About John Tracy Clinic > Leadership
Barbara Hecht, Ph.D., President, John Tracy Clinic, is principal liaison with the Board of Directors and oversees all Clinic activities. Dr. Hecht joined John Tracy Clinic in 1992, serving as Vice President of Counseling, Audiology and Teacher Training before being promoted to president in September 2003.
Dr. Hecht received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and doctoral degree in Psycholinguistics and Child Language Development from Stanford University. Prior to joining John Tracy Clinic, Dr. Hecht was a faculty member in a Special Education/Educational Psychology doctoral program at UCLA. Dr. Hecht has broad experience in language assessment and remediation with deaf and hard-of-hearing children, from infancy through school age, and has developed and published curriculum materials for speech/language therapists and interns in public and private schools throughout Southern California.
Kevin Matthews, FCCA CAT, Vice President, Finance and Administration, is responsible for all accounting and financial operations for John Tracy Clinic, in addition to managing the support functions of human resources, information technology, facilities, and media. Prior to joining John Tracy Clinic in 2005, Mr. Matthews served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Urban Education Partnership in Los Angeles. He is a graduate of the University of Westminster, England, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Certified Accountants, an international accountancy qualification equivalent to the U.S. C.P.A.
Mary Ann Bell, Vice President, Development and Communications, provides leadership for all marketing, communication and development programs at John Tracy Clinic. Her responsibilities include foundation support, annual fund, major gifts, planned giving, and a direct donor stewardship program, Ms. Bell is also responsible for overseeing all Clinic publications and special events, as well as eight volunteer fundraising support groups. Prior to joining John Tracy Clinic in 1999, Ms. Bell was on staff at USC for nearly eight years, where she served as Assistant Director of Development for the Rossier School of Education and Director of Development for the School of Policy, Planning and Development. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Greater Los Angeles Chapter, and the Planned Giving Round Table of Southern California. Ms. Bell holds a bachelor’s degree from Webster University and is a graduate of USC's School of Business Executive Education Program.
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.
Sandra Mintz, Director Baby Sound Check, teaches in the USD/JTC graduate education programs for teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing. Ms. Mintz has been in the field of audiology for 25 years, motivated through her passion and dedication to serve other families like her own. She has personal experience with progressive hearing loss since childhood and now uses cochlear implants. Ms. Mintz received her BS degree in Speech and Hearing Science from Indiana University in 1982 and her MS degree in Audiology from the University of Arizona in 1984. She holds national certification and state licensure in audiology. She has expertise in the areas of diagnostic and rehabilitative audiology for pediatric and adult populations in both the clinical and academic arenas. Prior to joining the JTC team in 2008, she served as a clinical audiology faculty member at Arizona State University for 18 years, co-owned a hearing assistive technology business, and developed educational programs in cochlear implants through Advanced Bionics Corporation for parents and professionals. She has published papers and presented numerous educational seminars in the areas of differential diagnosis of auditory disorders, cochlear implants, hearing aids and assistive technology.
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.
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.
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, Department of Consultation and Audiology at John Tracy Clinic. She 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 for the past 15 years in various capacities. In 2001, she was promoted as Director of Information Technology after serving as Network Administrator for the previous 6 years. Mrs. 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.