DBCA Executive Team

Divya Goel

President

Divya Goel joined DBCA in 2009. As Vice President, she is a mentor and guide to all the younger DBCA members. She became passionately interested in advocacy and governmental policy after meeting President Obama in the White House. Divya has a rare Type 3 HARS Usher Syndrome. She is profoundly deaf and has a cochlear implant. Divya joined City Hall of Orlando, Florida in November 2019, as a Digital Technology Productions member. Divya helps and partners with a variety of departments within City Hall to determine how to improve accessibility city-wide to people with disabilities as well as the general public. She attended the Florida School for Deaf and Blind where she participated and won three beauty pageants. Divya not only graduated with a special diploma from the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind but in fact, following that she also earned a standard diploma from a public high school by completing 24 credits in 2 and half years. She also signed the half time song performed by Grammy Award winning musician, Alicia Keys at Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, Florida in 2005. In November 2009, Divya headed to Uganda, Africa to attend the Helen Keller World Conference where she advocated and spoke for the rights of women and children with vision and hearing loss. After completing her Associates Degree in Arts from the Valencia Community College in 2016, Divya currently works as a mentor and facilitator at Transition Institute of the Southeast Region and Helen Keller National Center. In summer 2018, Divya and her partner, Jeremy Best, who is also a DBCA member, got engaged. Their dream is to one day speak at the United Nations to help better understand the needs of the Deafblind community and build a more accessible world.

Support Staff

Melissa Hays, Coordinator of Interpreters and SSPs