The Learning Center for the Deaf is excited to welcome Sarah Glenn-Smith as its new Chief Executive Officer. Sarah was unanimously selected by TLC’s Search Committee and its Board.  She will begin her tenure in the summer of 2018. 

This nationwide search had a unique position to fill, with candidates from many of the leading schools for the deaf in the country and other leading organizations providing services to the deaf. As the first CEO of TLC, Sarah will lead TLC in extending the educational, therapeutic, community, and cultural and research services provided to the deaf and hard of hearing.

The largest employer of people who are deaf in New England, TLC has effectively recruited Deaf staff regionally and nationally.  Its management and board has benefited enormously from its deaf leadership, going back to Marie Philip, the influential Deaf leader who inspired TLC to be an early and exceptional leader in bilingual-bicultural education.  As CEO, Sarah will draw on TLC’s deaf and hearing leadership to deepen TLC’s resources, and extend its impact nationwide and even internationally. Over the years, TLC has experienced a steady growth and increased diversity in the population that it serves. Its two schools are its largest and best-known programs, each a leader in their fields and each led by a Deaf director. TLC’s community and cultural and research services and programs are important contributions and show that TLC has evolved into a complex, nonprofit organization.

Sarah began her career in California at the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness (GLAD) where she became an interpreter with multiple roles. In her first executive position as the Executive Director of Deaf Adult Services in Buffalo, New York, she improved the organization’s financial strength, recruited and positioned deaf leaders throughout the organization, and led and inspired commitment by staff and the community.  From there, Sarah has worked with tremendous success as a Chief Operating Officer, Chief Executive Officer, and President in the healthcare industry as well as in education. Sarah has earned a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, and her dissertation was on audism. Sarah also earned an Executive Masters of Business Administration.

Sarah is an academic who has proven herself to be a results-driven, entrepreneurial leader. This CEO position aligns her love of leadership with her commitment to serving the Deaf community. Both her spouse and her oldest daughter are Deaf.

For a more complete description of TLC’s diverse programming, please visit TLC’s website at www.tlcdeaf.org.