Co-founded by parents of a deaf child, and enriched by a diverse network of board members, advisors and community members, Our Community aims to enhance the social, educational and recreational opportunities for families of deafness in Burbank and the surrounding neighborhoods.
Board of Directors
Ellen Burditt
President
After moving to Burbank, California at age seven, Ellen was educated in the Burbank public school system, graduated Burbank High School, and went on to Boston College, where she earned her BA in English, cum laude. Ellen is married to writer/producer Mark Saraceni, and is the mother of two sons: Carl, who is hearing, and Joseph, who is deaf, and attends kindergarten in the Burbank public program at George Washington Elementary, a model program first established as TRIPOD, where deaf & hard of hearing students are co-enrolled with their hearing peers. Ellen is an accomplished entertainment executive: Lionsgate Entertainment (Sr. Vice President); Warner Bros. Television (Director, Movies & Miniseries) the Disney Channel (Director, Feature Film Development), and consultant for the Entertainment Industries Council (www.eiconline.org), promoting accurate depiction of important health and social issues in film and television.
Lauren Maucere
Board MemberLauren Maucere is Co-Founder of KODAWest in Burbank, a non-profit organization which serves hearing children with parent/s who are deaf, by providing camps and activities for these KODAs (Kids Of Deaf Adults), and support workshops for their deaf parents. Lauren is the deaf mom to two hearing children who are co-enrolled in the Burbank public school program. Lauren holds a BS degree in Environmental and Occupational Health and is currently obtaining her teaching credentials to work with deaf children. Lauren worked at GLAD (Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness) as a research partner with the UCLA tobacco awareness among the Deaf and Hard of Hearing youth community throughout California. Lauren became a supervisor for GLAD health services, where she was recognized by the California AIDS Clearinghouse for going above and beyond the call of duty in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Lauren served on the task force at CSUN's National Center on Deafness (NCOD) which just released its five year strategic plan. Most recently, the City of Los Angeles recognized Lauren and KODAWest for their work in improving the lives of deaf and hard of hearing people in the community.
Mark Saraceni
Head of Marketing, Finance, Accounting
Mark Saraceni has 20 years of professional experience in the entertainment industry as a content producer and marketing executive for Fortune 50 international media companies. His younger son is deaf. Mark is a graduate of the UCLA Anderson Executive Program and has a B.S. in Finance from Syracuse University.
Megan Williams
Board Member
Megan Williams is an independent documentary film producer and the recipient of an Academy Award © nomination for Language Says It All a film about parenting a deaf child. In 1982, in response to her son’s diagnosis of profound hearing loss, Megan founded TRIPOD, a model educational program for deaf and hard of hearing children and their families. She served as a Board member of TRIPOD until 2005 at which time the program became part of BUSD, Burbank, CA. For her work on behalf of deaf children, Megan received many awards among them the Woman of the Year, Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness and the Distinguished Service Award from the National Center on Deafness, CSUN.
Megan’s early work as a documentary filmmaker is featured in Subject to Change: Guerrilla Television Revisited by Deirdre Boyle, Oxford University Press. She served as an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinema-TV. In addition to making her own films, she mentors young filmmakers.
Aaron Mendelsohn
Secretary
Aaron has been a working screenwriter for fifteen years. He currently
sits on the Board of Directors for the Writers Guild of America West
and served on the Negotiating Committee. During the recent Writers
Strike, he brought together a consortium of top writers from Hollywood
and tech leaders from Silicon Valley to begin a dialogue about
delivering first run, scripted content over the Internet. Out of that
came Virtual Artists, Inc., a writer-owned studio that produces
ad-supported, Web-optimized "water cooler" entertainment. As the Chief
Creative Officer, Aaron oversees the development and production of all
VA content.
Aaron graduated from UCLA with a degree in Screenwriting in 1988. He
made his feature film debut by co-writing the Disney family film AIR
BUD, which went on to become one of the most successful
independently-financed films of all time and has, to date, sired ten
sequels. Aaron also co-wrote the sequel AIR BUD: GOLDEN RECEIVER. He has written films, MOWs and episodic TV for most of the major studios and networks.
Aaron grew up as the hearing sibling of a deaf brother, Josh Mendelsohn, who is an attorney for the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
Apryl Chauhan
Board Member
After growing up in Granada Hills, CA, Apryl Chauhan left her theater and TV acting career after her first daughter, Zahra, was born. After learning of Zahra’s profound deafness, Apryl and the family moved quickly into the deaf community. She recently moved to Burbank, CA to be part of the local community and as a mother of three she continues to be an active board member of the state wide, non-profit organization IMPACT. In 2007 Apryl co-chaired the Cal-Ed IMPACT Conference, an annual event for educators and parents of deaf children. She is currently working at the Family Focus Resource and Empowerment Center at CSUN as a Parent Mentor, supporting families with children recently diagnosed with hearing loss.