Our Collaborators

María Victoria Diaz
Project Director

Dr. María Victoria Diaz is a remarkable researcher and developer of technology to facilitate access for all to educational media, arts, and culture. With more than 25 years of experience in the media industry, she is the pioneer of audio description in Spanish and has been instrumental in making media more accessible for people with sensory disabilities. In addition to her work at Dicapta, Dr. Diaz is also a passionate volunteer, serving on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Disability Advisory Committee (DAC), representing the Latino community with disabilities and advocating for their needs. She is also serving in diverse committees and organizations serving the needs of people with disabilities such as the American Council of the Blind-ACB Gala Awards Committee, Teach Access, and the Florida and Virgin Islands (FAVI) Deaf-Blind Collaborative. Dr. Diaz has been recognized with several awards for her work, including the Audio Description Project Award for Achievement in Audio Description - Media (2009), Anna Maria Arias Memorial Business Fund recognition for innovation and community service in the United States (2009), the Diversity Award and best business by Seminole County, FL in 2013, was selected as one of the top 10 remarkable leaders in Media by The John C. Maxwell Leadership Award in 2014, and recognized among the 10 Univisionarios by Univision in 2022. In addition to her doctorate degree, Dr. Diaz holds a Master's degree in Entertainment Business, a Master's in Project Management, and a Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering. She is also a flutist who loves singing and swimming. Dr. Diaz is the proud mother of two beautiful daughters and is dedicated to improving the lives of people with sensory disabilities through her groundbreaking work in accessibility research and development.

Carol Colmenares
Director of Education and Outreach

Carol has a M.A in Educational Communication and Technology from New York University and a B.A. in Film Studies and Media Production from Hunter College, New York. She has worked in children's media since 1995 and knows nearly every aspect of television production from the technical aspects of media production to casting and directing. As a producer with The Sesame Workshop, she contributed to several award-winning productions including - Elmo Saves Christmas (Emmy, 1996), Elmopalooza, (Grammy, 1998). She has also developed workshops and educational television projects for both domestic and international clients. Carol is the Director of Education and Outreach for the project.

Amanda Cadena
Chief Financial Officer

Amanda Cadena has a College Degree on Commerce and Languages, from Universidad Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca, Bogotá, Colombia. Since the beginning of her professional career, Amanda has been involved with multinational corporations, in charge of financial departments, human resources, and imports and exports, among others. She has been involved with Dicapta Corporation since its inception. With more than 20 years of experience in overseeing budgets and financial resources, Amanda is Dicapta's Chief Financial Officer. She manages the administrative department and has full oversight of all financial resources at Dicapta; she is the Chief Financial Officer for the project.

Olga Collazos

Mrs. Collazos has been collaborating with Dicapta since 2006. She has been an audio describer, project coordinator for technology development, and communications director. She is passionate about using technology to improve people's lives. She holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Javeriana University, Colombia, and an MBA in Technology Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. She loves and has practiced different art expressions: dance, music, theater, and writing. What she enjoys the most is spending time with her family.

Chistian Quintero

Dr. Christian Quintero is a Software Development Team Leader. He is responsible for improving business operations through the establishment of measurements, the analysis of processes, and the implementation of standard methodologies. He holds a master's degree in Multimedia Engineering and a Ph.D. in Design and Creation. As a researcher, he works in the accessibility field to enhance capabilities from assistive technologies with a participatory design approach. He is a loving and devoted father of two children and loves to do workout exercises in-outdoors.

Javier Olarte

Andrea Giménez

Andrea has a Bachelor's degree in Social Communication, specializing in Audiovisual Narrative, from Universidad Católica del Uruguay and a postgraduate degree in "Accessibility and Design for All" from Universitat Internacional de Catalunya. In 2012, she watched a movie with Audio Description for the first time, and from that moment on, her career took an unexpected turn, becoming passionate about accessibility and inclusion. In 2016, she began working as an Audio Describer and advisor on Communication and Audiovisual Accessibility. She has worked as an Audio Describer for films, series, plays, dance performances, operas, and live events. She joined Dicapta's team in April 2023 and works as a Quality Control Specialist and Accessibility Project Analyst. She is a dedicated, responsible, and meticulous. She loves working in teams and enjoys traveling and experiencing different cultures.

