About Us
Chief Executive Officer & Owner
Lisa has served as a leader in the interpreting field for most of her professional career as a sign language interpreter. She has served on the National Registry of Interpreters (RID) Board of Directors as Region II Representative; RID Educational Interpreter Committee (EIC) as Co-Chair; Florida Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (FRID) as President; FRID Educational Interpreter Evaluation (EIE) as Chair and has served in a variety of other board and committee positions at the state level. She was honored by her peers with the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her contributions to the Florida RID and the interpreting community.
Lisa was also appointed by Governor Bush as a charter member of the Florida Coordinating Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (FCCDHH) and served a full term of 6 years, traveling the state to improve services. Lisa is proud to be an alumnus of the University of South Florida, where she received a Bachelor's degree in Sign Language. Her professional career of over 30 years in the Tampa Bay area has provided the experience and knowledge it requires to own and operate Absolute Quality Interpreting (AQI) Services, LLC.
Chief Operations Officer & Owner
David, a US Navy Veteran of Desert Shield and Desert Storm, has been involved in video technology for over 30 years. He has worked various jobs, ranging from a sandwich shop employee to a business owner. He is a father, a mentor, a certified SCUBA diver, an amateur radio operator, a technology and security specialist, an avid reader, and a novice in politics. For the past 14 years, he has been a business owner alongside Lisa Schaefermeyer at AQI Services.
David oversees AQI's technology, operations, and finance, responding to hurricanes, tornadoes, and active shooter events while ensuring that his sign language interpreters have the logistics and tools needed to get the job done. He has served as an expert witness in several court cases and guides his customers in the proper application of Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) and on-site interpreting.
As a FEMA-certified CERT instructor, David has managed AQI's video remote interpreting segment since its inception. VRI is not a substitute for an on-site interpreter but can serve as a force multiplier to support emergencies until an on-site interpreter arrives. David also manages the state contract and the emergency management contract for AQI, in addition to his other responsibilities.
Director of Marketing & Training
Jenny has obtained her Associate of Arts from Saint Petersburg College in Clearwater, Florida, and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. She served as a leader for the Florida Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (FRID) as a Student Representative and Student Representative Coordinator at the State conference; she has served on the Board of Directors for the Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf in Clearwater, Florida, and she has also served on the Advisory Board for the Sign Language Interpretation Program at the Saint Petersburg College.
Jenny's skills, knowledge, and expertise in marketing, business, education, outreach, and social media have led her to join AQI Services as the Director of Marketing and Training. She attended the Florida CERT Association and National CERT Association to collaborate with Florida CERT Programs and Emergency Operation Centers, providing equal communication access to disaster preparation and relief for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. She advocates for major media companies to keep the sign language interpreter on camera before, during, and after an emergency announcement. She has always been a community advocate and spokeswoman for the Deaf community to receive the equal communication access they desire. She also provides workshops such as cultural sensitivity training, Emergency Signs in ASL, Press Conference 101, FEMA ASL 101 Webinar, and many more to Emergency Management and Governments, such as law enforcement officers, law firms, businesses, and other entities/organizations.
She became one of the first two Deaf people in Florida to become a FEMA CERT Instructor and holds her PADI Rescue Diving certification.
