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conference agenda

SPONSORS AND EXHIBITORS

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

SPEAKER bios

Speaker Bios

Dr. Crystal Collier

Dr. Crystal Collier is an expert in adolescent brain development, prevention programming, parent coaching, addiction, family-of-origin work, and training new counselors. In 2020, she published her long-awaited neurodevelopmental prevention book, The NeuroWhereAbouts Guide, for parents and families who want to prevent youth high-risk behavior. Based on the book, she created an online, plug-n-play prevention program called BrainAbouts which teaches the neurodevelopmental effects of risky behavior to students, parents, and staff.

Irene Greaves

Irene Greaves is a Lovescaper. She believes learning to love should be the most important purpose of our educational journeys. Irene has a bachelor’s degree in Art History and a master’s in Education from The University of Pennsylvania. Irene is originally from Venezuela but considers herself a global citizen. She has dedicated her life to service through a wealth of international study, volunteer and work experience in the fields of education and community development in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, giving her a nuanced and unique view of the world that has allowed her to author her philosophy of life: Lovescaping. In the last 5 years, Irene has been teaching Lovescaping at public schools throughout Houston and beyond, working with students, teachers, and families to increase their capacity to cultivate self-love and practice love in action. Her first book, “Lovescaping: Building the Humanity of Tomorrow by Practicing Love in Action” was published in 2018.

 

Jenifer Santos

Jenifer Santos (she/her/ella) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. She is the Lead Clinician for the School Counseling Program at Catholic Charities. In addition to managing the program, she provides individual therapy and psycho-educational presentations to students, psycho-educational workshops to families, and training to school staff.

She received both her Bachelor and Master of Social Work degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University. Jenifer has over ten years of experience working with families and providing services to unaccompanied minors and other youth that have experienced trauma and mental health issues. 

Laura Zelaya

Laura Zelaya (she/her/ella), is a licensed master’s level social worker at The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. She received her Master of Social Work from the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, where she completed a macro concentration with a focus in health and behavioral health. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Spanish from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

Laura has extensive experience working with community organizations providing services to people that have experienced trauma, such as survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence, and child abuse. Before joining The Young Center, she provided support as a social worker to children with hearing loss and their families. She has also worked as a pediatric speech language pathologist assistant.

Erica Toskovich, LMFT

Erica Toskovich is a bilingual Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist working with Easter Seals of Greater Houston, Mental Health Program. She works with individuals impacted by trauma and provides evidence based services for both adults and children. She has facilitated workshops and provided education to parents and teachers working with children and adolescents that have experienced trauma. Erica Toskovich earned her Masters in Counseling with a concentration on Marriage and Family Therapy from Our Lady of the Lake University in Houston. In her spare time, Erica enjoys crafting, gardening, and reading.

Alyce Chu, LPC

Alyce Chu is a licensed professional counselor of nearly five years, and a Houston native of Taiwanese descent. She enjoys working with a variety of individuals, but especially teens and young adults. Her preferred method of practice is collaborative and eclectic, aiming to collaborate with clients while using a variety of tools and methods to help clients reach their goals. Alyce also has a passion for developing and designing mental health communications media with a soulful flair. In her spare time, she enjoys partaking in small arts and crafts projects, reading, or watching shows.

Marisa Nowitz

Marisa B. Nowitz, MSW, LCSW-S is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker-Supervisor with twenty years of clinical experience, as well as expertise in program planning and professional development for mental health clinicians, health care providers, educators, and other audiences. As Director of School and Community Engagement at the Trauma and Grief (TAG) Center at The Hackett Center for Mental Health, Marisa provides school and community-based trainings in a variety of topics related to supporting youth who have experienced trauma and/or bereavement, as well as secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and self-care for caregivers. In her previous role at the TAG Center, Marisa supervised a clinical team and provided evidence-based, trauma- and bereavement-focused services as part of the coordinated response efforts in the community of Santa Fe, TX following the tragic school shooting in May 2018.  Prior to joining the TAG Center, Marisa spent much of her career working as a clinical social worker and supervisor at MD Anderson Cancer Center, creating programming for children whose parents had cancer. Marisa completed her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Texas A&M University and a Master of Social Work from the University of Houston.

Gabriela Lopez-Compean

Gabriela Lopez-Compean received her Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Hispanic Studies from Rice University and her Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center.  Gabriela was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 2016. Gabriela is the managing attorney at Justice for All Immigrants, an immigration legal services provider in Houston. She has experience in a variety of cases, including family-based immigration, naturalization, humanitarian relief, and removal defense. While in law school, she participated in both the civil and immigration clinics representing underprivileged clients, who were often victims of abuse. Because she was born in Mexico and spent her early childhood there, Gabriela has personally experienced the immigration process and understands its toll on immigrant families. She is passionate about helping others successfully navigate the immigration system. She is fluent in Spanish.

