2026 EHDI FAMILY CONFERENCE

William Frentz is a nonprofit leader, former professional athlete, and national advocate for inclusion and accessibility. He currently serves as Senior Manager, Circle Insiders and Annual Fund at the U.S. Soccer Federation, where he leads supporter engagement and philanthropic initiatives that expand access to soccer nationwide. Born profoundly deaf and now a bilateral cochlear implant user, William played 16 years with the United States Deaf Men’s National Soccer Team and served as team captain for five years, competing in Deaf World Cups and Deaflympics. He brings both lived experience and professional expertise to his advocacy, and currently serves on the board of Hands & Voices – Kentucky Chapter, supporting families and advancing inclusive opportunities for children who are Deaf and hard of hearing.

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.

Throughout the first half of the 2010s, Shireen Hafeez spent endless hours advocating for improved medical and educational policy for deaf/hard of hearing children. However, despite every legislative victory, a core issue still loomed large: there is a lack of career opportunities for deaf/hard of hearing folk. Shireen hoped to mitigate this problem by attacking it at its base – education.

After months of brainstorming, Shireen had an epiphany. Technological skills were swiftly becoming essential across all sectors of the labor market, and Shireen realized that the Digital Age could provide the deaf/hard of hearing community with the equality they always deserved. From that moment, Shireen decided to dedicate her life to promoting not just knowledge of Computer Science but rather a passion for Computer Science amongst deaf/hard of hearing students. In 2015, she founded Deaf Kids Code.

Since the very first Deaf Kids Code workshop, we have worked endlessly with school districts, schools for the deaf, corporations, and other partners to provide equitable access to Computer Science education. We continue to host independent and partnership workshops, provide educators with long term curriculum tools -- software, hardware, and curriculum plans -- connect students to internships, and much more! An equitable labor market is possible, and it begins with equitable education.