Advisory Council

Welcome to the USDB Advisory Council. The purpose of the Council is to advise the USDB Superintendent and Associate Superintendents regarding the needs of Utah children who are deaf, blind, and deaf-blind. Advisory Council meetings are held at least ten times per year and are open to the public. If you’d like to apply to serve on the council, please fill out an application and send to TamaraF@usdb.org

Advisory Council Leadership

Chair, Ray Wright

Ray Wright is originally from Southern California where he grew up with his two sisters that were both born profoundly deaf. At the age of 22, he was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa and found out he was legally blind. He continued his work in the Motion Picture Exhibition field as a Theatre Manager, Promotions Coordinator, Company Photographer, and Graphic Designer. In 2001, Ray became totally blind and received blindness training in Northern California at the Orientation Center for the Blind. It was there he was introduced to woodworking as a blind individual. After his training, he was elected to the Board of Directors at the Vista Center for the Blind in Palo Alto, California where he remained until
he moved to Utah in 2007. Ray became a student at DSBVI in 2008 where he focused on honing his blindness skills including advancing his woodworking knowledge. After graduating, he started his own woodworking business and continued to study, practice, and demonstrate alternative approaches to non-visual woodworking techniques on a state and national level. Ray has entered his wooden creations in juried art exhibits in several states. He has won many blue ribbons for his designs. In the Utah State Fair, he won Best of Show awards two consecutive years in a row. Ray continues to own and operate his woodworking business and is currently the woodshop instructor at the Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Salt Lake City where he is able to ”pay-it-forward” and teach and share his passion for woodworking.

Ray Wright represents the Council as someone with Interest or Knowledge of Deaf, Blind, and/or Deaf-Blind.

Co-Chair, Philippe Montalette

Philippe Montalette of Utah is a data analyst for Sorenson Communications and has been with the company for over 12 years. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology from the University of Phoenix. He is currently treasurer of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) as 3rd term. He is a former president of the Utah Association of the Deaf (UAD). Montalette’s passion is working with and raising funds for various local non-profit organizations like UAD and Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf. He strongly believes in partnerships with different organizations. He has enjoyed hosting ASL Films movies in Salt Lake City and St. George for a few years. Montalette, who was born in Paris, France, and spent his childhood in New York City and London, England, enjoys traveling, hiking, and spending time with his family. Montalette is married to Yvonne.

Philippe Montalette represents the council as a Deaf or Hard of Hearing Adult.

Advisory Council Members

Jared Allebest

Jared Allebest was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Laguna Hills, California. He went to an oral school at Kaiser Elementary in Costa Mesa. He later attended University High School in Irvine, California which was a magnet school for Deaf and Hard of Hearing high school students. Jared learned ASL at University High and later went on a Sign Language mission for the LDS Church in Rochester, New York. After his mission, he went to Brigham Young University he graduated from BYU with a BA in English. A year later, he attended law school at Thomas Jefferson of School of Law in San Diego, California. He graduated in 2009 with a J.D. and moved to Utah to practice law. Jared opened up his own law practice, Allebest Law Group, and began representing both hearing and deaf clients on a wide variety of legal matters. He specialized in the following areas of law: family law, estate planning, business law, discrimination law, and Deaf Rights. He is currently working for Goldman Sachs and is the Co-Chair for Loop Utah, an ongoing advocacy campaign dedicated to educating Utah venues about the many benefits of hearing loop technology, which delivers sound directly to an individual’s telecoil-equipped hearing aid or cochlear implant and gives the Hard of Hearing (HoH) community the enriched experience they deserve in venues across the state of Utah. He has visited 27 countries around the world. News story about Jared Allebest.

Jared Allebest represents the Council as a Deaf or Hard of Hearing Adult.

Kari Harbath

Kari grew up in Ogden, UT- benefiting from a rich childhood and all Ogden has to offer. Kari graduated from Weber State University in 2014 with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and PR and currently works at a Utah-based tech company, Pluralsight. During her tenure at Pluralsight, Kari has worked with international authors and helped in managing social media coverage of Pluralsight LIVE: including covering keynote speeches from Michelle Obama and Malala Yousafzai. Kari has also authored her own Pluralsight course: Understanding Ableism in the Workplace. Kari is mom to an awesome USDB student, Sloan, who is diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome and profoundly DeafBlind. Through an extremely challenging few years of change and loss for her family, Kari believes there truly is healing through advocacy and community engagement. Kari aims to advocate for disability rights and resources, while learning from the disability community along the way. Kari writes and connects with others through her website Sloan Strength, presented on DeafBlindness and Sloan’s journey to medical professionals at Intermountain Healthcare, has been featured on several webinars and podcasts, and was the recipient of the 2020 Upworthy Lead with Love award. Kari looks forward to serving as a member on the USDB Advisory council with a student actively in the school system, learning from so many of the awesome educators and resources USDB has to offer!

Kari Harbath represents the Council as a Parent of a Deaf-blind Child.

LeAnn Wood

LeAnn Wood is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology with an emphasis in teratology, or the study of birth defects. She has spent the last 25 years as a parent volunteer supporting the public education of her five children and advocating for all children. For the past ten years, she has focused on education legislation and policy while serving as the Utah PTA Education Commissioner and Utah PTA Advocacy Vice President. LeAnn has served on numerous state education committees as a parent representative, such as the Accountability Redesigned Advisory Committee, Assessment and Accountability Policy Advisory Committee, State Assessment Parent Review Committee, and the School Fees Task Force. For the past six years, she has also served as the Secretary for the Utah Public Education Coalition. LeAnn and her husband, Darren, live in Kaysville, where she spends her free time reading and traveling with her family.

