Inland Regional Center (IRC) is excited to introduce our very first Deaf and Hard of Hearing Cultural Specialist, Estefania Pena!

Estefania comes to IRC with experience in case management, providing parent education and mentorship about deaf issues, and vocational program coordination in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) Community including the Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled (I/DD) Community.

Estefania will support the expansion of deaf service resources, provide training and expertise to regional center staff, and coordinate with the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) on statewide efforts. Estefania will enhance information dissemination to stakeholders, families, vendors, IRC’s Executive team, and staff through analyzing Purchase of Service data alongside Lilliana Garnica, IRC Cultural Specialist.

If you would like to connect with Estefania, please email [email protected]

We also invite you to visit our Service Access and Equity (SAE) page at www.inlandrc.org/SAE. In time, Estefania will be contributing content to this page as she cultivates support groups and makes needed connections in the community.

Posted by:

Dr. CJ Cook, DBA

CJ Cook is the Program Administrator of Community Engagement. He oversees the proactive management of all special events, outreach efforts, public relations, public input meetings, Service Access and Equity (SAE) efforts, and brand management. He also has oversight of Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) that receive grant funding from the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), Language Access and Cultural Competency (LACC), equity in the Purchase of Service (POS), and the National Core Indicator (NCI) project. Finally, he also oversees the IRC's Performance Contract with DDS and Emergency Services.