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Our history

Decades of Deaf employees speaking up for access.

DIG began as Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Government (DHHIG), founded by federal employees in 1997. Today it serves Deaf public servants at every level of government.

Read the original history

"A Brief History, Series: The Beginning," by Jim B. Bishop and Sue E. Pressman for the DHHIG History Committee, December 2006. This is a scanned document; its key points are on this page.

Download the history (PDF, 467 KB)

The founders

DHHIG was founded by federal employees from across government.

  • Jim B. Bishop

    Internal Revenue Service

  • Billy Bowman

    Social Security Administration

  • Betty Dodds

    NOAA

  • Ashton Dunbar

    U.S. Department of Agriculture

  • Vic Galloway, Ed.D.

    U.S. Department of Education

  • Nancy Jenkins, Esq.

    U.S. Department of Education

  • Ric-Olin Lyles

    Founding treasurer

  • Charles Mokotoff

    National Institutes of Health

  • Sue E. Pressman, Ph.D.

    U.S. Department of Education

  • Paul Singleton

    Department of Defense

  • Eric Spanbauer

    Department of the Army

  • Mark P. Tessier

    Department of Transportation

Timeline

  1. c. 1975

    An early effort

    A group of federal employees forms and is chartered as the Federal Employee Section of the National Association of the Deaf. After membership declined, the section folded in 1996.

  2. 1997

    DHHIG takes shape

    Federal employees come together to plan a professional organization for Deaf and Hard of Hearing government workers. Through task force meetings and emails, they gather concerns and ideas, and interim officers are appointed: an executive director, secretary, treasurer and board members at large.

  3. 1998

    Bylaws, nonprofit status and a first board

    The bylaws are presented at the National Training Conference, and the preamble, vision and mission are shared at the 1998 NAD Conference in San Antonio, Texas. DHHIG is chartered in Maryland, receives IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, and holds its first board meeting in September.

  4. 1998–2006

    Rapid growth

    Within five years, DHHIG's funding grows from a few hundred dollars to an operating budget of more than a quarter million. Membership grows from 25 to over 2,000 members nationwide, and DHHIG gains recognition from the Office of Personnel Management, Capitol Hill, the White House and other federal and state agencies.

  5. 2006

    Testimony before the EEOC

    DHHIG leaders testify before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about the hiring and advancement of Deaf and Hard of Hearing federal employees. The DHHIG History Committee also publishes "A Brief History: The Beginning."

  6. 2015

    Bylaws adopted

    DIG adopts the bylaws that guide how the organization is governed today.

    Read the 2015 bylaws

  7. 2025

    A new strategic plan

    DIG publishes its 2025 strategic plan to guide the next chapter.

    Read the strategic plan

  8. 2026

    Partnering with NAD

    DIG gathers members at the 58th Biennial National Association of the Deaf Conference in San Francisco, June 30 to July 5.

“It was the persistence and tireless volunteer work of the DHHIG founders that laid the groundwork for the successful organization DHHIG has become.”

DHHIG History Committee, 2006