FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 14, 2008
CONTACT:                   Brenda Battat
                                    Executive Director
                                    Battat@hearingloss.org – 301.657.2249

 Hearing Loss Association of America Names
Barbara Kelley Deputy Executive Director

Bethesda, MD: Barbara Kelley has been named deputy executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), the nation’s foremost organization for people with hearing loss. She officially assumed the title and duties of her new position on March 7, 2008. She comes to this position at HLAA with excellent credentials and a 20-year career with the organization.

Barbara has been behind the most visible face of HLAA, Hearing Loss Magazine -- the bimonthly publication that is a benefit of membership in the national organization. Since 1989, she has consistently published a first-class publication full of personal narratives about coping with hearing loss, up-to-date information on technology, public policy, and the latest developments in hearing-related research. She has built relationships over the years with authors, professionals in the field of hearing loss, and our members. She will continue as editor-in-chief of Hearing Loss Magazine in addition to her responsibilities as deputy executive director.

Brenda Battat, executive director of HLAA, says of Barbara, “She will bring professionalism to the national office that reflects the standards she sets for herself and her own work. I am delighted that she has agreed to take on this added responsibility for HLAA. Barbara is very sensitive to the impact of hearing loss on individuals and their families and understands the importance of communication access and accessibility issues in the workplace and every day life.”

She has served as publications director on the SHHH/HLAA staff since 1988 and is the recipient of the American Society of Association Executives Gold Circle Award of Excellence in Publishing. She also received a recognition award from the American Library Association for her work on Hearing Loss Magazine.

She edited the book, An Invisible Condition: The Human Side of Hearing Loss by Howard E. “Rocky” Stone, and was managing editor of Our Forgotten Children: Hard of Hearing Pupils in the Schools by Julia M. Davis, Ph.D. She also was editor of a series of Americans with Disabilities guidebooks for communication access in public facilities.

Barbara Kelley graduated from Marietta College in Ohio with a bachelor’s degree in English with distinction. She lives in Reston, Virginia, with her husband, Bill, and eight-year-old son, Patrick. She volunteers in the Great Falls community which includes the strategic planning/expansion committee at her son’s school, Cub Scouts, St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, Great Falls Basketball Hoops Association, and with Fairfax County Park Authority in helping to develop a scientific park for education through astronomy.