn

amazon customer experience specialist amazon happy bee

Renca Dunn has recently earned her doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is now Dr. Dunn! Over the past decade, she has worked as a course instructor, translator, and news reporter. A passionate community advocate, Renca uses humor to highlight important issues within the Deaf community.

In addition to her advocacy work, she serves as a co-cheer coach at the Iowa School for the Deaf and is a devoted fur parent to her newly adopted cat, Claire. Renca loves traveling the world, learning new things, savoring spicy foods, and enjoying lattes!

ID: A white and Hispanic woman is standing in front of the camera, smiling. She is wearing a black shirt with a few gold buttons on her shoulder. She has her hair in a bun, is wearing ILY earrings, and bright pink lipstick.

Rose Viola

interpreter experience specialist caliwa happy bee

I first joined Linguabee as a subcontractor, supporting financial projects. Now, after over two wonderful years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with our incredible teams across Southern California, Northern California, and Washington. Currently, my focus is on supporting interpreters in Northern California and Washington as part of the Interpreter Experience team!

My mornings aren’t complete without a vanilla chai (with an espresso shot ‘chaser’ ☕🐝) and kisses from my 5-year old pug. I love sunset beach walks, paddleboarding, pickleball, puzzles, Legos, and unwinding with a good Mario game. 🎮🌅

Ryan Shephard

operations forebee / founder

Aka Mountain Goat. A nickname among my friends for my love of mountains, backpacking, hunting for primitive hot springs, night hiking, and yeah, probably because of how I climb.

Timothy Scully

accountant precision bee

Timothy Scully serves as an Administrative Operations Specialist at Linguabee, and has been with the organization since 2022. Tim is an integral part of the Corporate Services Department and manages accounting operations, keeping watch over financial and special projects. His services provide as the foundation for daily operations, ensuring that nothing is amiss within financial operations and compliance. His expertise in operational efficiency and attention to detail make him a vital asset to the organization.

Born in Washington D.C. and now residing in Florida, Timothy Scully cherishes a vibrant family life with a fiancee for 10 years, seven children, six grandchildren, four dogs (including a deaf dog), and a cat. In his free time, Timothy enjoys playing board and video games with his fiancée, watching movies, and engaging in pickleball. He has a passion for traveling, camping, boating, flying drones, and off-roading. An enthusiastic learner, Timothy thrives on discovering and embracing new experiences.

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