Arlene Garcia Gunderson
The Utah Department of Workforce Services Utah State Office of Rehabilitation has selected Arlene Garcia Gunderson as the new director of the Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Gunderson will be responsible for the oversight and administration of programs assisting Utah’s deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing communities and their families. Gunderson’s career includes serving as deaf services coordinator, high school social studies teacher, K-12 school for the deaf principal, American Sign Language (ASL) lead and co-director of an ASL-interpreter preparation program. Gunderson most recently worked as an ASL assistant professor, as well as a consultant and project lead for the first mobile, on-demand and live interactive video chat tutoring, education and practice platform for the deaf in both K-12 and college-level subjects. She also led a development team in creating free, online courses for deaf adults in Ontario, Canada. Gunderson also served as the first director of the Gallaudet University Regional Center — Southwest in Austin, Texas, when it opened in 2011.
