January 2025: Karen Hopkins

Karen Hopkins is the Executive Director of The Children’s Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf.. She brings over 30 years of experience as a collaborative teacher of the deaf, special educator, early interventionist and educational administrator to her work with Deaf and hard of hearing children. Her work with families, coupled with her own personal experience as a Deaf adult and parent of a daughter who is hard of hearing have inspired her to create systems that empower families. Karen oversees early intervention and educational programming for children who are Deaf or hard of hearing birth to age 22 at CCCBSD. She is active in many organizations and boards,including the Hands & Voices HQ Board of Directors where she is currently the board president. She is also involved with international Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI) programming including the Deaf Leadership International Alliance. Karen’s current research is focused on perspectives of family empowerment in early intervention systems for Deaf and hard of hearing children and the impact of enbedding Deaf and hard of hearing adults into early intervention systems.