Tammy is the Executive Director of CLNkids in Albuquerque, NM. They provide trauma-informed early childhood education to homeless children aged 5 weeks – 5 years, as well as case management and wrap-around services to their parents, all with hopes of ending childhood homelessness in New Mexico. (Clnkids.org). 

She and her partner, Nancy Roope  founded Beyond 12, a nonprofit organization that was dedicated to providing safety for South African AIDS orphans and children who had been victims of child rape. She has worked in a number of human service agencies serving marginalized populations, and is an experienced program developer, director, and grant writer.

Julie is the Executive Director of United Way of Mesa County in Grand Junction, Colorado. She graduated Colorado Mesa University in 2008 with a BA in Psychology. With more than twenty-five years in the non-profit world, Julie is experienced in non-profit management, fundraising, grant making and evaluation, and serves on multiple local Boards and committees. She lives in rural Mesa County with her husband and a menagerie of sociable farm animals.

Allyson received her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from The Johns Hopkins University. She has conducted applied research with diverse populations for over 30 years.  She has been principal investigator on grants from the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association.  Her current research and scholarly interests include the phenomenology of becoming and being an older person, person-centered therapy and care, self-transcendent emotions, and assessing transformative learning.  Allyson has been an adjunct faculty at Saybrook University and is currently Associate Professor in NU’s Psychology Department where she teaches in the BA in Psychology and the MA in Human Behavior programs.

Julia earned her master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Phoenix. Julia has worked in the social science field since 2002, when she began her working as Drug and Alcohol Counselor providing outreach in local high schools. The majority of her work has been working with severely mentally ill children and teens facing significant trauma as a result of abuse and neglect. Julia is Tier II trained in Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS). CPS is a strengths-based, neurobiologically-grounded approach that provides concrete guideposts so as to operationalize trauma-informed care and empower youth and family voice. Julia lives in Grants Pass, Oregon.

Melanie received her BS at the Oregon Institute of Technology; her BSN at Oregon Health and Science University, her MSN at the University of Missouri, and her PMHNP Certification from ANCC.  Melanie is a skilled and knowledgeable clinician with a wealth of experience treating adolescents and children.

She is in private practice with her husband, Dr. Curt Sturos, MD, at Optimum Behavioral Health in Eagle Point, OR. Their mission is to “…provide high quality, individualized, evidence-based psychiatric care for children, adolescents, and adults that effectively reduces symptoms, improves functioning, and enhances quality of life.” 

Description goes hereEllen is a graduate of the Goddard College Psychology and Counseling program. She is a licensed, board certified Art Therapist, and a certified school counselor. Ellen has certificates in Disaster Mental Health and Mediation. She works with many populations, including the elderly, patients with dementia, mentally retarded/developmentally delayed adults, at-risk teenagers, families, and school aged children. Ellen received an innovation award from the National Rural Health Association for her pilot project, an intergenerational art therapy program with nursing home residents. Ellen has worked with troubled and traumatized children in rural schools and private practice and has authored three books.

Dr. Schwartz earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The Wright Institute, Berkeley, California. He has worked as a clinical psychologist with a diverse population of families, children, and adolescents in school settings. He maintains a private practice in San Francisco seeing a broad range of adult individuals and couples.

Dr. Schwartz is part-time faculty at Saybrook Graduate School, teaching courses on working clinically with adolescents and children, and career counseling. He leads workshops on clinical work with gay & lesbian children and adolescents. His areas of clinical interest include: family systems therapy, play, art and psychotherapy with children and adolescents, ACT and cognitive-behavioral therapy. 

Nancy has over 20 years’ experience in Social Services. Her areas of experience and expertise include work with at-risk youth who have drug and court involvement, as well as adoptive families. In addition to her work with Beyond 12, she has served as a director for a residential treatment program and is now the Director of Social Services at Hospice of the Sandias in New Mexico. Nancy and her partner Tammy Hanks are the adoptive parents of special needs children, and are well-versed in the areas of developmental, emotional, and psychological issues with traumatized youth. Nancy is now a nurse practitioner as well.