Mariana was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico. She is the mother of two children, her youngest was born profoundly deaf. She serves as the Guide By Your Side Program Coordinator and the ASTra Program Coordinator in Indiana. Her biggest passion is to ensure that every child with hearing loss in Indiana has access to and receives qualified services to meet their needs and achieve successful outcomes. She has a deep passion for supporting families through the different stages of the educational process that often require the parents to become skilled advocates.

Lisa is one of the founders, former Board President, and Guide By Your Side (GBYS) Coordinator for Indiana Hands & Voices. In 2004 she was part of the start-up of the Indiana Hands & Voices chapter and in 2009 she secured funding for the GBYS Program. During her time as the Indiana Hands & Voices GBYS Coordinator she was the first point of contact for families of newly identified children. Lisa is currently the Director of Programs for Hands & Voices Headquarters and one of the Co-Directors of the Family Leadership in Language and Learning (FL3) Project. Most importantly, Lisa is the proud parent of 4 children including her son who is hard of hearing/deaf. Lisa currently serves on the Indiana Department of Education Special Education Advisory Committee, and the board of the Coalition for Global Hearing Health. Lisa’s professional interest include; Parent Advocacy; Implementation of parent participation and engagement in systems building; Parent to Parent support; Deaf Education Reform; IDEA, ESSA, Part C and Part B Training to Parents, and Parent Leadership Training and Development.