Faculty Directory

The School of Deaf and Deafblind at George Brown Polytechnic brings together industry leaders to shape program and course content. Many of the faculty at the college are still active in their industries today, so they combine day-to-day working realities with academic theories and approaches. We take pride in hiring teachers that are well respected and offer students excellent instruction, industry mentorship and provide valuable additions to their professional networks.

Faculty Members

Faculty Bios:

Nancy Blanchard, B.Sc., M.Sc.

Nancy Blanchard is a faculty member in the School of Deaf and Deafblind Studies at George Brown Polytechnic and the emphasis of her work is with students achieving an advanced diploma in ASL-English Interpreting as well as Honours Bachelor of Interpretation (American Sign Language - English) degree. Since September 2002, she has taught in ASL & Deaf Studies, ASL-English Interpreter and the ASL & Literacy Instructor Programs.

Nancy has a Bachelor of Science degree in American Sign Language and a Masters of Science in Deaf Education. She is a native of Deaf culture and American Sign Language and has extensive experience in second language teaching in Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, New York City, Tokyo, Japan and Toronto, Ontario. Nancy is also a Deaf Interpreter registered under the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada. Also, she provides ASL-English translation services. Nancy also provides training on Instruction and Assessment with ASL as a second language and provides consulting to interpreters, ASL instructors, organizations and referral businesses.

Corene Kennedy, AOCA, M.Ed., COI

Corene Kennedy is a nationally certified American Sign Language (ASL) – English interpreter holding the Certificate of Interpretation (COI) through the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC). Corene graduated from Sheridan College's Interpreter Training Program in 1993 and has been providing freelance interpreting services ever since. Corene earned her Masters of Education in Educational Studies (MES), Leadership and Educational Improvement degree with research interests focusing on community-program partnerships to support praxis and entry to practice for novice interpreters. Prior to her career as an ASL-English interpreter, Corene was a professional artist having graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design (previously known as OCA) in 1988.

In 2004, Corene joined George Brown Polytechnic's ASL-English Interpreter program as a fulltime professor, and was nominated in 2005 for the Crystal Apple Award, honouring outstanding professors at George Brown Polytechnic, and in 2007/08, she was ranked among the top 15 George Brown Polytechnic instructors.

Active in the field, Corene holds memberships with The Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC), the Ontario Association of Visual Language Interpreters (OASLI), the Ontario Association of the Deaf (OAD), the Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT), the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), and the World Association of Visual Language Interpreters (WASLI) and Critical Link (CL). She has served on both Provincial and National committees, holding various portfolios, one of which was as a message equivalency rater for the AVLIC's test of interpretation (TOI).

Cheryl Ramey

Cheryl Ramey is a professor and the Program Co-ordinator in the Deafblind & Intervenor Studies program at George Brown Polytechnic. She has worked in the field of congenital deafblindness and multiple disabilities for the past 35 years. In the most recent nineteen years, she has shared her skills, knowledge and experience through teaching and mentoring students.

Cheryl’s career began with specialized training in deafblindness at the W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind and Deafblind in Ontario in 1987, where she worked as a Resource Consultant for Ministry of Education. Cheryl completed the Management Development Program through the University of Manitoba in June 1998.

Cheryl has sat on a number of boards of directors including the Canadian Deafblind Association, National; Canadian Deafblind Association, Ontario Chapter and the Canadian Helen Keller Centre. She was also the facilitator of a nationwide committee who developed core competencies for Intervenors as well as part of the committee in Ontario developing Behavioural Competencies for Intervenors. She was part of a committee with the Canadian Deafblind Association, Ontario Chapter for the development of online courses focusing on deafblindness and Intervention. Cheryl has presented at numerous conferences and symposiums on deafblindness and multiple disabilities including Deafblind International World Conferences (DBI) in Toronto, Portugal, Australia, Italy and France and is a member of the Intervenor Organization of Ontario.

Rhondda Reynolds, BA., M.Ed.

Rhondda Reynolds holds a Bachelor's degree (McMaster, 1989), a diploma in Sign Language interpreting (Sheridan College, 1992) and a Master's degree in Educational Studies, Leadership and Educational Improvement (University of Alberta, 2013) with a research interest focused on Interprofessional Education (IPE). She has been a full-time faculty member in the American Sign Language (ASL) – English interpreter program at George Brown Polytechnic since 2010, bringing over 31 years of freelance interpreting and mentorship experience to the classroom.

Rhondda is a nationally certified ASL-English interpreter with a certificate of interpretation (COI), awarded by the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC), and continues to interpret in a broad range of interpreting settings. She has served in a variety of capacities for both OASLI and AVLIC and has worked as a Message Feedback Specialist for AVLIC's Test of Interpretation (TOI) preparation workshops. Workshop presentations include training for practicum supervisors, Deaf interpreters, professional interpreters and poster presentations.

Rhondda has served as Vice-President for the provincial association of Sign Language interpreters (OASLI) as well as serving as a Chair and OASLI representative for different committees. Additionally, she maintains an active role in the field through memberships with The Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC), the Ontario Association of Sign Language Interpreters (OASLI), the Ontario Association of the Deaf (OAD), the Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT), the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), and the World Association of Visual Language Interpreters (WASLI) and Critical Link (CL).

Erika Stebbings, MA 

Erika Stebbings is the Program Co-ordinator and a professor in the ASL & Deaf Studies Program (ADSP), School of Deaf and Deafblind Studies at George Brown Polytechnic. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Social Work and received a master’s degree in Sign Language in Education from Gallaudet University. Erika has worked in various roles within the Deaf community as well as an advocate for many issues related to Deaf schools and the community for more than 20 years in Canada.

Phyllis Vazquez

Phyllis has a BA in Sociology from Gallaudet University, an MA in Special Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto and is currently a PhD student at OISE in the Languages and Literacies Education department. 

Phyllis was the project leader at the College Standards and Accreditation Council (CSAC) at the Ontario Ministry of Education, spearheading a review of the skill level requirements of ASL-English interpreters, and the development of standards for Ontario ASL-English interpreter programs, a project which culminated in the establishment of the 3-year ASL-English interpreter diploma program at George Brown. 

Phyllis was the lead in the development of both the ASL and Deaf Studies program and the ASL-English interpreter diploma program at George Brown. She has been teaching in both programs since 1997. 

With the faculty team, Phyllis led the development of the submission to the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to establish a 4-year Bachelor’s degree in ASL-English Interpretation which was established at George Brown, in the fall of 2016, the first and only one of its kind in Canada. Most recently, Phyllis was involved with the program review and revamp of the ASL and Deaf Studies program. 

Phyllis was the recipient of the Crystal Apple Award for Teaching Excellence in 2005.

She is a member of the American Sign Language Teachers Association, the Ontario Association of the Deaf and the Toronto Association of the Deaf.