About Us
Our Mission
At Access 2 Sign Language our mission is to achieve the highest standard of sign language interpreting services to positively impact our community through continual development, cultural awareness, and effectively facilitating communication.
Our Vision
Access 2 Sign Language will be the leader of language service provider standards for consumers and employees alike. We believe all Deaf people have the right to qualified communication with equity and impartiality. We envision a world with broken down barriers; one that honors language, linguistic differences, and has cultural knowledge. As part of our purpose we will contribute to a well-informed community, be vigilant in social justice issues, indoctrinate a set of confidentiality standards for language agencies, and grow well-rounded, highly trained experienced service providers.
Our Story
Owner & Founder Lori Dowds grew up in rural Eastern Colorado and Western Kansas. Her journey to creation of this agency began about thirty years prior. Lori's first born child noticeably did not speak like other children the same age, a concern that led them to seek medical help. At the time, it was assumed that her child was Deaf. Without any hesitation, Lori began to learn sign language with her child. Overtime, it was discovered that her child was on the autism spectrum, rather than being Deaf. Still, her passion for sign language, disability studies, and social justice had emerged. Through rigorous training, education, and learning a second language, Lori became a sign language interpreter. After a decade of working as an interpreter contractor, she developed a desire to better serve her hometown communities and raise professional standards. Herself, along with two previous business partners, sought out to start their own company. Today, Lori is an interpreter, a sociologist, and a disability scholar. She approaches everyday with a deep sense of purpose for her life’s work.
The A2SL Approach
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Employee Status: At A2SL, service providers are our employees, rather than contractors that agencies offer. We believe paying taxes at the higher self-employment rate is not a burden the interpreter should have to pay. In addition to paying taxes on our employees behalf, being a W-2 employee provides assistance in enough funds being withheld for taxes.
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Insurance: Many interpreting agencies solely maintain interpreters as contractors. Unfortunately, this often results in sign language interpreters and providers being either underinsured or uninsured altogether. You can be assured that our employees are covered with Workers Compensation, General Liability, and additionally with Professional Liability insurance.
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Scheduling Interpreters: In our experience, other agencies either have a mass messaging or bid-system approach to scheduling interpreters for appointments. We believe that is detrimental to client preferences, the most qualified provider being placed on the appointment, and foregoes the sensitivity of confidentiality for consumers. Our scheduling takes all pieces into consideration. First, if the client has any known preferences (see Consumer Profile), that provider will be offered the assignment first. They will only receive the date and time of the appointment, with no other appointment information. If they are available, they will then receive the information pertinent to the appointment. If they are unavailable, they receive no further information, and we move on to ask the next most experienced, qualified person who has no personal nor professional conflicts of interest with the appointment. We ask one-by-one, individually and wait for a response before moving on, understanding that the most qualified person is likely on an assignment and unable to respond to a mass message or bid the fastest. This additionally creates a heathier environment among colleagues as they are not competing for assignments on anything other than professional qualifications.
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Family: A2SL is locally family owned and locally family operated. We bring our strong sense of family and values into our service. Half of our office staff is currently local to Colorado and half is local to Kansas and are both part of the same Dowds Family. We believe in transparency and being genuine. From first call to invoice processing, our consumers receive just that!
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Giving Back: Without the support of our community, none of this would be possible. We pride ourselves in giving back to our community either monetarily or through our services.
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Military Community: Most of our office staff have been or currently are spouses of military personnel in our uniformed services. As the presence of military is strong in both our Colorado Springs and Wichita communities, we feel commitment to bridging the gap between our installations and the Deaf community. For critical cultural understanding for service members and for civilian employment of our Deaf consumers on military installations.
