JoAnne . Hirsch
Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind
JoAnne Hirsch is the Communications Technology Program Manager for the Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind (CCDHHDB), serving as staff authority and central point of contact to the department and community to increase awareness of specialized telecommunications equipment for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind. For 12 years, JoAnne has managed the Communications Technology Program (CTP), which provides communications devices to qualified deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind citizens in the state of Colorado. She also administers the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP) (aka iCanConnect, ICC), a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) federal grant that provides equipment and training needed to make telecommunications, advanced communications, and the Internet accessible to qualified individuals who have both significant vision loss and significant hearing loss. With more than 30 years of professional experience in telecommunications, marketing, writing and editing, customer service, project management, budgeting, and event planning, JoAnne holds Bachelor's degrees in Deaf Studies and Journalism from California State University, Northridge. Prior to joining the Commission, she was the Senior Client Services Representative for more than 19 years with Business Wire, an international news dissemination service. Originally from Los Angeles, JoAnne has lived in Colorado for more than 20 years.