Shari Solomon-Klebba

Shari Solomon-Klebba was born in Oklahoma, but after a series of moves in the States and abroad, her family settled in Salt Lake City. After receiving degrees from Utah State University in Elementary and Deaf Education, Shari became a Teacher of the Deaf and has served in the field of Deaf Education for 33 years in Utah, Wyoming, Maine, and Colorado. Since 2015, Shari has been the secondary science teacher at JMS. Beyond the classroom walls, she has been creating a YouTube channel featuring educational videos in ASL, offering a valuable resource for the Deaf. She also coaches UDSB’s Academic Bowl team, has assisted in LEGO Robotics League, and has coached Battle of the Books teams. When she isn’t at school, she enjoys being involved in Girl Scouts, camping, hiking, and being in the outdoors with her daughter and wife. USDB is very proud of her, she was also selected as a recipient of the national LifeChanger Award, a prestigious honor, nominated by her peers.

Shari serves in the non-voting deaf educator position.

John Clements

John Clements lost a significant portion of his vision as a young adult. He began what would become a full working career with the Federal Government. He completed his service as a Supervisory Management Program Analyst. He earned a BA in English with a minor in Asian Studies from Weber State University. He is an avid reader, taking full advantage of the opportunity provided by the NLB. He enjoys his family, reading, bike riding, and helping his granddaughter with her Chinese homework. John has embraced technology, integrating it into his life to enhance and enable.

John Clements represents the Council as a Blind or Visually Impaired Adult.

Jen Hayes

Jennifer (Jen) Hayes received her BS in Social Work from Idaho State University and her Master’s of Education in Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education from Utah State University with an emphasis in Deafblindness. She was part of the first cohort of Helen Keller Fellows and a contributor in creating the Open Hands Open Access (OHOA) Intervener Training Modules. As a mother of two deafblind children (one deceased, one living) and two typically developing children, the study of deafblindness has become part of her daily world and reality. Jen enjoys spending time with her family, reading, running, crocheting, knitting, crafting, and blogging. She is a mother, advocate, caregiver, student, and artist with a life-long passion to grow and learn while helping those around her achieve their best self regardless of their perceived limitations. jenhayescreations@gmail.com

Jen Hayes represents the Council as a Parent of a Deaf-blind Child.

Aunilie Hathaway

Aunilie is blind. She feels that the most important thing she has learned is the ability to advocate for herself in school, work and social situations. She feels it is very important to give students the skills they need to transition from K-12 education to higher education, trade schools or careers in order to prepare them for adulthood and to become active contributors to their communities. She received her National Certification in Unified English Braille in 2018. Aunilie is currently the Life Skills/Fiber Arts and backup Braille Instructor at the Utah State Services for the Blind and visually Impaired. Aunilie is currently a student at Western Governor’s University in their Bachelor of Business Administration – Human Resource Management program. As a lifelong member of the blind community, Aunilie has gained many skills, heard many perspective’s, and has had many opportunities to observe others in the community. She hopes that her experiences will assist in helping USDB offer the deaf, blind and deaf-blind children of Utah the best possible education and opportunities as they grow up to be productive contributing citizens to society.

Aunilie represents an individual who is blind or visually impaired for the council.

Amy Query

Amy Query holds a B.A. in Deaf Studies from Utah Valley University and an M.Ed. in Special Education from the University of Utah, where she also earned endorsements in Deafblind and Deaf and Hard of Hearing education. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Utah. For over a decade, Amy has worked as a Teacher of the Deafblind, following her earlier role as an intervener. For the past six years, she has been teaching field studies and student teaching courses at the University of Utah, sharing her passion for training and mentoring the next generation of educators committed to supporting students with sensory impairments. Amy is deeply dedicated to her field and finds immense fulfillment in building meaningful connections with students who are deafblind and helping them enhance their independence and communication.

Amy represents a position of knowledge of deaf, blind or deafblind.

Kiara Guymon

Kiara Guymon and her husband are hearing, and have hearing and deaf children. Her deaf child is profoundly deaf with no auditory nerves, making ASL the main and only focused language of her daughter. Understanding ASL is her child’s only connection to her family and community. Kiara is a dedicated mother and embraces the unique journey of raising a deaf daughter. She wants all of her kids to have the same opportunities and equal access.

She has given her time to volunteer whenever needed at Elizabeth DeLong USDB. She and her husband were also asked to be on a parent panel at an annual family activity the school holds called “Love Our Language”. Understanding the benefits to sports, she has also worked with her local Recreation Center to help guide the Rec with bringing interpreters to sports so her kids can play together and have equal access to coaches and teammates. more

Kiara Guymon Represents a parent of a deaf child.

Gretel Sampson

Gretel Sampson graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Special Education. She works for USDB in the Deafblind Services Division. She has taught in Nebraska and Utah. She became the Project Coordinator for the Utah Deafblind Project in 2010 and continues to serve a small number of students each year. Gretel has served on numerous local, state and national committees related to deafblindness over the years. She has been the lead on the Utah Deafblind Advisory Committee, Western Regional Early Intervention Committee and has planned and executed the Fall and Spring Deafblind Conferences in Utah. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband and has three daughters, a son-in-law and a mini goldendoodle.

Katie Nelson

Katie has been an educator for 16 years, teaching math to general education middle school students in Canyons School District. She has a passion for accessibility and works intentionally to match students with readily available tools and teach explicitly various access opportunities to all students. Katie’s husband Justin is blind with low vision due to an inherited genetic change. They had a son in 2016 who also inherited this genetic difference. Katie’s son has been served by USDB Outreach. Katie has formed meaningful relationships with blind adults and parents of blind children both locally and throughout the world. She is grateful to be part of various blind organizations and to have opportunities to connect with other members of the blind community.

For more information about the USDB Advisory Council, contact Executive Assistant Tamara Flint tamaraf@usdb.org