Alejandra Venegas

Alejandra is a Social Communicator and Journalist from Universidad Autónoma de Occidente in Cali, Colombia, with a specialization in Digital Marketing. She is the Director of Communication and Marketing at Alars 3.0 - Digital Laboratory, an agency specializing in brand content creation. Her keen interest in communication processes within virtual environments has fostered a deep passion for the digital world. Alejandra has extensive experience developing innovative strategies for disseminating information through digital channels, managing virtual media, and creating content for social media and websites. She is currently responsible for managing Dicapta's social media platforms. Alejandra adores cats and enjoys reading, sipping tea, and climbing mountains.

Juan Gomez

Catalina Arias

After completing her education in Economics and gaining experience in finance, Catalina Arias made a career change 18 years ago to focus on the field of audiovisual accessibility. Currently, she works with Dicapta's Production Department in the Quality Control area, contributing to making audiovisual content accessible to everyone. In her personal life, she enjoys spending time with her family, especially her son. She is passionate about art, painting, cooking, and outdoor walks. Catalina considers herself a committed, responsible, dedicated individual, always willing to learn and take on new challenges.

Juliana Olarte

With an extensive background in communications and public relations, Maria Juliana Olarte (Juliana) joined Dicapta as Business Development Manager in early 2023. She has a hands-on approach when it comes to supporting partners and she is well-versed in the world of technology and accessibility. Her current focus involves expanding Dicapta's client portfolio and services, always prioritizing quality and success in our strategies.

Juliana holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from CUNY Baruch College, is fluent in Spanish, and is currently learning ASL. She has led brands across the hospitality, public affairs, and real estate industries through media relations, project launches and communications planning.

Juliana is an adventurer at heart, constantly on the lookout for her next big journey. She's also a passionate scuba diver and enjoys spending quality time with her lovely pups.

Luz Helena Olarte

Oscar Javier Cuesta

Oscar is a highly experienced actor who has worked in radio, television, theater, and films for over 40 years. He has been a voice actor for nearly 35 years and has directed dubbing for various series and films across different TV channels and platforms. Additionally, he serves as a commercial announcer in Latin America, representing multiple internationally recognized brands and products. For the past 17 years, Oscar has been providing audio description narration for Dicapta. He also works as a speaker and facilitator, conducting voice technique workshops and training sessions.

Ruth Amparo Pena

Ruth Pena is a bookkeeper at Dicapta where she processes all the financial data from start to finish, including developing financial reports of all kinds, using QuickBooks software. She has also worked as a freelance bookkeeper for various companies. Her passion, apart from numbers, is music and has a love for many genres. Ruth has a beautifully eclectic taste!

Carlos Manrique

Carlos graduated as a Master of Music with an emphasis in Sound Engineering from the Pontifical Javeriana University. For over 15 years, he has worked in post-production of audiovisual media, doing sound design for television commercials and recording and mixing dubbing and audio description. He has been collaborating with Dicapta since 2007 as a sound engineer. He enjoys watching movies, traveling, and listening to music.

Sergio Carrasquilla

Sergio Carrasquilla is our Quality Control Coordinator. For many years he worked in the administrative and sales areas, as well as writing articles for web pages and proofreading. In 2006, he joined Dicapta as a Production Coordinator, having prior and close knowledge of accessibility concepts. Since then, he has contributed his experience and rigor to the company's growth. His priority is family. He likes reading, cooking, and walking.

Sonia Melo

Xiomara Huertas

Xiomara Huertas has worked with Dicapta since the beginning of the company. She specialized in creating captions, and over time, she learned about all aspects of our production process. Currently, Xiomara is our coordinator of audiovisual media projects: caption/subtitling, audio description, and dubbing. She is a photographer and an audiovisual producer with an emphasis on television direction and production. She is meticulous in her work and enjoys constant learning. Xiomara is a mother; she loves going to the movies and discovering restaurants.

