Originally from the Chicago area, Kaitlyn considers Minnesota her second home. A proud “double gopher”, she holds a Master of Liberal Studies with a focus in arts and cultural leadership, and a Bachelor of Individualized Study in English, Theatre, and Deaf Studies from the University of Minnesota.
Kaitlyn got her start as an outreach specialist for VSA Minnesota through an internship made possible through the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 2016, she was selected among five Deaf artists and writers for the 2nd Deaf Artists Residency at the Anderson Center for interdisciplinary arts and spent the time working on a novel for young adults. Before entering freelance writing and consulting, Kaitlyn worked as an Outreach Specialist at ThinkSelf Minnesota Deaf Adult Education & Advocacy. Now she’s diving into writing full time with side forays into captioning/transcript work and theater accessibility consulting. She has sat on the panel for the Minnesota Access Alliance Advisory Group and the VSA Minnesota ADA Access Improvement Grant Panel.
In her free time, Kaitlyn enjoys attending theatre (especially Broadway musicals!), plowing through piles of books, and coaching the University of Minnesota Deaf College Bowl team for which she recently received the Youth Award from the Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens in recognition of her years of dedication to the Gophers. She is still anticipating her Hogwarts acceptance letter.
"I'm excited to work with the Commission because I believe it's important to give back to the community that has served as a solid foundation for the Deaf community here in Minnesota, and to share our wealth of resources and knowledge." ~ Kaitlyn Mielke
