The Center for the Arizona Future (CFA), a non-profit, bipartisan “organization” that unites Arizonas to build a stronger and brighter future for Arizona, recently named Goodyear resident Sherry Collins as the 2023 Gabe Zimmerman Public Service Awarded as the winner of Civic Leadership Award.
The Gabe Zimmerman Public Service Award was presented at the Arizona City and County Management Association (ACMA) Summer Conference at Loews Ventana Canyon in Tucson on July 13, 2011, after he died in a mass shooting at the Capitol in 2011. Named after the community outreach director. Arizona State Representative Gabriel Giffords’ “Your Corner” event.
The program is a collaborative effort between the CFA, the Zimmermann family and ACMA, and focuses on the contributions unelected public servants make to their communities.
“The CFA is honored to present the Gabe Zimmerman Public Service Award as an integral part of advancing our focus on ‘The Arizona We Want,'” said CFA Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. CEO) Dr. Cybill Francis said.
“While high-profile elected officials set policy directions and make important decisions, unelected officials and the roles they play are not so easily observed. is critical to the quality of life in Arizona, and we applaud the dedication, professionalism, and expertise of the 2023 winners in solving public problems and improving their communities.”
Collins has served as Executive Director of the Arizona Commission for the Deaf since 1998. She serves as the CEO of a board that advocates, strengthens, and implements state policies that affect the deaf, deaf, and deaf-blind. Relations with the public, industry, medical and educational opportunities.
“I would like to thank the Arizona Future Center and the selection committee for giving me this wonderful honor,” Collins said in her acceptance speech. “For the past 25 years, it has been a special honor for me to serve communities throughout Arizona as Executive Director of the Arizona Commission for the Deaf. We can and are building a stronger and brighter future for Arizona.”
Collins is committed to helping ACDHH make a vocal case for statewide communications access, support services and community empowerment.
By providing information and referrals, ACDHH serves as a statewide resource on issues related to the deaf and hard of hearing communities. Conducting training and outreach events. Distribution of telecommunications equipment. It oversees the Arizona Telecommunications Relay Service. Stay on top of local, state and national trends. Licensed American Sign Language Interpreter.
In addition to his work with ACDHH, Collins also serves on the Associates Board of the newly formed National Telecommunication For the Deaf (TDI). She is the former president of the National Association of Government Agencies for the Deaf and served on the board of the Sequoia School for the Deaf. She is secretary on the Board of Directors of the Arizona Center for Disability Law. She is the Chair of the Interpreting Readiness Program Advisory Board at the University of Phoenix. President and secretary of the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf Board of Directors. Chairman of the Arizona National Independent Living Council. Representative of the Regional IV Board of the National Association of the Deaf. She is also a former member of the FCC’s She IP Telecommunications Relay She Service Advisory Board. Collins has also served on numerous national, state and local commissions and task forces.
Known for breaking down barriers and forward-thinking, innovative ideas, Collins launched the statewide Clear Mask program in 2020 to provide masks to deaf people who read lips as their primary means of communication. That same year, she also made ASL interpreters available and accessible during all of the governor’s COVID-19 press conferences, becoming the first statewide to work with Arizona’s business community to reduce unemployment. launched the “Let’s Get to Work” initiative, a hiring initiative for Underemployment disproportionately affects the deaf community.
Prior to that, Collins partnered with Arizona State University’s Speech-Hearing Clinic to provide hearing care to qualified individuals. The program has since expanded to the University of Arizona and will soon be available at Northern Arizona University. She also launched her ACDHH Support Services Her Provider Program for individuals with combined vision and hearing loss. She’s partnered with Phoenix She’s Sky She’s Harbor to add a Video Her Relay service to help travelers who are deaf, deaf, and speech-impaired. He helped Arizona become the first state to have loops in all three districts and the second state in the nation to have hearing loops in both the House and Senate. She partnered with the Olive Osmond Hearing Foundation, which raises funds for children in need of hearing aids and other resources. She also helped design and build her community of Apache ASL Trails apartments to provide housing for the deaf, deaf-blind, or hard of hearing.
“As the first registered Deaf Lobbyist in the country, together with our 21 staff, we are committed to educating and raising awareness among the public so that they can better understand the barriers that Deaf and hard of hearing people face in their daily lives. That’s my goal,” Collins said. she said. “This year, we are launching the Age of Access initiative, a one-stop resource, information and program for seniors with hearing impairments in Arizona.
“Our efforts will continue to make an impact and we are delighted to receive this award in recognition of our efforts.”
For more information, please visit: acdhh.org.
