Jonathan O’Dell

Jonathan G. O’Dell grew up in Vienna, Austria, where he lost most of his hearing suddenly at age 10 due to complications associated with Meningitis. Following his hearing loss, he attended an oral school for deaf and hard of hearing children in Vienna, after which his education continued in mainstreamed settings in England and the United States. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Jonathan has been employed at the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing since 1991 in several direct service and administrative positions. He is a four-time Commonwealth Pride in Performance award winner and recipient of the 2022 Governor Paul Cellucci Award for Leadership and Mentoring in State Government. He was also nominated for an Emmy by the New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for scriptwriting “The Water Cooler” in 2002, a public service announcement that visually represented hearing loss as an invisible barrier to inclusion.

Jonathan has provided countless trainings and provided technical assistance on communication access and communication technologies to national, regional, state and municipal entities. These include hospitals and medical facilities, law enforcement and emergency service providers, libraries, colleges and universities, and businesses ranging in size from family-owned enterprises to multinational corporations. He is an avid photographer and kayaker, fluent in German and ASL, and a bilateral cochlear implant user who loves listening to music. He is married and has a stepson, River, and a daughter from a previous marriage, Ingrid, who is herself active in the accessibility space and an ASL interpreter trainee.