Andrea received her Associate/Bachelor Degree in Elementary Education and Speech Communications from Ricks College/Boise State/Idaho State. She has worked with young kids for all of her adult life. She helped run the YMCA preschool and Kindergarten program in Boise before moving back to Utah. During this time Andrea also ran a baby sign language online company for 8 years where she helped families learn ASL to further their family’s communication and language abilities. She’s always had a passion for helping those with disabilities, which started when her youngest sister was born severely handicapped. She recalls having service members from Early Intervention, etc… coming to her home and supporting their family during this overwhelming time. She’s excited to be a support and resource for families going through similar situations.

Andrea owns her own tumbling/gymnastics business “Thrive Tumbling” which she has done for the past 15 years, along with being an assistant Drill Team Coach to the Stansbury Stallions. She’s currently looking forward to transitioning to being a full time PIP Advisor, which has always been her dream job. She has 5 kids and loves spending all her free time with her family playing games, hiking, and camping.

Deaf Mentor

ashleea@usdb.org 

Ashlee Gillis was born and raised in Central Illinois. She is an only child and was the only Deaf person in her family from her childhood years. Ashlee married her husband, Shawn, who is also Deaf, in 2015. They completed their family with three daughters. The older two daughters are hearing and the youngest daughter is hard of hearing bilaterally. They have two family dachshund dogs; Max and Cookie. As a family, they enjoy shopping, going on evening walks, watching movies and reading books.

Ashlee became Deaf at birth and she did not get a hearing screening

until she was three years old because newborn hearing screenings were not required back then. She became a naive signer in American Sign Language from her toddler years. Growing up, Ashlee attended a mainstream school with a Special Education program and then graduated from high school in 2009. She moved to Rochester, New York to attend Rochester Institute of Technology. Ashlee graduated with an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts in 2011 and a Bachelor’s degree in Multidisciplinary Studies tracking Deaf Culture, psychology and sociology in 2014. Ashlee plans to study at Gallaudet in Washington, D.C. to obtain a Master’s degree in Early Intervention Studies by Fall of 2026. Although she recently joined the PIP program for Salt Lake County in Utah in late 2022; she had previous experience as a Deaf Mentor for the Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education in Indianapolis, Indiana for three years from 2019-2022.