Leadership
J. Gaston Kent, President and Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the operation and sustainment of the Clinic. Mr. Kent recently retired from the Northrop Grumman Corporation, where he served as Vice President of Finance, responsible for business oversight of all major programs within the company. Previously at the Northrop Grumman, he served as Vice President of Investor Relations and Vice President and Assistant to the Executive Vice President of Operations. Prior to his employment with Northrop Grumman, Mr. Kent served in the United States Air Force for five years, reaching the rank of Captain. He was a warranted contracting officer while in the Air Force. He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), where he served on the board of directors of the Los Angeles chapter, and was also a member of the Senior Roundtable of NIRI. Mr. Kent was born in Scottsboro, Ala. He received a B.S. in finance from the University of Alabama and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He completed the Harvard Program for Management.
Blythe Cotton Maling, Vice President, Development and Communications, leads JTC’s fund development and communication program. She is responsible for raising private funds in support of JTC’s work through fundraising campaigns, special events, annual gifts, online and in-kind donations, wills, bequests and other planned gifts. She also plans and implements the marketing and public relations program. Prior to joining John Tracy Clinic, Maling served as partner at QuantumMethod, a Los Angeles-based consulting firm and spent more than a decade with Para Los Niños, leading the organization’s development and marketing efforts. Ms. Maling earned a master’s degree from the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California, and a bachelor’s degree in child development from the University of California, Berkeley. She holds a certificate from the University of California, Los Angeles in public relations and fundraising. A Southern California native, Maling is active in the Los Angeles philanthropic community. She is a member of Children’s Chain at Children’s Hospital and the Juniors of Social Service. She has served on the Marlborough School Alumnae Council and as a member of the Junior League of Los Angeles.
Jill Muhs, M.S.ED, Vice President, Programs, develops and oversees John Tracy Clinic’s core programs: Education (Preschool and Parent / Infant), Consultation and Audiology, Parent Distance Education, and Teacher Education. She also provides oversight for the Baby Sound Check® screening and training program for community healthcare clinics. Mrs. Muhs joined John Tracy Clinic (JTC) as a volunteer out of high school, received her Master’s degree in Education from the University of Southern California and has been a JTC employee for twenty five years. Before joining the Executive Team in 2010, she taught in the Preschool and Parent/Infant programs, coordinated the Community Hearing Screening Program, developed and mentored programs for Kapiolani Hospital in Hawaii and N-Courage-Mint in Las Vegas, taught classes for the University of San Diego/JTC Teacher Education Program, and represented JTC on numerous occasions at professional gatherings and community groups.
Angie Stokes, M.S. ED, Director of Preschool Services, supervises and coordinates all onsite (Los Angeles and Long Beach) educational services for parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing babies and preschoolers, including the Parent / Infant Program, the Preschool Program, International Summer Sessions, the LA Intensive Summer Program (for local families), the Parent Class Program, the Latin American summer session, and Mainstream Support Services. Ms. Stokes did her undergraduate work at Loma Linda University and graduated with an A.S. and B.S. in Early Childhood Education, Child and Family Sciences. She graduated from the USC/JTC Master’s Program with a degree in Deaf Education in 1987 and has been on staff at John Tracy Clinic since that time. In 1996, Ms. Stokes was promoted to her current administrative position in the Educational Services Department.
Anne McNally, M.A., Director of Parent Distance Education/Correspondence, joined the John Tracy Clinic in 2008. She coordinates the production of materials for families, in the United States and worldwide, who request information on childhood hearing loss. Ms. McNally has served as a state project coordinator, national grant director, university adjunct instructor, regional early intervention trainer, hospital educational consultant, school parent educator and special education teacher. She has been involved in the production of video series, web courses, parent materials and training curriculums. Ms. McNally has experience with programs using multiple communication approaches for individuals with hearing loss from preschool through college. She earned her Masters from the University of Nebraska and an undergraduate degree from Syracuse University.
Mary McGinnis, Cand PhD, CED, LSLS Cert AVT, Director, Teacher Education Department, has taught children with hearing loss for 40 years in a variety of settings using various approaches, including Total Communication, Cued Speech, Auditory-Oral, and Auditory-Verbal. Her academic preparation includes four degrees (BA in English and MA in Education, California State University, Los Angeles; MA in Linguistics and Cand PhD in Linguistics, University of Southern California), four California credentials (Elementary, Secondary: English, DHH, and Administrative Services), and four certifications (Listening and Spoken Language Specialist: Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist, Council on Education of the Deaf: Elementary and Secondary Education, Supervision of Elementary and Secondary Education, and NECCI Trainer). She has published and presented on various topics, including auditory skill development (the Auditory Skills Curriculum), speech, sex education, sociolinguistics in child language, and cochlear implants in children (The NECCI Inservice Curriculum).
Mary Beth Goring, M.A., MFT, Director, Counseling and Child Development Services, received her B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education from the University of Kansas in 1979, and her M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in 1984, and has been licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist since 1988. She has spent the last twenty-two years working with families of young deaf children at John Tracy Clinic in the role of marriage and family counselor. She facilitates support groups for English and Spanish-speaking parents and school-aged siblings, and provides individual and family counseling to families as they receive the diagnosis of hearing loss, as well as to those who are involved in educational services. Ms. Goring provides child development screenings for preschoolers at JTC. For the past four years she has taught a graduate level class in working with families in the JTC Teacher Training Program. During summer sessions, Ms. Goring directs the Sibling Program, which involves support groups, communication classes, and day camp activities. She serves on the SCLARC Family Resource Center Advisory Board. She trains parents in the areas of relationships in families with deaf children, dealing with difficult feelings, behavior management, stress management, and related topics, has published several articles about marriage and siblings in families with deaf children, and has presented trainings for professionals and families at conferences throughout the United States, Latin America, and Spain.
M. Cecilia Anguita, Director, Multimedia, Information & Technology Department, supervises and coordinates the Clinic’s multimedia, technology, web and print production services. She has been working at the Clinic since 1993 in various capacities. In 2001, she was promoted to Director of Information Technology after serving as Network Administrator for the previous 6 years. Ms. Anguita got her Microsoft Systems Engineer and Product Specialist certificates after winning a full Microsoft scholarship in 1996. She also holds an Associate Arts Degree in Elementary Education with a specialization in Teaching English as a Second Language from the Argentine Catholic University in Buenos Aires.