Meet The Team
Owner/Founder/Lead Interpreter
Lori Dowds
MA, A:EI, CI/CT, CO Legal
Lori Dowds received her AAS in Interpreter Preparation from Pikes Peak Community College in 2000, her BA in Sociology in 2005 and her MA in Sociology in 2015 from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Lori was the first recipient of the Diane Whipple Memorial Scholarship for leadership in the field of interpreting. Dowds has certifications for K-12 Educational Interpreting, RID Certificate of Interpreting and Certificate of Transliteration, and Colorado Legal Qualification. She has specialized in both mental health and legal interpreting and has been actively interpreting for over 20 years. In her off time, Lori enjoys community activities, light hiking, going to the movies, and spending time with her 8 grandbabies in Kansas!
Office Manager/Billing/Payroll
Rebecca Dowds
Rebecca studied Business Management at Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS where she received her Bachelors degree. During college she was president of the Business Club as well as a part of the honor society Sigma Beta Delta. Currently, Rebecca is pursuing a Masters in Organizational Leadership and is taking ASL classes on the side in Hutchinson, KS. She also does bookkeeping within the piano technician industry, as part of her other small family business, Wichita Piano Services. A master of multitasking, Rebecca has four beautiful children. We are grateful to have such a driven, mindful professional on our team; Rebecca has been part of the A2SL team for over a decade!
Operations Manager/Interpreter Coordinator
Hannah Rice
Hannah earned her Bachelor of Science in Personal Financial Planning with a minor in Business from Kansas State University. She is a 2015 Collegiate National Champion in financial planning. Her research was awarded K-State's College of Human Ecology Senior Student Research/Creative Activity Award. She was the recipient of the Society of Financial Services Professionals Excellence in Financial Education Award. Additionally, Hannah co-authored a chapter in the health and wellness book “Whole FIT: Wellness for Life,” focusing on the intersection of finances with physical health, mental health, and overall well-being. Hannah grew up between Falcon, CO & Lindsborg, KS. American Sign Language has been an integral part of Hannah's life. With her mother and sister both working as ASL interpreters and her father being Deaf, she has always been surrounded by this beautiful language. While interpreting may not align with her personal strengths, she has a deep passion for contributing to the field.
Community Engagement Oversight/Mentor/Intern Coordinator
Rebekah Cain
NIC, EIPA 4.0+
Rebekah Cain graduated from William Woods University with a Bachelor of Science in ASL-English Interpretation Studies. In her final year of school, she completed her interpreter practicum and internship with A2SL. She is a K-12 educational interpreter; holding RID National Interpreter Certification, EIPA 4.0+ and passing the written knowledge exam. She serves in Kansas full-time as the Supervisor of Sign Language Interpreter Services for a Kansas City area school district. She is deeply passionate about about their deaf and hard of hearing students and seeing their growth each school year. She believes all students deserve the best access to language and communication, ensuring the highest quality of access to their students. Rebekah can be found at A2SL in her free time by maintaining our social media, conference preparations, managing interns, and offering overall industry-specific business consulting. Rebekah is a both a CODA and a second generation interpreter in her family. She grew up around interpreting and sign language her entire life! Outside of interpreting, she is also a proud dance mom and soccer mom to her two young children. She is a crafter at heart and a baker; ask about her famous cookies! Rebekah, we are thankful for your leadership with A2SL!
Administrator/Scheduling Coordinator
Sarah Hoover
Sarah graduated from Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas. There she was a manager at a bank for many years. Sarah stepped out of the traditional corporate world to mother and raise her three littles and is now a admin in Kansas. Sarah is involved in her church and their womens ministry.
Staff Interpreter/K-12 Educational Interpreter
Heather Black
A:EI
Heather graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor's in Communication with an emphasis in Leadership. She later went back to college to pursue a degree in Sign Language Interpretation at PPCC, graduating in 2016. Heather worked at The Colorado School for The Deaf and The Blind, immersing herself in the language for 2 years, and finally became a full time American Sign Language practitioner. She is passionate about education for Deaf children, so she became an EIPA certified sign language provider in 2020 and is now pursuing her national certification. In her free time, she enjoy investing in our youth as a leader / mentor at her church. She love playing sports! She loves reading thrillers and crime related books. She is also a gamer girl that enjoys playing video games with her husband!