Felix Park

Felix Park is an attorney licensed in the states of Texas and North Carolina. He staff attorney at BPSOS Houston, a nonprofit organization serving indigent members of Houston and its surrounding areas’ indigent members of Houston’s Asian community under Texas Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) and Crime Victim Civil Legal Services (CVCLS) grants. Much of Felix’s time is devoted to serving immigrant crime victims and low-income individuals.

Ashley Willet

Ashley Willett is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas (B.A.) and Texas Christian University (M.A.). She taught for five years at Lee High School in HISD (now Wisdom), serving students who hailed from all corners of the globe. She then helped to found KIPP Generations Collegiate, where she served in a variety of leadership roles.  At DiscoverU, she has held a variety of positions including Director of Programs and Director of Development, and now leads the agency’s operations as COO.   She firmly believes in the transformative power of experiential learning, and that all youth, regardless of background or circumstance, deserve access to opportunities that broaden their worldviews and inspire them to design a life of choice and purpose.  A native Houstonian with a passion for TexMex, dogs, and theme parties, she’s a proud wife and mom of two spunky neurodivergent kids.

Laura Cuellar

Laura Cuellar is the Program Manager of UNICEF’s Child Friendly City Initiative at the Mayor’s Office of Education in the City of Houston. Her passion to create education opportunities for marginalized communities including immigrants, low-income families, and first generation youth led her to become an education and children’s advocate, community organizer, and coalition builder. She is skilled at creating partnerships to build community and capacity among diverse individuals, groups, and organizations. She is a mentor to hundreds of youth and is a firm believer that supporting local leaders from different backgrounds and perspectives can truly change the world.

Shania Vensel “Shay”

Shania Vensel “Shay” is a high school student at William B. Travis Highschool. She loves anything to do with creativity and advocacy. She hopes to uses her personal experiences and what she learns from others to bring a change to our communities.

Samiaht Busari

Samiaht Busari is a student at Alief Early College High School and a youth council member on the UNICEF’s Child-Friendly City Initiative at the Mayor’s Office of Education in the City of Houston.  Her passion for helping people and using her voice to bring awareness to issues that people especially youths experience encouraged her to join the council. Her work in the CFCI youth council includes being a member of the intergenerational and research committee.  She, alongside her committee members, has been given the opportunity to research resources beneficial to youths and facilitate educational workshops regarding mental health. 

Camille Olson

Camille Olson is a rising 11th-grade student at The Awty International School in Houston, Texas. Her hobbies include reading, traveling, volunteering, and exploring new places. In the future, she aspires to always work on bettering the community around her, as well as pursuing chemical engineering as her future career choice.

Alexavier Mendoza

Alexavier Mendoza is a rising junior at iSchool Virtual Academy. He also serves on the City of Houston Mayor’s Youth Council and serves on the UNICEF USA National Youth Council. His passion is in politics and in the future, he hopes to represent his community in the halls of Congress to make sure that we continue moving everyone forward not backward. 

Tommy Wan

Tommy Wan is a high school senior at The Village School in Houston Texas. His main areas of interest lie in engineering, civic engagement, and music education. He is currently a youth organizing intern for OCA-Greater Houston, Council Member Tiffany Thomas’ office, and completed a voter education fellowship under Dr. Melissa Marschall at Rice University. He serves on the Mayor’s Youth Council, Youth Police Advisory Board Council, Mi Familia Vota’s environmental justice committee, and the CFCI Youth Council.

Mujeebat Gholahan

Mujeebat Gbolahan is a rising senior at Alief Early College High School in Houston, Texas. She takes pride in being a contributing member of her community. Mujeebat aspires to major in political science and is passionate about pursuing a career in politics. Law, politics, and economics are three of her passions. She also appreciates art and enjoys reading books.

Megan Wilburn

Megan Wilburn has been an educator for 14 years. She has been a teacher, SpEd department Chair, Behavior Specialist, and School counselor. Most recently she founded a non-profit called M.O.V. E ( Mastering Obesity Values and Education), where she uses her personal and professional experience to promote mental and physical health in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.

Dr. Linda Webb

Dr. Linda Webb comes to the Meadows Institute from her role as principal of Gonzalo Garza Independence High School in Austin Independent School District. Under her leadership, the school was recognized nationally as exhibiting best practices and improving outcomes for at-risk students by the United States Department of Education. Dr. Webb brings deep content expertise in utilizing a Solution Focused Approach in education. This strength-based philosophy originated as a mental health model that has since evolved over the past 18 years to now be applicable to education work more broadly, supporting interventions with students and families by teaching positive future behaviors. Linda’s depth and breadth of knowledge in curriculum and instruction and school leadership, along with an expertise in transforming urban schools, produced a National Blue Ribbon award at Pillow Elementary where she formerly served as principal. She was also named H-E-B principal of the year for Texas. Linda holds a bachelor’s degree in Applied Learning and Development, a master’s degree in Educational Administration and a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Texas.