Angela Roth
Advisor

Angela Roth is President/CEO and founder of American Sign Language Services Enterprises, parent company over multi-unit companies, including American Sign Language Services Inc (HQ Kissimmee, Florida), ASL Services Latino de Puerto Rico, and GlobalVRS. All three companies are at the national and international leading edge in multicultural, multilingual sign language services and interpreter development, with focus on ASL, English, and Spanish. The DICAPTA project with the Department of Education is a natural area of mutual support and synergy in addressing services to the Deaf and Deaf-blind communities. Angela enjoys reading, art, traveling, and dancing!

Carlos Martinez
Advisor

For the last 17 years Carlos Martinez has worked with the Blind Children’s Center as a Mentor Parent and for the last 4 years as a Parents Group Coordinator. Among his responsibilities is providing resources and support parent-parent, all this based on previous training. Lately he has been involved with Dicapta’s project as he is convinced that it is one more tool to help to improve the quality of life, and provide support and resources to children with disabilities and their families. He enjoys listening to music, learning to dance, and learning more about computers.

Clara Berg
Advisor

Clara Berg is the parent of a young man with hearing and vision loss. She is co-founder and active in the Board of the NYPADB, and co-founder and President of NFADB since 2013. She is leader on student and family advocacy, and Person Centered Planning. As a multi-linguist (Spanish, Portuguese, French, Yiddish), Clara has created strong linkages between families across linguistic and cultural barriers. She sees Dicapta as a fantastic source of information for Hispanic families, and as a provider of accessible educational material. Her favorite hobbies are swimming, walking by the ocean, gardening, reading, receiving visitors, and cooking. Lately her favorite hobby is to babysit her 18-month old grandson.

Dean Lermer
Advisor

Dean Lermen is a Journalist Social Communicator, has a Master’s degree in Political Studies, and a Diploma in University Teaching. He was a Director of the Instituto Nacional para Ciegos (INCI) in Colombia. Dean has advised the Colombian government on preparing legislation about rights for people with disabilities. He was part of the group that organized the U.N. Human Rights Convention for People with Disabilities, approved in 2006. Currently, he is the Human Rights Secretary for the Union Latinoamericana de Ciegos (ULAC). He advises Dicapta on quality control processes. He loves music, reading, soccer, movies, photography, and cooking. See full profile.

Ileana Rivera
Advisor

A thirty-year veteran of public broadcasting, Ileana Rivera works daily with 43 Latino-controlled stations located in Puerto Rico and 14 states. She is the Director of the Latino Public Radio Consortium (LPRC) Latino Desk at the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB). Previously, Ileana was the Vice-President of Development and Educational Services of public television Sistema TV, Canal Universitario Ana G. Mendez, WMTJ, and WQTO TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She was also Director of Planning and Development for the Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation.

Jaclyn Packer
Advisor

Dr. Jaclyn Packer is a strong advocate for access for people with disabilities, and has been involved with research on video description for twenty years. She is the author of the seminal book on video description "Who's Watching? A Profile of the Blind and Visually Impaired Audience for Television and Video". As a Social Psychologist, she has worked in the fields of maternal and infant health, HIV, and disability. In her free time she takes every opportunity she can to enjoy all the great cultural and social opportunities New York City has to offer.

Jo Ann McCann
Advisor

Jo Ann McCann retired in 2018 as a Project Officer with the US Department of Education with more than 33 years of service. She led the development and support of captioning and video description and worked closely with service providers and national broadcast networks to make these technologies widely available. As the Project Officer for the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB), the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) and several State Deaf-Blind projects, she made every effort to ensure children with disabilities were provided full access to educational services. She grew up with deaf parents, has served as VP of Children of Deaf Adults, International (CODA), and in 2010 was awarded the Distinguished Service Award to CODA. She holds a Master’s Degree from Coppin State University, an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and has 5 active grandchildren ages 12 to 17.

