LOFT 2013 Counselor Biographies

Ken Levinson

LOFT Co-creator and Lead Counselor, Sessions 1 and 2

Ken is a CPA and a partner in a CPA firm in San Francisco. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director of The Children’s Hearing Institute in New York and a partner in another CPA practice in Los Angeles. Ken is currently the president of the board of the Jean Weingarten Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf, a past president of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and has current and past service on boards of many other organizations. He received the Honors of the Association from AG Bell at the 2006 Biennial Convention in Pittsburgh. His involvements have brought him recognition among his peers as Distinguished Alumni of his high school and as the Public Service Award recipient for the California Society of CPAs. Together with the late Donna Dickman, Ken co-created the LOFT program which debuted in 1996 at AG Bell’s Biennial Convention in Snowbird, Utah. He is past President of the Board of the San Francisco Circus Center. Ken’s interest in the circus stemmed from his taking a clown class at the Clown Conservatory.

Catharine McNally

Counselor, Session 1

Catharine is a Business Analyst at Phase2 Technology. She is a dedicated advocate for using technology to bridge the accessibility divide – constantly finding new uses for accessibility. Her influential work has been recognized through national leadership awards, honors, and national publications. In 2011, McNally was listed as "People to Watch" in the Washingtonian Magazine's Tech Titans feature, and the recipient of the American Association of People with Disabilities national leadership award. Catharine is also the Founder of Keen Guides. She lost her hearing at eight months old, has used Cued Speech since she was eighteen months old and received her first cochlear implant at the age of three. When in college, Catharine completed a successful internship to increase accessibility and awareness at the Dali Universe gallery at the County Hall Gallery in London. After graduating from Wake Forest University, she began her career in accessibility at VSA Arts, the Smithsonian Freer and Sackler Galleries, and the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the National Cued Speech Association.

Nate Paterson

Counselor, Session 1 

Nate leads a group of Customer Service Specialists at Recreational Equipment Inc, in Bellingham, Washington. He strongly believes in going the extra mile for his customers and his teammates, and has been nominated REI’s highest award three times for his hard work ethic and gregarious attitude. He has been a lifelong AG Bell member, and is an alumnus of LOFT. At the age of two he began to lose his hearing and has worn a hearing aid in his right ear. While he still uses a hearing aid for his right ear, Nate and his family decided to implant his left ear at the age of 23. A true Pacific Northwestern at heart, Nate grew up in the Seattle area and went to college at Western Washington University where he met his wife. He received his bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and a minor in Theater Arts. In his spare time he enjoys sports (Go Mariners and Huskies!), music, being outdoors, and takes pride in the landscaping of his new house.

Kevin Meirose

Counselor In Training, Session 1 

Kevin is a Grants Evaluation Specialist in the Northwest Office of Native American Programs for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He currently works with over 40 Tribes throughout Washington, Oregon, and Idaho on housing and economic development issues. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, he now lives in Tacoma, Washington with his wife and their energetic Goldendoodle. After graduating from Marquette University with a bachelors degree in Civil Engineering, he took two years off to serve with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and with L’Arche Tahoma Hope working with people with developmental disabilities. He was recognized as a Krista Foundation Colleague in 2005 for his work with these organizations. After these stints, he went to University of Washington to do graduate studies in Public Administration then joined HUD. Kevin received his first cochlear implant at the age of 4 and has recently gone bilateral. He has been involved in AG Bell as a convention panelist, as a past college scholarship recipient, and as a LEAP participant. Kevin loves to bike, hike and cross-country ski with his wife and their dog, running marathons, exploring the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest, and visiting family in Kentucky and Alaska.

Matt Browne

Counselor, Session 2

After graduating from UC San Diego with a Bioengineering degree and spending a few years in the biotech industry, Matt has since settled in eastern Tennessee with his wife and two Welsh Corgis. He is currently the technical lead of Knoxville Utilities Board's Smart Grid project, where his hearing abilities are tested on a daily basis by the abundance of Southern accents in his department. He was born with severe-to-profound sensory bineural hearing loss, wearing hearing aids up until he opted for his cochlear implant at age 16. A glutton for punishment and sometimes too stubborn to ask for assistance, Matt has a tendency to challenge himself with the most difficult hearing situations possible - often spending upwards of an hour on the phone at work every day, listening to radio broadcasts and podcasts on a daily basis, being a member of the marching and jazz bands in high school, and discussing what's for dinner with his wife from three rooms away. He was an inaugural member of LOFT in 1996, has spoken on several panels at AG Bell conferences, and currently serves on the AG Bell scholarship committee. An expert in knee and hip pain, Matt can often be found hiking, running, playing soccer, and exploring the world on foot. During down times, he is a photographer, student of the culinary arts, tech geek, and loyalist to the Angels baseball team.

Lindsey Rentmeester

Counselor, Session 2 

Lindsey is a pediatric audiologist and Ph.D. student in hearing and speech sciences at the Vanderbilt University Bill Wilkerson Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Lindsey was identified with her hearing loss at 2½ years of age and has been wearing hearing aids ever since. She attended Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts for middle school and was mainstreamed for high school. After Lindsey graduated from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, she worked in the Binaural Hearing Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A couple years later she received her Au.D. with a pediatric specialization from Vanderbilt University in 2010. Lindsey is a LOFT alumnus and has been an active member of AG Bell for over 25 years, attending her first convention in 1986. When not working, Lindsey can be found fanatically rooting for the Green Bay Packers, trail-running, playing with her pup, looking for good-eats, and traveling.

Stacey Lim

Counselor In Training, Session 2  

 Stacey is a licensed audiologist and is also a Ph.D. Candidate in Audiology at Kent State University. She was identified with hearing loss at the age of 10 months and received her first pair of hearing aids at 11 months of age. She received a cochlear implant at the age of 18 years. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the College of Wooster with a minor in German Language and Literature, Stacey spent a year in Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship. When she came back to Ohio, Stacey received her Au.D. from the Northeast Ohio Au.D. Consortium, with specializations in early intervention, pediatric audiology, and educational audiology. Stacey has been a member of AG Bell since 1996, was a member of the inaugural LOFT class in 1996, and has presented at AG Bell conventions. Currently, she is a member of the AG Bell College Scholarship Committee. When she has free time, Stacey enjoys traveling, ballroom dancing, and the culinary arts.