Linda M. Rodriguez

Linda M. Rodriguez, EdD is based in Houston, Texas, and is a fellow education colleague who has had her “boots on the ground” for the last 35 years working in the areas of leadership, program development and implementation, behavioral management, social and emotional learning, trauma and mental health. As Senior Director for School Behavioral Health, Linda leads and contributes to projects and initiatives to improve mental health systems for children and youth and provides leadership on The Meadows Institute’s state and local policy initiatives related to school behavioral health. Previously, Linda worked as District Coordinator of School Behavioral Health for Pasadena Independent School District in Texas and is a former teacher, counselor, assistant principal, principal, educational director for a career and vocational training program, and district coordinator for Pasadena ISD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Program. Linda has worked at all school levels—elementary, middle, and high school and in traditional, charter, and alternative school settings. She has led a district’s crisis response team and also coordinated and co-authored several awarded grant proposals that totaled over 4 million dollars. Linda serves on the HB 906 Mental Health Task Force and has been a keynote speaker and presenter for Alief ISD, Mental Health America of Southeast Texas, the Grant Halliburton Foundation of Dallas, and The Meadows Institute’s Okay to SayTM social media campaign. Linda has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Texas A&M University, a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Houston, a second master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of St. Thomas, and her doctoral degree in Administrative Leadership and Supervision from the University of Houston.

Sasha Blake

Sasha Blake is an educational leader with almost 20 years of experience in education. As a successful educator, she has worked in both secondary and higher education as a teacher, director, dean, athletic director, and assistant principal. She has presented across many platforms on various topics (Emotional Backpack, Dynamic Mindfulness, Trauma Informed Practices, and Leading with SEL in mind). Ms. Blake received her B.A. from Fairfield University, her MA from Boston College, and is currently working on her Doctorate at Northeastern University studying how Trauma-Informed Practices affect Teacher Self-Efficacy in Understanding Student Behavior.

Rafael Castillo

Rafael Castillo is the instructor/manager at Gracie Jiu Jitsu in Houston, Texas.

Every month in the United States, three million children miss school due to fear of bullies. In the Gracie Bullyproof program, our goal is to instill your child with unshakable confidence so they can overcome bullies without violence.

Nancy Boriski

Nancy Boriski is the assistant instructor at Gracie Jiu Jitsu in Houston, Texas.

Every month in the United States, three million children miss school due to fear of bullies. In the Gracie Bullyproof program, our goal is to instill your child with unshakable confidence so they can overcome bullies without violence.

Julia Holstine

Julia Holstine is a compliance analyst on the Mission and Strategy team at United Way of Greater Houston. She began her tenure at United Way as a program manager on the Out 2 Learn team supporting the improvement and equitable access of out-of-school time programming. She recently accepted her new role as a compliance analyst and works with funded agencies to oversee compliance-related efforts like financial and board governance health. In addition to her work, Julia serves as a member of the internal Diversity Cross-Functional Team and works to make United Way a place where staff feel like they can be their authentic selves. Prior to her work at United Way, she served as the program director for a local early childhood literacy organization, Books Between Kids. Julia holds a master’s degree in public affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. When not working, Julia enjoys spending time with her partner, Nathan, and their new puppy B. Rascal.

Joy Southard

Joy Southard is the Director of the Violence Intervention/Character Education program The Healing Species. Formerly, with CASA Child Advocates of Montgomery County as Development Director, she saw the need for meaningful and continuous social and emotional learning interventions for children in their schools throughout the year. She brought the award winning animal assisted program to Texas in 2009. As director, she has “hired” over 150 rescued dogs to work in districts and juvenile detention facilities with a team of talented instructors. She resides in Montgomery with her 4 rescued dogs, 1 rescue horse and a heart for connecting children with rescued dogs through their shared experiences.

Paige Dustmann

Paige Dustmann is a dedicated social worker who has worked in the school system for 22 years. She has extensive experience serving children in elementary, middle, and high schools. She has expertise in assessing and identifying the needs of students and implementing plans to ensure success in academics as well as emotional, social, and developmental growth.

Dr. Michelle Quist Ryder

Michelle Quist Ryder, PhD, is a social psychologist with a focus on human motivation, with graduate degrees from the University of Houston and the University of Aberdeen. Michelle has had a varied career, including teaching psychology at Penn State University and working in marketing, tourism, and information technology. Currently, Michelle is serving as the interim CEO at the American Psychological Foundation in Washington DC. In her downtime, Michelle enjoys hosting her psychology podcast, Inside the Chrysalis.

