Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

Maya Reynolds Clark, Ph.D, CCC-SLP, CDE® has focused her career on multicultural issues that impact communicative interactions as well as encounters in education and healthcare.  Her primary teaching, clinical, and scholarship interests include: Cultural, linguistic and socio-economic factors in communication and cognition, Implicit Bias, Compassion Fatigue in health professions, Health disparities, and Social cognitive theory. She also serves as a national consultant and trainer in the areas of leadership, diversity, communication, and social engagement.

Karen Davis, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is an associate professor at Middle Tennessee State University who has worked for over 15 years as a school speech-language pathologist.  Her research interests are centered in the domain of language and literacy for struggling learners.  Dr. Davis’s research interests include language and literacy disorders in culturally and linguistically diverse populations, reading comprehension intervention, interprofessional education/practice (IPE/IPP), and cultural responsiveness in CSD education.

Regina Enwefa, PhD., CCC-SLP, ND is a Professor and former Graduate Program Director in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology at Southern University and A&M College. Dr. Enwefa specializes in neurodegenerative disorders, dysphagia, diversity, equity, and inclusivity, and AAC, including children with developmental disabilities and autism. Dr. Enwefa holds a Certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida. Dr. Enwefa has published extensively including journal articles, monographs, book chapters, and books. Dr. Enwefa is board certified in Holistic Medicine and the American Alternative Medical Association. She specializes in herbs, nutrition, aromatherapy, massage, myofascial release, and functional medicine. She is a Fellow of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, Fellow of the Office of Special Education Programs, and Fellow of the Office of Maternal and Child Health.

Dr. Girolamo is an assistant professor in the School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at San Diego State University (SDSU). Her research interests focus on language in autism, and her career interests involve advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in CSD and higher education in a way that is inclusive across multiple dimensions. Prior to joining SDSU, Dr. Girolamo completed postdoctoral training in the NIDCD T32-funded Cognitive Neuroscience of Communication at the University of Connecticut and Child Language Doctoral Program at the University of Kansas.

Kyle Greene-Pendelton is a speech-language pathologist who works full-time in an inner city public school setting in Connecticut. Kyle is also a part-time instructor at North Carolina A&T State University and previously worked at Southern Connecticut State University as a part-time clinical instructor and adjunct professor. Additionally, Kyle launched his private practice, Sankofa Speech & Language Services, LLC, in 2020. Kyle is a charter member of the Northeast affiliate of the National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing (NBASLH), currently serving as immediate past chair of the board of directors. Kyle is the CEO and founder of All of Us United (AOU), a social advocacy non-profit organization. Kyle has been conducting programs on the continent of Africa to bridge gaps in education since 2014, most recently establishing a community-based program for children with exceptional needs in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. Kyle participated in ASHA’s Minority Student Leadership Program (MSLP [c/o 2007]). Kyle holds a Master of Science degree in Communication Disorders from Southern Connecticut State University, is an alumnus of North Carolina A&T State University and is currently pursuing a doctorate of education at Johns Hopkins University. Kyle resides in Bloomfield, CT and is the father of school-aged twin boys and a younger daughter.

Dr. Kimberly J. Green is a speech-language pathologist and Chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Western Kentucky University (WKU). She holds a certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and served as the first Chief Diversity Officer for the WKU College of Health and Human Services. Dr. Green is a DEI Fellow in the WKU Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. She has authored articles centered on DEI and cross-cultural communication and has developed numerous trainings on providing culturally responsive services. Dr. Green works interprofessionally across various disciplines, including a current project addressing unconscious bias using virtual reality. Having taught 15 internationally based courses, her focus on DEI encompass issues related to internationalization and working with refugee populations. She is a long-standing member on the International Centers of Kentucky Board of Directors, which oversees refugee resettlement in the south-central region.

Leslie Grubler Ed.D., CCC-SLP is the Director of Clinical Education and Clinical Services at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York, a Hispanic and minority serving institution. A speech-language pathologist, consultant, and family and child advocate with experience in treatment and administration through 25 years of practice, Dr. Grubler has presented nationally and locally on a variety of topics in practice and supervision and advocated for the rights of disabled individuals throughout her entire career from NYC Hall to Albany, to Washington D.C.  Dr. Grubler’s research, scholarship, advocacy, professional practice interests have been in disability-affirmative and culturally responsive practice. Dr. Grubler presently serves as committee member of the DEI committee of CAPCSD, co-chair of the SLHS Department DEI&B Committee, committee member of the Governmental Affairs Committee of NYSSLHA,  has served as Autism Chair of the NYSSLHA Conference for three consecutive years, and as ASHA Advisory Council Member representing NYS.  In 2022, Dr. Grubler was awarded her Ed.D. degree in Executive Leadership in Social Justice. Her topic, The Lived Educational Experiences of Student Clinicians with Non-Apparent Disabilities in Communication Sciences and Disorders: Perspectives of Recent Graduates in Communication Sciences and Disorders, is the first study of its kind in CSD.

Molly Krygowski, Au.D, CCC-A is an Assistant Clinical Professor/Supervisor in the Communicative Disorders and Science Department at the University at Buffalo.

Jean-Franco Rivera Pérez, PhD, CCC-SLP (he/him/his) is an Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Texas Christian University. His academic interest and areas of expertise include bilingual acquisition and vocabulary. His area of research includes the use technology in therapy to promote access, opportunities, and advancement for linguistically oppressed communities to address the present clinician-child mismatch and racial/ethnic gap. Additional areas of research include topics on social justice.

Kelly Rutherford, Ed.D., CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Disorders. She received her B.S. and M.S. in Communication Disorders from Marshall University. In 2019, she completed her Ed.D. at Marshall, with a focus on Leadership Studies and Higher Education Administration. Areas of interest include aphasia, dysphagia, cognitive-communication disorders, patient education, interdisciplinary management, and cultural responsiveness relative to patient care. Dr. Rutherford teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in adult communication and cognitive disorders, advises graduate students, and serves the Marshall University Speech and Hearing Center as lead faculty for the center’s Aphasia Group. She has presented her academic work at state and national conferences (including WVSHA, KSHA, WV Celebrating Connections, ASHA, and NSSA).

Laura Wolford, PhD, MS CCC-SLP, CSE is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders department and director of the TASSEL (Teaching and Supporting Student Experience in Learning) lab. She is an education researcher with an interest in nuanced topics like counseling with uncomfortable topics and equity in clinical education. Her lived experience as a multi-racial, neurodivergent scholar informs her work and her activism. In her activist work as an AASECT-certified sex educator, Dr. Wolford presents internationally on addressing the effects of communication disorders on sexual health and serves as a disability justice community organizer.