Originally from Tehran, Iran, Dr. Ardavan Guity hails from a Deaf family and received his primary, secondary, and tertiary education in Deaf schools. When he was young, he was driven by a passion for raising awareness among Iranian Deaf youth about the richness of their sign language and culture. His research interests encompass various aspects of Esharani, including the development of an Esharani corpus, appropriate Esharani interpretation, lexical variations, word order, and the ethics of collaborating with signing communities. He co-authored the book titled “The Deaf book” in Farsi with Sara Siyavoshi in the spring of 2020. He co-authored An Introduction to Iranian Sign Language (Esharani) in collaboration with a team in the fall of 2021. He co-authored a book, Let’s Learn Esharani, in collaboration with Farzaneh Soleimanbeigi and Sara Siyavoshi in November 2022. He remains actively involved in supporting Deaf communities both in Iran and worldwide, delivering presentations, workshops, and training on Esharani and related topics to diverse audiences in the USA, in Iran, and internationally, both online and in person. He is also a Deaf interpreter, a translator (Esharani, ASL, Farsi, and English), and a Director of Artistic Sign Language (DASL) for the theater. From 2017 to 2023, he held the position of adjunct instructor at Gallaudet University, where he taught courses in Deaf studies and linguistics. Currently, Dr. Guity serves as the Director of Deaf Studies and Gallaudet University Regional Center-West at Ohlone College in Fremont, California. Additionally, he holds the role of adjunct professor at Fereshtegaan University in Iran starting in 2021.

Lee Ann Tang is a Deaf Asian American educator. She was adopted from China to the United States at age five and grew up in New Jersey. She was first introduced to signing styles and language play at a young age, which led her to earn a B.A. in Deaf Studies from California State University, Northridge in 2018, and subsequently obtain an M.A. in Linguistics from Gallaudet University in 2021. Additionally, Lee Ann is known as the co-founder of Asian Signers, a nonprofit organization to elevate awareness and recognition of diverse Asians in the Deaf and signing communities.