P Lanette Pinkard (Founder & Ceo)
Lanette is a child of Deaf adults (CODA) who has been in the sign-language interpreting profession for 41 years. In addition to her Bachelor's degree and honorary Doctorate for her work in the field, she is nationally certified, having earned the National Interpreting Certificate-Master level. (NIC Master). Lanette's mission and passion is in unifying organizations with the Deaf Community through professional American Sign-language Interpreters who provide excellent customer services and facilitate communication. Her team works with organizations to be inclusive of the Deaf Community in their employment, advertising and social media platforms.
Her love for people, her commitment to unity, and customer service has made incredible advancements so that the Deaf Community receives maximum enjoyment and an ultimate experience during their travel experiences and in other environments where ASL is needed. This service results in high retention and ongoing requests with reoccurring customers for various organizations and the travel industry.
T'challa N. Pinkard (Chief Operating Officer)
Executive contact and Overall Operations
Design/Implement Long-Short Term Strategies
Oversee Customer Service/Training
Conducts ongoing quality control checks
Escalation point of contact for customer service issues or concerns
Managing Requests for ASL Interpreters & scheduling
T’challa N. Pinkard, born in Brooklyn, New York has been a customer service leader for organizations for over 30 years. He has a history of being rewarded for excellence in Customer Service, Customer and Employee Retention. The reward has come in ways such as corporate recognition, increased retention, reduced loss and increased repeat clients. With his skills, he has taken multiple companies from the red to the black saving time and finances by improving training and team building. He is a recipient of multiple awards in recognition of his customer service and management. Profit loss decrease of approximately 15-21% per employer and an increase of customer satisfaction ratings as measured by surveys.
As Chief Operating Officer of My Hands Your Heart, LLC, he oversees the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of the business. He is the husband of Visionary, Founder and CEO P Lanette Pinkard. They have a blended family of seven adult children, 18 grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Melissa Lockley, MA
Director of Operations
Organizational responsibilities:
Project Management
Oversee Administration and
Day to day operations
Correspondence to Organizations
Managing Requests for ASL Interpreters & scheduling
Melissa Lockley (Lisa) was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, but spent most of her childhood between Maryland and Virginia. She works for the Federal Government for the past 35 years, which allows her to assist states and local governments to meet their community development needs with Federal grants.
Lisa’s entry into the interpreting profession started out by volunteering in the Deaf community and in church, which eventually lead to freelance interpreting and a passion for theatrical interpreting for the past 10 years. In 2019, she was introduced to cruise interpreting and My Hands Your Heart, LLC, where she later became its Administrator Assistant. Lisa is currently serving as President of the National Alliance of Black Interpreters (NAOBI) NYC and has previously held positions as Vice President and Member-at-Large. In addition, she has served as Member-at-Large for NYC Metro Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), Secretary for NYC Black Deaf Advocates and Secretary for the Board. Lisa also has memberships to the following affiliations: NYC Black Deaf Advocates, Culture Sign Language Network, National Action Network/Interpreters Advocate Committee, Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, and New York City Metro Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.
In December 2019, Lisa received her Master of Arts in Liberal Arts Studies (MALS) from Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of New York. She also received her Bachelor of Arts with a focus in Sociology from the College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, New York, and her Associate in Arts with a focus in Deaf Studies from Fiorello H. LaGuardia Community College of the City University of New York. She is also a member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society and Golden Key International Honour Society.
Her interests include striving daily at fortifying her relationship with God, community engagement, volunteerism, traveling, reading, and enjoying the adventures life has to offer.
Crystal Kelley Schwartz Presenter/Instructor
Crystal Kelley Schwartz is a Deaf woman with a passion for teaching, mentoring, performing, and leading. She founded and directed a deaf youth center in Naperville, Illinois- exclusively for mainstreamed students needing connection and motivation. Uplifting their self-confidence as an individual with hearing loss. She has also written plus directed film and stage performances.
Crystal has taught both interpreters in training and ASL students for several years at three different colleges and universities. Crystal’s degree is in marketing and business management; however, for over 25 years, she has worked as a counselor, language advocate, and consultant for schools, hospitals, agencies, programs, and organizations that serve the Deaf and Hard of Hearing population.
Currently, she works as an interpreter and family involvement specialist. Crystal resides in Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband David and their four children. When she is not busy with one of her various independent contract work, she enjoys cooking, volunteering, and spending time with her family. Her mission in life is to help bring clarity, peace, and wisdom to injustice everywhere.
Angelic Taylor (Mba, Nic)
Team Interpreter
Host of the Upcoming MHYH "Self Care" Break
Mentor/Instructor/Presenter
Angelic Taylor is a versatile professional with over 20 years of experience in sign language interpreting, mental health, and massage therapy. She earned her undergraduate degrees at Oakland Community College and Eastern Michigan University and a MA in Counseling from Oakland University. Some of her credentials include National Interpreter Certification (NIC), Board Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI Advanced), and National Counselor Certification (NCC). Angelic was formerly the Detroit Center Manager for Purple Communications. She presented numerous workshops and developed a mentorship program that successfully helped many aspiring interpreters become working interpreters and Adjunct Instructors in Oakland Community College's Interpreter Training Program. Her teaching interests include self-care, vicarious trauma, test prep, and mentoring. She believes in the African Proverb "Each One, Teach One" and finds great joy in sharing knowledge with anyone ready to learn.
Sabrina fellenz, MA
Staff Intern
Assist with overall administrative duties Correspondence
Mrs. Fellinz is My Hands Your Heart’s first intern. She has joined us to expand her work experience within the Deaf Community and travel profession. She is well accomplished and will assist in our administrative assistant with the overall duties and responsibilities. As she develops her strengths, she will move into a more administrative role.
My Hands Your Heart, LLC is pleased to welcome our first Intern:
Sabrina Fellenz, born and raised in Camden, NJ has always been passionate about helping the Deaf Community. As a child of deaf adults (CODA), interpreting has always been a part of her daily routine. Serving as a personal interpreter for her parents at doctor’s offices, school meetings, and local establishments paved the way for Sabrina to easily enter the helping profession.
Sabrina obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Psychiatric Rehabilitation and a master’s degree in Public Administration. To further her passion with assisting others in need, Sabrina recently obtained her ASL certification.
For the past 8 years, She has been working in the mental health field aiding individuals with identifying effective community resources. Sabrina is in the process of developing positive connections within the Deaf Community to serve as an advocate for those who are often discriminated against. Communication is key and should never be viewed as a barrier!
Andrea Lust, BA, BBS
Nationally Certified Interpreter
Contract Specialist
Responsible for contract Development
Research legal regulations to negotiate the terms and preparing print documents
Evaluate bids and draft document
Andrea Lust works in Southern California. An African American who identifies as Female, Ms. Lust holds two bachelor’s degrees in the following areas of study: Marketing, Corporate Law, Linguistics, and Deaf Studies with a focus on ASL Interpreting. She is currently the owner of ADL Interpreting, serving as a freelance interpreter in Southern California for 20 years.
Ms. Lust serves the Deaf/Hard of Hearing/Deaf-Blind community in the medical, conference, post-secondary, and legal areas of interpreting. Ms. Lust also serves on the board of SCRID (Southern California RID) as its secretary and uses her interpreting and linguistic skills to advise clients on communication comprehension. She enjoys life as an empty-nester with her husband and their lazy cat, Monster.