Patrick Beyrow
President

Patrick joined the board of directors in 2002 and was elected Treasurer 6 months after his initial election to the board. His tenure as President started in August of 2006. A native of Germany, he has also lived in France, Spain and South Africa.
Patrick has two BAs in Media and Non-Profit management as well as a medical degree. He is currently attending Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management for the Executive MBA program and has finished the first year of the program with great success.

In his professional life Patrick is the director of Diverse Communications, a non-profit consulting agency that develops programs and trainings for health organizations throughout Illinois as well as other states. He joined DC in 2000 and took the agency’s director position in January 2006.

His interest in CAIRS goes back to his mother who is hearing impaired since childhood.

Debra Prendergast
Treasurer

Debra Prendergast is the present Treasurer.  Debra is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a PhD in Public Policy. She brings more than 20 years of accounting experience to the organization.  Debra is currently a Program Coordinator at Northwestern Business College.  She is also a board member of a national non-profit organization, Teachers of Accounting at Two-Year Colleges (TACTYC) and is on the auction committee for the annual Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) gala.

Farrah Tunk
Board Secretary

Farrah F. Tunk joined the Board of Directors in 2005 and currently serves as secretary of the Executive Board. In 2002, Farrah graduated from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago and works as an investigator in the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Her position at HUD mainly involves the investigation of fair housing complaints under the federal Fair Housing Act and various other civil rights authorities. She is actively involved with discrimination complaints alleging disability. Farrah is regularly volunteers her time at local animal shelters and is a foster parent for a non-profit organization that helps place homeless dogs into permanent homes. Farrah is a native of the Chicago-land area and currently lives in the western suburbs of Chicago with her husband and her two beagles.

Tom Adamo
Board Vice Chair

Tom Adamo currently sits as the Vice Chair for CAIRS. Tom recently rejoined the CAIRS board as a general board member, but previously severed one (1) term as the Board Chair.  Commonly known in the Deaf Community as “Deaf Elvis”, Tom keeps himself busy holding various part time positions such as an Administrative Cash Assistant, Sales Representative for Melaleuca, The Wellness Company and Mary Kay Cosmetics and works Full time as a Facilitator at Goodwill Industries where he counsels and educates Deaf and disabled individuals on vocational rehabilitation skills and employment retention skills.

Benro Ogunyipe
Board member

Benro Ogunyipe joined the CAIRS board in December 2005. His experiences as a client of interpreting referral services make him a valuable resource to the board.  A former graduate of Gallaudet University, Benro is now employed by the Illinois Department of Human Services as an Accessibility and Safety Specialist in the office of Compliance, Access and Workplace Safety. Born in France and a Nigerian nationalist, Benro brings a diverse perspective to the organization.

Benro is actively involved in the deaf community.  He's affiliated with various organizations including the Chicago Club of the Deaf, Chicagoland Black Deaf Advocates, National Black Deaf Advocates and the Western Suburban Association of the Deaf.  Additionally, Benro plays Flag Football in the United States Flag Football Association, as a member on an all Deaf squad competing in various tournaments over the past 5 years.

Wilma Alvarado-Little
Board member

Wilma Alvarado-Little is a medical Spanish interpreter/trainer with over 20 years of experience in the health care field. She is the co-chair of the Board of the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care, program manager of the Administrative Core and the Director of the Outreach and Dissemination Core for the Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities at the University at Albany, State University of New York and a member of the Multicultural Advisory Board for the state of New York Office of Mental Health.

Wilma enjoys Thai cuisine as well as attending theatrical productions.  As a stress reliever, she also is involved in a rigorous yoga routine.

Shawn Lockhart
Board Member

Shawn Lockhart joined the Board on January 24, 2006.  Shortly after graduating from National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), Shawn became employed by the Federal Aviation Administration as Airway Transportation Systems Specialists and also acts as a Union Steward for his Local, Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS).

Shawn’s free time is primarily devoted to the almost impossible mission of beating Paul George (Executive Director of CAIRS) at golf.  His other pursuits include billiards, physical fitness and home improvement projects.

Lauren Hamilton
Board Member

Lauren Hamilton is proud to be one of the newest members of the CAIRS board, having recently graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2006.  With just a year’s experience in the professional Interpreting world, the outlook she brings is fresh and current.  She hopes to continue the successful relationship CAIRS has with its Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Hearing, and Interpreter Clients. Lauren’s goal is to focus on communicating her colleagues’ point-of-view on the Sign Language Interpreting field.  She encourages anyone she works with to provide her with valuable feedback and insights she can bring to the Board.

Brianne Deking
Board Member

Brianne L. DeKing joined the CAIRS board in January 2007. She currently is a freelance sign language interpreter in the Chicagoland area with a B.A. in ASL-English Interpretation from Columbia College. Brianne is also a part of the CAIRS emergency pager service.

Brianne’s journey to becoming a sign language interpreter began in the spring of 2001. She took her first ASL class at Indian University where she was a business marketing major. After falling in love with the language she changed majors and transferred to Columbia College to pursue an education in ASL-English interpretation. Since graduation Brianne couldn’t be happier with her decision to become an interpreter. She loves working with the deaf community and has a true passion for American Sign Language.

When Brianne isn’t interpreting she enjoys Bikram yoga and spending time with her family and friends.

Patrick Beyrow

Debra Prendergast

Farrah Tunk

Tom Adamo

Benro Ogunyipe

Shawn Lockhart

Brianne Deking