About Us

TERESA GONZALEZ, PRESIDENT & CO-FOUNDER

Teresa founded the chapter back in May of 2018. She met

up with Paula Sutton who expressed an interest in getting a

chapter established in the city. Together they collaborated

on getting this off the ground.

Initially, our chapter meetings were held at the

accessAbility (that is how it is spelled) on Washington

street near the Irvington Public Library. We began in a small

room with 10-12 members meeting. We have grown quite a

bit since then with members ranging in age from 35-90 years old.

Teresa has a bachelor’s degree in criminal law from the University of Illinois and a Pre-Law

Degree from Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Illinois. She has served the

State of Illinois government since 1987 with experience in areas of Equal Employment

Opportunities, Affirmative Action, all divisions within the Human Resources/Personnel

Management and the Migrant Head Start Program.

She became a member of HLAA (formerly SHHH) in 1993. Her volunteer work includes

having served as the President of HLAA- Central Illinois Chapter for 2 years in Springfield,

Illinois (this chapter is no longer active) as well as serving for one (1) year as the Dayton

HLAA Chapter President. Her leadership in HLAA consists of a total of nine (9) years. She is

currently serving our chapter, the Indiana Committee for Communication Access, as well

as doing volunteer work for a non-profit organization called Dogs on the Go. Dogs on the

Go is an Assistive Hearing Dog organization that trains dogs for certain skills to assist those

with hearing loss in Illinois and Wisconsin. She has been on the Board of Directors there

for over three (3) years. Her previous volunteer work also involved serving as a board

member for the Animal Protective League of Springfield, Illinois and Family Matters agency.

In addition, she served as the Humane Investigator while at the Animal Protective League

for several years.

Teresa has congenital sensorineural hearing due to Rubella. Her mother was three (3)

months pregnant with her when she contracted this viral disease from another child. Her

left ear hearing loss was moderate to severe loss. Her right was mild to moderate.

However, an accident in 2011 left her with Meniere’s Disease and an increased level of

deafness therefore, leaving her with left ear becoming severe to profound and right ear

2becoming moderate to severe loss. She is a lifelong lip reader and wears hearing aids in

both ears.

She enjoys the friendships and professional relationships she has developed over the years

within the National HLAA Office, Indy chapter and the hearing loss communities. She sees

the future with increased technological advances and advocacy efforts for those with

hearing loss.