Alumni Sachiko Flores forges a path in the Deaflympics and at home

In November 2025, Sachiko Flores, G-’14, ran alone through a dense Japanese forest holding only a paper map and compass. She tried her best to avoid the sharp pampas grass underfoot. Underneath the grass was black volcanic sand, lending a surreal beauty to the surroundings.

Flores ran on Izu Ōshima, the largest island in the waters south of Tokyo. She was there representing USA Deaf Orienteering in the 2025 Deaflympics. It was a fitting place for an outdoors enthusiast with a master’s degree in International Development.

Deciding a route

Flores’ mother is a Japanese woman who was born in Mexico, where she met Flores’ father. Flores spent her early years in McAllen, Texas, on the US-Mexico border. ASL is her first language. She learned from her older brother, Isao Flores, ‘16, whose influence shaped her lifelong connection to the Deaf community.

Flores’ parents fought hard for their children’s education. Eventually, they moved 300 miles north to a San Antonio school district with more resources. Flores attended mainstream school through her undergraduate years.

Today, Flores is a bright and charismatic presence, but that confidence took time. “People are shocked to learn I was shy as a kid,” she says. “Sports helped build my confidence.” She learned volleyball from her mother. Her best sport was basketball, but she participated in many others.

After high school, she considered becoming a veterinarian like her father, but she was also drawn to the outdoors. One day, she came across an article in the newspaper about a Wildlife & Fisheries program at Texas A&M University. The degree track combined both of her interests in one. She gathered the courage to email a professor to ask questions about the program. His responses encouraged her to apply.

International dreams

After college, it was a challenge to find a job in the outdoors field. Many of the positions required employees to communicate through walkie-talkies and radios. After finishing a lifetime of mainstream schooling, Flores didn’t think she wanted to navigate another hearing-centric environment.

She secured an internship at Conservation Corps Minnesota, not expecting much. She was tasked with leading groups of high school students around conservation projects in Minnesota. To her surprise, she loved it and excelled. Her boss was impressed by her leadership and charisma. Flores found herself naturally bonding with the youth, especially those with international backgrounds.

The experience inspired her to apply for the International Development MA (IDMA) program at Gallaudet. She wanted to go to other countries, engage with people from around the world, and exchange knowledge.

Gallaudet was the first deaf school Flores had ever attended. She entered with her brother and partner, both of whom had decided to go back to school to finish getting their college degrees. The three of them ate dinner together every night, maintaining a Japanese and Mexican family tradition centered on connection and conversation.

Flores embraced the spirit of the IDMA program, envisioning the impact that she could make on the world. Her professors saw big things in her future.

Dr. Khadjidat Rashid, ’90, now Gallaudet Provost, taught for the IDMA program at the time. “Sachiko was bright, curious, and had a boundless zest for life and for international work,” Provost Rashid remembers. “I knew she would go far in the field because she approached issues from the angle of curiosity and passion, and she cared about the people and issues we were studying.”

IDMA students are required to complete internships as part of their degree. Flores reached out to the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability (APCD) in Bangkok, Thailand. Coincidentally, the Executive Director’s wife was a Gallaudet alum. They warmly welcomed Flores as an intern.

Former IDMA Professor Charles Reilly remembers, “Sachiko was always tuned-in and enthusiastic, and displayed a cooperative spirit. Her class project resulted in her internship and then employment in Bangkok, Thailand. My contacts there acknowledged that Sachiko was a tremendous asset—resourceful and positive.”

Reentry

The five-month internship in Bangkok led to a job offer as Networking Officer. Flores ended up staying in Thailand for a year and half.

APCD hosts disability inclusion workshops for groups from different countries in the Asian-Pacific region. The attendees are often people with disabilities and leaders in their home communities. Flores was responsible for coordinating logistics such as visa status, lodging, transportation, and more. She also facilitated and presented at the training events.

When Flores arrived back in the US, she continued to thrive in the international development space. She became Co-Executive Director and then Executive Director of Deaf Worlds, a nonprofit dedicated to providing resources to international deaf communities.

