Palisades-Raised Cathleen Mathes Appointed President of John Tracy Center

By JAMES GAGE | Reporter

Cathleen “Cat” Mathes, raised in Pacific Palisades, has been appointed president and CEO of the nonprofit John Tracy Center in Los Angeles.

The result of an extensive search process, Mathes brings two decades of experience in program coordination and hearing loss education to the role.

“I am honored to be entrusted with this responsibility and to belong to such a phenomenal organization,” Mathes told the Palisadian-Post. “JTC has been a place where I have grown professionally and personally. It’s a privilege to be able to provide service, hope, guidance and encouragement to families and their children with hearing loss.”

John Tracy Center was founded in 1942 by Louise Leadwell Tracy, the mother of a son, John, affected by hearing loss. Today, JTC is one of the world’s most acclaimed private providers of audiology diagnostics, education, resources and support for families with young children with hearing loss, providing comprehensive pediatric audiological evaluations, a parent-infant program, auditory-verbal therapy services, parent education, counseling services, an auditory verbal preschool and even a master’s degree program in partnership with Mount Saint Mary’s University Los Angeles.

Mathes, who grew up on Swarthmore Avenue in the Palisades, recalls fondly her childhood of sunsets on the bluffs, the Fourth of July race, and her tightknit community of friends and family.

“The Palisades was a wonderful place to grow up,” Mathes said. “My parents moved into the Palisades right before I was born. [My mom’s] work in special education inspired me to want to work at JTC. I’d always been interested in education, but it wasn’t until I stepped through the doors of JTC that I knew that this is the place I wanted to be and this path was the one I was meant to take.”

John Tracy Center has had many Palisadian alumni families over the years and includes two Palisadians on its Board of Directors: Fry Construction owner Speed Fry and chief client service officer with Causeway Capital Management Eric Crabtree.

“The interesting and unique thing about JTC is that, yes, our goals are to help children with hearing loss develop the speech, language and listening skills they need to thrive in the hearing world, but how we do that is by being parent-centered, teaching and empowering families to be their child’s teacher,” Mathes explained.

“We equip parents with the necessary knowledge and training to help their children achieve their full communication potential. Families that have chosen listening and spoken language for their child and children who are deaf or hard of hearing explore how to develop listening and spoken language. The impact our services have are life changing.”

Now in its 76th year of service, John Tracy Center will open doors this fall to its new Los Angeles campus down the street from its existing campus on Adams Boulevard. The new facility will offer all of the center’s current programs as well as expansions and new program additions.

The nonprofit center is embarking on a capital campaign to help with building and to continue providing services for children with hearing loss and their families.