Sally King Backer, RID CI/CT, Missouri Comprehensive (level 5), has been an interpreter for more than 15 years. She has a deaf brother, whom she says inspired her to become an interpreter. Most of her professional time has been spent in the corporate/government arena. She has also freelanced for several years before that. She has designed several classes/workshops for a variety of audiences in her time in the corporate world. She enjoys teaching and learning with colleagues. Together, she feels, is the best way to discover the passion for interpreting that is needed in order to continue striving for excellence. She loves to teach and help aspiring interpreters improve their skills. She has mentored interpreters to higher levels on their state screening tests and has worked together with another colleague to tutor an interpreter to receive their Certificate of Transliterating. She is a member of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID).

Sally received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1982 from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in Theatre and Allied Arts. She received her interpreter training from C.S. Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan. She team taught one semester of Interpreting Principles at Southwestern Illinois College.

Nicole DeVore, RID CI/CT, Missouri Comprehensive (level 5), has been interpreting professionally for nine years. She has been learning Sign Language since the age of six from a Deaf friend. She has worked in all areas of interpreting, including medical, mental health, educational and legal settings.

Nicole has seven years experience teaching Beginning and Advanced Conversational Sign Language at St. Louis University in Missouri. Her students are from a wide variety of majors and are looking to expand their language and cultural exposure.

Nicole feels it is every person's responsibility to give back to the community in which they live. Thus, the motivation behind starting AIM.

John T. Adams, a St. Louis native, took his first sign language class while pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre at Truman State University in Kirksville, MO. When he graduated in 1993, John was offered, and accepted, an internship with the National Technical Institute for the Deaf’s Theatre department.  While there, John learned many things: an understanding of the workings of Deaf Theatre, an appreciation for the complexities and nuances of ASL, and, most of all, it snows A LOT in Rochester, NY.  Longing for a warmer climate, John returned to St. Louis and began pursuit of a second degree in Florissant Valley’s Interpreter Training Program.  John graduated in 1998, with honors, and began working as a community interpreter.  Currently, John holds a Certificate of Transliteration (CT) from RID, MICS Comprehensive Certification, is chairman of the State Committee of Interpreters and works a variety of community, educational, and theatrical assignments.