Jan Withers

Chair

Jan Withers is the Director of the Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing (DSDHH), North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.  The Division’s seven regional centers provide direct services to North Carolina’s 1.3 million Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Late-Deafened, and DeafBlind consumers and their families and training and technical assistance to local agencies and organizations in all 100 North Carolina counties. The Division also provides technical assistance on policy and practice and resources designed to foster full communication access in a wide range of settings, including but not limited to health care, social services, law enforcement, emergency preparedness and response, housing, and public health.

Director Withers began her professional career as a North Carolina Licensed Professional Counselor for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children, specializing in family systems. She also served as the Director of Student Support Services at the North Carolina School for the Deaf in Morganton, overseeing a team of clinical staff in various specialties. 

Director Withers served for five years as the President and Chair of the Board of Directors for TDIforAccess, the nation’s leading advocate for full accessibility in Information and Communications Technology.  She is a founding member of the National Association of State Agencies of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and has served on its Board of Directors.  

She has presented or served as a panelist at numerous state and national conferences, including the TDI Biennial Conference where she introduced Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, the CMS Health Equity Conference, the National AHEC (Area Health Education Centers) Organization Biennial Conference, the EHDI (Early Hearing Detection and Intervention) National Meetings, the Center for Connected Health Policy National Webinar, the Academy of Doctors of Audiology Webinar, and the Association of American Medical Colleges Learning Series.  She also was the keynote speaker at the 36th annual Martin Luther King, Jr Unity Breakfast in Rocky Mount, NC.

Director Withers also spearheaded the development of partnerships with numerous state and national entities such as the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, the North Carolina Institute of Medicine, the Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Gallaudet University, the National Consortium of Regional Telehealth Resource Centers, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Administration on Community Living, to name just a few, leading to the development or sharing of resources and information designed to foster communication equity for all.

Director Withers was born profoundly Deaf and is fluent in American Sign Language. She received her Master’s Degree in Counseling from Gallaudet University and a Bachelor’s Degree from Davidson College.