Jeffery first attended Western Piedmont Community College and later transferred to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he graduated with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. While at UNCG, he was a research assistant in the CAMINOS lab studying ethnic-racial socialization under the direction of Dr. Gabriella Livas-Stein. He also earned a graduate certificate in the Education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing from Missouri State University. At the graduate level, Jeffery earned an MS in ASL/English Interpreting with a concentration in Interpreting Pedagogy at the University of North Florida and is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration program at Western Carolina University with sights set on graduation in May 2026.
Jeffery has thirty years of interpreting experience; he holds full licensure from the North Carolina Interpreter Transliterator Licensure Board and NIC certification from RID. Additionally, Jeffery has achieved National Board Certification in medical interpreting and completed the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment- Elementary PSE- 4.1/Written Test 90%. He has extensive training in mental health interpreting from the Alabama Department of Mental Health/Office of Deaf Services, MHIT program. Jeffery's specific clinical interest is in language presentation and mental health symptomatology of Deaf patients within the clinical setting.
In addition to his extensive career as an interpreting practitioner, Jeffery has assumed a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of interpreters in academia and non-profit organizations. He has served as the Interpreter Preparation Program Coordinator at Western Piedmont Community College in Morganton, NC, since August 2020 and most recently was named as the Executive Director of ASL-Owl, a non-profit organization dedicated to building the capacity of interpreting students and working interpreters. Jeffery actively contributes to the field as a workshop presenter and mentor, sharing his expertise and passion for interpreting with diverse audiences.