Juanita Rodriguez
Advisor

Dr. Juanita Rodríguez has degrees in Psychology and Rehabilitation Counseling. She holds a Master’s degree in Deaf Students Education and Rehabilitation from New York University and a PhD in Curriculum and Deaf Education Teaching from Pennsylvania State University. She was Dean of the Education Department at the UPR-Rio Piedras from 2010 to 2014. She is co-coordinator of technical assistance services to parents, teachers and other service providers for deaf-blind students in Puerto Rico, under the direction of the NCDB. With Dicapta’s support, she researches the benefit of using captions and video description on the reading skills of deaf and blind students. Her hobbies are reading, traveling, and learning about other cultures.

Judy Mathews
Advisor

Judy Mathews is a Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapist (CVRT) at Lighthouse Central Florida. She has a Bachelor's degree in Music Therapy and a Master's degree in Visual Disabilities. She has been a member of Dicapta's Consumer Advisory Group since 2006 and is passionate about meeting the needs of adults and children with sight impairments. Judy is proud of her Cuban-American heritage. She enjoys spending time with loved ones, listening to and making music, playing cards and board games, origami, dining out, exploring new places, and navigating life with her husband Casey and guide dog Keats by her side.

Myrna Medina
Advisor

Myrna Medina has served as California Deaf Blind Services (CDBS) Family Specialist since 2000, supporting families who have a child who is deaf-blind. She is the parent of two children, one of whom was deaf-blind. Myrna is a native of Mexico and is fluent in English and Spanish. She serves as the coordinator of the CDBS Network of Family Support Providers and is currently serving her second term as Secretary of the Coalition of Parents and Educators Deaf-Blind (COPE-DB), the statewide family organization that serves on behalf of children who are deaf-blind. See full profile.

Ricardo López
Advisor

Ricardo López works as an Information Media Specialist at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf/Gallaudet University. Born deaf, he is native of Puerto Rico and is fluent in English, Spanish, American Sign Language (ASL), and Puerto Rican Sign Language. He holds a Master’s degree in Educational Technology, and a second Master’s in School Library Media. His interest in this project is due to the growing demand for information access and he wants to promote literacy in Latino Deaf and Hard of Hearing K-12 students and their families. His favorite hobbies include hiking, snorkeling, acting, and snowshoeing.

Susan LaVenture
Advisor

Susan LaVenture is Executive Director of the National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI). For over 20 years, she has been a leader in the development of nonprofit parents’ organizations and programs that provide and promote support, education, and advocacy for families throughout the world. She represents the World Blind Union, serving on the Committee on Children with Disabilities of the Unicef’s Non-Governmental Organizations Committee.

Barbara Ghammashi
Advisor

Barbara Ghammashi is a film industry leader who oversees the Production Assistance Program for Women Make Movies and handles their broadcast and digital sales. As a producer Ms.Ghammashi’s films have been included in numerous film festivals and have been broadcast on PBS, the Documentary Channel, and Showtime. She is a board member of Women in the Arts and Media Coalition.

Conchita Hernandez
Advisor

Conchita is a doctoral student in special education at George Washington University. Ms. Hernández, who is blind, is a blind and low vision specialist for the Maryland School for the Blind. She has also been appointed by President Biden to the National Board for Education Sciences.

Corinne Vinopol
Advisor

Dr. Corinne Vinopol is President and CEO of the Institute for Disabilities Research and Training, Inc. She has directed R&D assistive technology projects for a number of government agencies including NIDLRR, NSF, IES, NASA, USAID, and NOAA, as well as private entities including Wal-Mart and AT&T, and received awards for her work at the White House and UN.

Gabriel Ponte-Fleary
Advisor

Gabriel Ponte-Fleary is a visual artist specializing in Photography, Graphic Design, and Filmmaking. In 2018, he received a BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences. Gabriel, who is deaf, knows 4 languages (English, Spanish, American Sign Language -ASL- and Venezuelan Sign Language -LSV-).

Howard Rosenblum
Advisor

Howard Rosenblum is Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). Mr. Rosenblum, who is deaf, focuses his legal practice on disability rights and special education law.