Our Story
In 1974, Don and Mary Burkes, a deaf couple, and Betty Steed, a local nationally certified interpreter and Pastor of Eternal Mercy Lutheran Church, recognized and acted on the need for an organization to facilitate American Sign Language interpreting in Memphis. Together they founded Interpreting Service for the Deaf. United Way of Greater Memphis provided our initial funding and we were housed at the Child Development Center. In 1978 ISD became a division of the Memphis YMCA, and services were expanded to include telecommunication devices for the D/deaf, relay services, advocacy, job placement assistance, public education and awareness. In 1987 we became a department of St. Joseph Hospital of Memphis. To reflect the incorporation of more programs for the community, in 1995 ISD changed its name to DeafConnect of the Mid-South and became a separate 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Today DeafConnect provides 12,000 hours of interpreting services annually.
Meet The Team
Natasha Parks
CEO
Natasha Parks is mom to two beautiful daughters, an eighth grader and a ninth grader who has autism. As of July 1, 2020, Parks is also CEO for DeafConnect. As Parks was helping her daughter learn to read, she devised a system to help her young student better understand what she was reading. The system Parks developed landed her a yearlong fellowship and a grant with 4.0 Schools to create a reading program using visual images and representations of stories for children with different abilities. She has a heart for empowering different abilities and sees non-verbal communication as an important tool. She is learning American Sign Language, teaching ASL to her family and developing an understanding of D/deaf culture. Parks is a business and accounting professional with extensive experience in nonprofit organizational structures. She earned her Bachelor’s of Business Administration from the University of Memphis.
Tracy Bateman
Director
Tracy Bateman has been a hard-of-hearing/Deaf person for more than 40 years, and she joined the DeafConnect board in 2023. She earned her bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of Memphis and her master’s in Deaf education from UT Knoxville. She has worked as a Deaf education teacher for more than 20 years. She served as a missionary to the Deaf in Ecuador with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and is past president and vice president of Quota International in Memphis, which worked with the United Nations to provide basic needs to women, children, the D/deaf and hard of hearing in communities around the world.
Michael Harris
Director
Michael O. Harris is a U.S. Navy veteran and visionary community leader committed to creating equitable access to resources and opportunity for the betterment of our community. He is executive director for the Blight Authority of Memphis, a Tennessee Local Land Bank, that works to reduce blight and its symptoms that threaten the security, stability and growth of Memphis neighborhoods. Michael brings a wide range of experience and expertise to the DeafConnect board, including two decades of cross-functional experience in crisis and fundraising management and financial compliance, entertainment, management and nonprofit consulting. He was previously executive director of the Greater Whitehaven Economic Redevelopment Corp., where he increased the organization’s revenue by 1700%. Harris is involved with multiple organizations, including MBJ Top 40 Under 40, 100 Black Men of Memphis, BLDG Memphis, Community Informed Economic Development Policy Group Co-Chair, Greater Memphis Chamber Government Affairs Committee member, UpSkill901 Adult Champion, Rotary International - District 6800 Former Assistant Governor and the Academy for Youth Empowerment board. Harris is committed to his slogan, “Together, we will make a better Memphis,” by transforming blighted properties into economic opportunities. Harris is a native Memphian, and he and his family worship at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Whitehaven.
Missy Kelly
Director
Missy Kelly - born profoundly Deaf - is active in the Deaf ministry at Memphis Deaf Church (Kirby Woods Baptist Church), where she serves as a financial committee member and manages communication for the church. In 2019, she retired from FedEx after working in their offices for over 30 years and now works with DeafConnect of the Mid-South as a director.
Billy Leavell
President of the Board
Billy Leavell is president of the board for DeafConnect. He was born deaf in Montgomery, Alabama, and was educated at hearing schools in Montgomery and Birmingham. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from David Lipscomb University and established Light for the Deaf, a publication for the D/deaf. He was a full-time minister in Nashville before moving to Memphis to minister to the D/deaf at East Frayser Church of Christ. In 1998 he and the D/deaf group relocated to White Station Church of Christ. His wife, Marilyn Allgood, is an interpreter for the deaf.
