CASLI Staff
CASLI Staff support the daily operations of the organization by providing administrative and operational support. This includes, but is not limited to, overseeing exam development, maintenance and administration. Managing the exam application and registration process and providing stellar support and customer service to candidates, and all other stakeholders.
Sean Furman
Director of Testing
571-257-4761 (VP)
testing@casli.org
Sean Furman, Director of Testing
Sean Furman has been promoted as the Director of Testing for CASLI after being in the Testing Coordinator for more more than two years. Sean enjoys the challenges that the position brings with the development of CASLI’s new examinations and working with CASLI Board of Managers, Testing Committee, and other key stakeholders. It’s never a dull moment within CASLI.
He is an alumni of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) / National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) as he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Film, Video & Animation and is currently working on a graduate degree at RIT in Communication, Service Leadership, and Management.
After moving to Arizona in 2002, Sean worked in various fields such as advocacy, education, interpreting and human service. In 2015, after 12 years of residing in Phoenix, Sean and his family moved back east to Rochester, NY where Sean worked at RIT/NTID in different roles of project management, customer service and as a supervisor working closely with students and others.
Sean has a strong passion for theatre, film, and giving back to the Deaf community as he has been heavily involved with different organizations over the years. During his free time, he enjoys spending time with his husband and their awesome triplets, going on adventures and exploring new things as well as the family’s weekly “Movie Night”. With Sean’s multifarious experiences, he continues to enjoy tackling the challenges his role as Director of Testing brings.
Melissa Kononenko
Testing Specalist
571-357-3896 (VP)
info@casli.org
Melissa Kononenko, Testing Specialist
Melissa Kononenko is proud to be Deaf, and she comes from a deaf family of four. American Sign Language has been her primary language since she was born. She grew up in New Jersey before moving to the DC/MD/VA area for 20 years. She earned two degrees at Gallaudet University, working nine beautiful years for three different departments before moving to Texas in early 2020 to grow her roots in the Lone Star state. Prior to her new job with CASLI, she worked at the Deaf Action Center Interpreting Department as the primary scheduler handling ASL interpreting requests for the North Texas area.
Melissa is a proud mom of CODA eight-year-old twins! They are her world. She also loves to travel to new places, try new things, and get in the spirit for the holidays!
She is excited to join CASLI and looking forward to meeting everyone soon.
Amie Santiago
Testing Manager
Amie Santiago, Testing Manager
Amie Smith Santiago is a certified ASL interpreter with 16 years of experience in the interpreting field including the last six years working with a state operated certification system where she learned the intricacies of certification testing. She brings a unique skillset to her new position as CASLI testing manager.
Amie loves to learn. She completed an Interpreter Training Program along with a bachelor’s degree in American Sign Language at Salt Lake Community College and went on to complete her undergraduate degree at Utah Valley University in Deaf Studies. She then completed a master degree in Corporate and Organizational Communication from Northeastern University.
Amie has worked hard through several interpreter certification exams and assessments and now holds NIC certification, Utah Certified: Professional, along with an EIPA score of 5.0 score in the PSE Secondary setting. She knows how it feels to navigate certification pathways and even how it feels to fail while doing so. She believes that the failures that she faced when testing, along with a growth mindset, strongly contributed to her motivation for continued skill development practices and ultimately her ability to advance her skills to an even higher level.
Amie loves spending time with her husband and their blended family of six kids along with their fur/scale babies. She loves to travel, read, and solve puzzles when she has free time.