Today, Flores works as a Director of Programs for ThinkSelf, a Minnesota nonprofit that offers advocacy and basic adult education services to deaf, deafblind, deafdisabled and hard of hearing individuals across the state. She continues to use her IDMA skills as she teaches life skills to deaf immigrants.

Outdoors for all

After returning from Thailand, Flores also found the time to establish and run her own nonprofit called CorpSTHAT. Co-founded with Emma Bixler, a fellow Conservation Corps Minnesota alum, the organization was inspired by their experiences in conservation work. Flores and Bixler wanted to provide deaf and hard of hearing people with outdoors education, recreation, and job opportunities.

CorpsTHAT now has three staff members, all of whom are Gallaudet alumni. Flores currently serves as the Board President. The nonprofit offers a variety of programs, including summer job and internship opportunities where deaf applicants are paid to work in state and national parks across multiple states. There’s also a conservation crew that helps maintain local outdoor spaces.

One of CorpsTHAT’s early events involved orienteering. There, Flores met Tom Wells, ’93, a deaf orienteer who would later become the team leader for Team USA.

Getting oriented

Orienteering is an outdoor sport that challenges athletes to navigate outdoor courses using only a map, compass, and their wits. Each participant must touch a specific number of control points on the course as fast as they can. That means traversing all kinds of terrain, from grassy fields to dense forests.

Flores loved orienteering immediately. In the years since, she’s participated in competitions in the DC metro area and Minnesota, as well as the 2023 World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden.

The opportunity to qualify for the 2025 Deaflympics was deeply personal. It would allow her to visit Japan for the first time and reconnect with her long-lost family roots. At the qualifier competition, she competed at the highest level of orienteering and placed in the top 10. 

All five Team USA squad members had Gallaudet roots. In addition to Wells, Flores was joined by her partner Keith Doane, ’14, and fellow IDMA graduate and current Gallaudet staff member Lisa Fisher, G-’05 & G-’09. The final orienteer, Shanna Sorrells, once attended Gallaudet as a visiting student.

They jokingly called themselves “Team Owie” after they picked up a string of minor injuries during their events. Despite the challenges, their dedication ran deep. Each athlete paid their own way to the Deaflympics and took time off from work to compete. 

Flores even worked remotely between competitions and practices. Her schedule consisted of training, competition, remote work, and sleep. On her first day in Japan, Flores woke up at 4:30am. She took a team bus to Hibiya Park for a 7:00am quarantine and 8:00am race start time. The following morning, she woke up at 4:00am for the first of two events in a single day.

Overall, she participated in five events during the games. The shorter individual and relay races took place at Hibiya Park in Tokyo. Izu Ōshima hosted the middle and long distance events.

“The whole experience was surreal,” Flores says. “Olympic-level orienteering is intense. It’s totally different from even the world championships. We rarely had time to connect with other Team USA athletes or fans because most of our energy was mentally focused on training and competition.”

Ready for more

Flores is the first person among herself, her brother, and her mother to spend time in Japan. It was a bittersweet experience without her family, but she knows she’ll be back someday. In the meantime, she bought each of them yukata, traditional summer kimonos, to celebrate and share their Japanese heritage.

She looks forward to more orienteering competitions in the future. And she’ll continue inspiring more deaf and hard of hearing people to enjoy the outdoors.

“I watched my parents work tirelessly to give my brother and me a better life in the United States. Now I want to pay that forward to the deaf community,” Flores says. “I believe everybody can thrive. You just need to find the right resources and support to navigate an imperfect system.”

With the education, skills, and community she acquired at Gallaudet, the world is her oyster.

“Gallaudet teaches you in a different way that you can’t experience anywhere else. You are exposed to a wide range of communication styles, from spoken English to fluent ASL. You see the full spectrum of deaf identities and experiences.

“Identity and culture are so important. Without that, how can you find yourself? Gallaudet will help you get there.”

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The International Development program at Gallaudet prepares students to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate social change activities. Visit the IDMA page to learn more.