Meet GT Squared
K. James Monroe
James helped start GT Squared because as a queer, trans, neurodivergent person they want to create change for the liberation of all people; “nobody's free until everybody's free" as Fannie Lou Hamer said.
James has been a Digital Media Specialist with the E-Text team since December 2016. During their time at CIDI they have researched the impact of disability on image processing and the neurological mechanisms of learning from images, integrating this knowledge to innovate alt text writing in a way that reduces cognitive overload and allows for more learning.
Ciara Montes
Ciara started with Tools for Life as an intern in 2017 during her Master’s Program at Georgia State for Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling. She is now an Assistive Technology Support Specialist and works with the Direct Services team to provide loans, demonstrations, and trainings of assistive technology to people with disabilities.
GT Squared is something that Ciara wanted to be a part of in order to increase diversity and inclusion in her own workspace. It’s important to Ciara to work somewhere where everyone can feel included, be their own person, and feel like they can make changes when necessary.
Shaina Walker
Shaina has been the Marketing & Events Coordinator at CIDI since 2019. After spending over 10 years marketing within several industries, Shaina is excited to bring new ideas and build out campaigns that make a real connection to everyone that interacts with CIDI.
Shaina joined GT Squared in a conscious effort to not only be a voice for an underrepresented demographic, but to also find more collaborative ways to contribute to countering biases and stereotypes and helping to ensure that all voices are heard fairly.
Zerrin Ondin
Zerrin has been working with CIDI as a Research Scientist since 2015. Her research focus lies at the intersection of inclusive design and human computer interaction in the educational context.
As an international research faculty member, Zerrin acknowledges the importance of inclusion and diversity. She joined GT Squared to be part of the discussion to make the voices of people like herself heard.
Sheryl Ballenger
Sheryl Ballenger, Ph.D. is an education researcher and practitioner fascinated by how adults learn. Sheryl has an earned doctorate from the University of Georgia in adult education. Her research areas are transition to adulthood for Deaf emerging adults and best practices in educational access. She is nationally recognized in the field of access for Deaf individuals, transition, ICT accessibility, and disabilities. Sheryl manages the Captioning and Described Audio Services unit.
Justin Harris
As a Digital Media Accessible Specialist Justin creates digital/ adaptive files for students all over Georgia. This includes Large Print , PDF to Speech, E Text and outsourcing. Justin brings 4 years of accessible creative experience to CIDI from the Georgia Department of Education. In his spear time you can catch him on the nearest basketball court or behind a Canon T8I creating memories as a photographer/videographer.
Rachel Scarboro
Rachel (she/her) earned her Doctor of Occupational Therapy from the University of Florida in 2022. She was introduced to Tools for Life while completing her doctoral capstone project and is thrilled to be on the team as an AT Support Specialist. Rachel is compassionate, a problem-solver by nature, and dedicated to providing exceptional support to the communities she serves. She strives to increase awareness of AT’s potential through education and advocacy. Rachel believes everyone deserves an equal opportunity to live life to its fullest, and she hopes her work at Tools for Life will make this a reality for more people with disabilities.
John Toles
John started with CIDI in 2016 as a member of the team providing customer support for the CAMI (Center for Accessible Material Innovation) research study. Since then he has expanded his role to include supporting the Student Accommodation Manager for the StARR (Student Accommodations Reporting and Research) group and providing web accessibility evaluations for the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) group, as well as QuickBase and Drupal development for various other projects.
Andrea Antrim
Digital Media Accessibility Specialist
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