Dr. Ben Cox, Au.D
Vice President of the Board
Dr. Ben Cox, Au. D., a licensed and certified audiologist, founded Memphis Hearing Aid and Audiological Services in 1984. Ben received his B.A. in psychology and his M.A. in audiology from the University of Memphis. He received his doctorate in audiology from the Arizona School of Health Sciences. He is the son of deaf parents (Ben and Evelyn Cox), and this has given him a unique perspective in understanding the effects of hearing loss in everyday life. ASL is his first language, and he has used this language to interpret for deaf people in a variety of situations over the years. He has also taught ASL in local communities as well universities. Ben has also been able to study D/deaf culture in other countries on mission trips to the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, the Gaza Strip and Ecuador. Ben has been recognized by the Mid-South Council for the Hearing Impaired, the University of Memphis, and Lion’s Club International for his work with the hearing impaired. He is very active in the deaf/hearing-impaired ministry at Kirby Woods Baptist Church, where he serves as a deacon and teacher. Ben retired in April 2021 and joined the DeafConnect board in 2022.
Steve Pike
Secretary of the Board
Steve Pike is an accomplished not-for-profit and public sector executive. His desire to serve the D/deaf community comes from seeing the effects of his father's hearing loss late in life and his own partial loss of hearing the last few years. For 17 years he led the Pink Palace Family of Museums, one of the largest groups of cultural attractions in the Southeastern U.S., including natural and cultural history museums, temporary exhibits, three historic houses, an education complex, a planetarium, a giant-screen theater, a nature center and a paleo research site. Previously he was executive director of the Virginia State Museum of Natural History. He has also served in leadership roles with the Smithsonian Institution, the American Alliance of Museums, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marian University and pursued graduate studies at Temple University.
Kate Gray
Interpreter Liaison
The needs of the D/deaf community have come full circle for Kate Gray. Kate is a proud CODA, the oldest daughter of amazing parents, Charlie and Ola Smith. She and her four siblings (there’s an older brother who is Deaf, living in Hot Springs) grew up under the spiritual guidance of Pastor Donald E. Leber, who pastored Eternal Mercy Lutheran Church for the Deaf, one of the first Deaf churches in Memphis, during the 1960s and 70s. She taught Sunday School and was part of the first “Signs of Christmas,” promoting signed Christmas songs to churches throughout the South. After 30+ years in the corporate world, she accepted the position as Interpreter Liaison with DeafConnect. Married for 21 years and counting to James E. Gray Jr., she’s the mother of nine (three who are married), bonus mom of three, grandmother of 23 and great-grandmother of four.
Pamela Harris-Giles
Scheduler
Pamela Harris-Giles has extensive experience working with diverse groups of people. She served in Memphis-Shelby County Schools for 30 years in various roles including classroom teacher, Instructional Facilitator, Math Coach, Instructional Support Director and Director of Curriculum & Instruction. Pamela earned her Bachelor of Science in Education at Memphis State University, and she received her Masters degree in School Administration and Supervision at the University of Memphis.
Pamela joined DeafConnect in November 2024 after retiring from the local school district. As a member of DeafConnect, Pamela continues to live out her purpose and passion for learning and helping others. In addition to working with the dynamic team at DeafConnect, Pamela serves on the Kids Life Team at The Life Church-Memphis, and she is an active member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. Pamela is married and is the very proud mother of two adult children, two bonus daughters, and five bonus grandchildren.
Lauren-Taylor Lung'aho
Receptionist
Lauren-Taylor Lung'aho is married and has one child. She worked for eight years as a property manager before leaving her profession to spend more time with family. Having two Deaf/mute grandparents created her passion to connect and learn more about the D/deaf community and sin language services. She joined DeafConnect in late 2023 and coordinates scheduling for ASL interpreters.