The Massachusetts State Association of the Deaf (MSAD) was founded in 1977 and has served the Deaf communities in Massachusetts for nearly five decades. MSAD works to promote, preserve, and protect the civil, human, and linguistic rights of Deaf, Deaf-Blind, Hard of Hearing, and Late-Deafened individuals in the state.
- Renelle Medard — President
- TBA — Vice President of Operations
- Kimberly Keramati — Vice President of Community Relations
- Todd Schulbaum — Secretary
- Krishna Madaparthi — Treasurer
- Vacant — Community Representative
- Vacant — Community Representative
- Matt Hochkeppel — Board Member
- Joe Karnolisz — Board Member
- Lori Maynard — Board Member
- Raymond Rodgersl — Board Member
- Renelle Medard — Board Member
¶ Advocacy and Legislative Track Record
MSAD maintains an active legislative tracking program on its website, monitoring and advocating for dozens of bills impacting Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals in Massachusetts. Key advocacy areas tracked include:
- American Sign Language education — Multiple bills promoting ASL inclusion in public schools (e.g., H.466, S.338, H.2414)
- Hearing aid access — Bills to provide increased access to and coverage for hearing aids (e.g., H.4275, H.1024, S.1911, H.294, S.179)
- Captioning and telecommunications — Bills requiring closed captioning on public-facing televisions and in telecommunications (e.g., S.63, H.3167)
- Deaf children's rights — Bills establishing Deaf children's bill of rights (e.g., H.126) and ensuring language readiness for deaf/deafblind/hard-of-hearing children entering kindergarten (e.g., H.3943)
- Interpreter services — Bills requiring reimbursement for costs of competent interpreter services (e.g., H.968)
- Disability and discrimination — Bills prohibiting discrimination against adults with disabilities in family/juvenile court proceedings (e.g., H.1601, S.1037) and eliminating disproportionality for at-risk children (e.g., S.120, H.153)
- Deaf representatives in the legislature — Multiple bills list "Deaf" or "ASL" as the term for dockets where MSAD members serve as Deaf representatives
- Language access and inclusion — Bills relative to language access and inclusion (e.g., H.3084, S.1990)
- Telehealth and digital equity — Bills for telehealth and digital equity for patients (e.g., H.986, S.655)
- Special needs trusts — Bills to preserve special needs trusts for disabled seniors (e.g., H.1202, S.756, H.4841)
- 911 accessibility — Bills for more accessible 911 disability indicator forms (e.g., H.2343)
- Special education — Bills relative to special education (e.g., H.4681)
- Induction loop systems — Bills concerning induction loop listening system installation (e.g., S.1969)
- Health equity — Bills to advance health equity with ASL interpreter provisions (e.g., S.799, H.1250)
- Long-term care quality — Bills to improve quality and oversight of long-term care (e.g., H.5033, H.4178)
- Removing "hearing impaired" terminology — S.1983 An Act relative to removing the term hearing impaired from the general laws
- Modernizing public meetings — H.4771, H.2998 An Act to modernize participation in public meetings
¶ History and Milestones
MSAD has been presenting annual awards since the mid-1970s, recognizing individuals and organizations for their service to the Deaf community:
MSAD presents nine major awards annually:
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Dr. Richard Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award — Given to individuals with a long-term commitment to the Deaf community. Past recipients include Dr. Richard Thompson (1995), Nancy V. Becker (1997), John, Marie & Elaine Glennon (1999), Ruth Moore (2001), Ruth Collari (2005), Barbara Jean "BJ" Wood (2007), Sue Philip (2009), Louis Rivas & John Pirone (2011), Karran Larson (2015), Suzann L. Bedrosian (2017), Mark Hughey (2019), Eveleen Cunningham (2021), and Marlene Hostovsky (2023).
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George Veditz Award — For individuals/organizations preserving ASL through education and awareness. Recipients: Patrick McCarthy (2015), John Pirone (2017), Ashley O'Niell (2019), Stephanie Clark (2023).
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Youth Leadership Award — For Deaf students demonstrating leadership. Recipients include Maria Gomes & Jacqueline Pransky (2007), Edward Gomez (2009), Colin Lauldi (2011), Maximo Moya (2015), Dylan Christoffels (2017), and Newton North High School EDCO Students (2019).
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Carolyn Ball Award (President's Award) — For Deaf or Hearing persons contributing to MSAD affairs. Notable long-time recipients include Thomas Boudrow (1993, 1995, 1999), Ivelisse Vélez (2021, 2023).
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Laurent Clerc Service Award — For volunteers serving at state, local, and national levels.
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Thomas H. Gallaudet Service Award — For Hearing individuals contributing to the Deaf community.
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Golden Hand Award (NAD) — NAD's award for outstanding service to Deaf people.
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William B. Swett Award — For organizations actively serving the Deaf community.
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Miss Deaf Massachusetts — Pageant recognizing scholarship, leadership, and civic citizenship; winners compete at the NAD biennial conference.
¶ Chapters and Affiliated Organizations
MSAD's directory lists 144+ affiliated organizations including:
- Deaf Asian and Pacific Islander Resources / Asian Signers
- Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD), Inc.
- Hands & Voices (parent-driven support)
- Children Of Deaf Adults (CODA)
- DeafHealth
- Deaf Seniors of America
- Camp Mark Seven (New York)
- ASPIRE Interpreting (Deaf-owned, woman-owned)
- Disability Policy Consortium, Inc.
- Deaf-Blind Community Access Network (DBCAN)
- Bay State Deaf Seniors
- Western Massachusetts Association of the Deaf & Hard of Hearing
- No bylaws document found publicly (as of 2026-06-05).