Benro T. Ogunyipe is the Director of the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission. He previously worked for the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) in Chicago, Illinois for nearly two decades in various capacities including Senior Accessibility Specialist and Reasonable Accommodation Specialist.
Benro served for six years as president, vice president, and chair of the board of National Black Deaf Advocates, Inc. from 2007 to 2013. In 2014 and again in 2016, U.S. President Barack Obama appointed Benro to the National Council on Disability. Benro was also appointed by three different Illinois Governors to public bodies and was an appointed board member of the National Association of the Deaf.
Benro authored Black Deaf Culture Through Lens of History, a short commentary on the history, culture, and education of Black Deaf People for the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) supported by the U.S. Department of Education. Benro is a frequent presenter on the topics of advocacy, employment rights and discrimination, interpreting in diverse communities, cultural diversity & inclusion, and through the historical lens: the culture, miseducation, and sociolinguistics of Black Deaf people. He was a seasoned guest lecturer at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Disability Studies and Columbia College Chicago’s Interpreter Training Program on Multicultural Issues.
Benro received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Gallaudet University and a Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) degree from DePaul University, School of Public Service.
Christopher D. Johnson
Christopher D. Johnson, commonly known as CJ in the Deaf community, was born in Carrollton, Georgia as the only deaf child of Donald and Emma Johnson. He was raised alongside his younger brother, Emmanuel Johnson, M.D. More importantly, he was the cherished grandson of Lillie Heard Love on his maternal side. Johnson graduated with a degree in Sports Management from the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia. Upon graduation, he recognized his unquenchable thirst for knowledge in discovering his deaf identity. This led Christopher to pursue his journey to explore the other world: Deaf World.
Johnson found a sense of belonging through various employment experiences at multiple deaf institutions in the South as a deaf male. During his time in Tennessee and Georgia, CJ tirelessly advocated for removing the school-to-prison pipeline from schools and preserving Black American Sign Language, culture, and history. He aimed to develop future Black deaf trailblazers.
In 2018, CJ was granted a Graduate Assistantship by Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. He pursued his Master’s degree in the Sign Language Education Program while teaching ASL through a Graduate Fellowship at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) in Virginia. Christopher joined Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated through the Omicron Eta Lambda chapter in D.C. while excelling as a graduate student and working as a graduate assistant at Gallaudet University and adjunct instructor at NVCC. Mr. Johnson is currently pursuing his terminal degree in Educational Leadership at the National University in San Diego, California, with inspiration from the pillars of the Black Deaf community that are not limited to Drs. Carolyn McCaskill, Glenn B. Anderson, Ernest Hairston, Neisha Washington-Shephard, Joseph Hill, Amie Fornah Sankoh, and more.
Christopher’s exceptional leadership qualities are reflected in his servant, empirical, and organizational leadership. CJ is a purpose-driven and visionary leader with ambitious plans 1) currently serving as a Board Member for the USA Deaf Sports Federation, a position he has held since 2023, 2) completing his role as the immediate past president of the District of Columbia Black Deaf Advocates, serving a term from October 2021 to December 2023, 3) fulfilled four years as an Advisory Board member since its inception in 2020 to 2024, and 4) he was reappointed to resume his role as the inaugural chairperson for the Dr. Glenn B. Anderson Scholarship Program.
Mr. Johnson provides workshop presentations for colleges, universities, high schools, businesses, and non-profit organizations—he may be reached through his LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-johnson-1570b543) and Instagram (@iamchristopherdjohnson).