Robin Rettie

Robin Rettie, M.Ed., Special Education has a life-long history supporting individuals with neurological and genetic differences. Her sister, Laurie Lorraine Rettie (LLR), was challenged in her life due to microcephaly. In her honor, Robin founded Lighthouse Learning Resources (LLR), an educational consulting business supportive of collaborative relationships between parents and schools.

Robin is the creator of The Anchor Teaching Framework©, a scientific approach anchored in self-awareness through a sequential teaching curriculum regarding the following areas; Central Nervous System, 8 Sensory Systems, and the Limbic System. Research supported tools and strategies are uniquely combined to allow a child to take ownership of self-regulation, shifting the responsibility from educators and parents to the child managing their behavior.

Robin’s professional training includes a BA in General Education EC – 8 and Master’s in Special Education, extensive training in autism, curriculum, sensory processing, behavior, All Kinds of Minds; 8 neurological constructs of learning, Mediation and Negotiation Training, and Special Education Law. Areas of concentration include educational consulting with families and educators navigating public education, employment training, job coaching and company disability training, educators (Professional Development) and parent training anchored in the science of behavior and supported strategies to change behavior.

Naxhiely

Naxhiely immigrated from Mexico to central TX with her family at the age of 4. The first of her family to attend school in the US, Naxhiely started her K-12 public education as an English language learner and went on to graduate 5th in her high school graduating class in Marion, TX. Naxhiely earned a B.S. in Chemistry, B.A. in Biology from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, TX, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry and cell biology from Rice University in Houston, TX. After starting a family, Naxhiely changed course in her career by completing a BSN to RN program in nursing from UT Health and has been working as an inpatient pediatric nurse at Texas Children’s hospital since 2014. Naxhiely is a mother of 3 boys, 2 of whom qualify for special education services. Naxhiely is passionate about changing the narrative regarding behaviorally challenging children. In her spare time, she has volunteered with organizations who push for equity in education. She hopes that through sharing her experiences, she can help other families find their way.

Gayle Fisher

Gayle is an activist mom of a rising 10th grader with learning differences. She is an educator, author, advocate, ally, and learning differences consultant, and has been living in the spectrum now 12 years. She teaches non-credit workshops as a pro bono adjunct at Lone Star College System (LSCS) Academy of Lifelong Learning (ALL) campuses and out in the community. She is Founder at GettingSorted.com, Founding Co-Facilitator of SpecialNeedsSibs.org & OurTrainingCenter.org; and writes at IfWeLearnDifferently.com. She continues to serve the Center for School Behavioral Health Collaborative (CSBH), participates on several teams of Behavioral Health and Suicide Prevention Community Taskforce (BHSP) and on the boards of Cafe Azul and NAMI-Greater Houston, and has contributed to Autism Moms Are Beautiful. She loves to collaborate, and always has new projects she is working on, including Aprendemos Diferente, Lights! Camera! Action!, Share the Knowledge Brown Bag Lunch & Learns, a documentary series on Neurodiversity Stories of Heart, Challenge, Strategy, and First Responders Supports When Dealing with Neurodiversity. We also love our interns from Sam Houston State University (SHSU), College of Public Health. More can be found at GettingSorted.com and her consulting website. Gayle grew up on and worked on a farm in Illinois, the oldest of five. She then moved to Houston and worked 17 years in corporate America (construction, oil, gas, petrochemical and consulting). Seeking greater purpose, Gayle moved into education. She has earned a M.Ed., Ed.Tech. from Texas A&M, a B.B.A. in Finance from University of Houston, and a A.A. in Pre-Engineering from Houston Community College.

Sharon Ray

Sharon Ray has a degree in elementary education and has been working with youth for over 25 years. She has run small youth character building programs, residential summer camps, and a large family center which focused on total wellness for youth and families.

Sharon has a passion to help prepare children to become thriving adults through educating parents, teachers, caregivers and students. She has recently come on board with New Life Refuge Ministries to help with their vision to end child trafficking.

Dr. Ann Friedman

Ann Friedman, Ph.D., a psychologist, has studied mindfulness since 2007. She began sharing mindfulness as a volunteer and in 2015, received a Certification in Mindfulness Facilitation from the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. Currently, Ann is in the Certification Program for CBCT at Emory University. She has also completed courses through Mindful Schools and A Still Quiet Place. Through her company, Mindful Being, Ann teaches mindfulness classes for adults, teens, and children at The Houston Health Museum, Rothko Chapel, Jung Center, and Hines Center for Spirituality and her office. She provides training for businesses, non-profits, and area school districts. For ten years, Ann served as Adjunct Professor in the U.H. Counseling Psychology Graduate Program. She holds both a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from U.H. She completed her Internship in Clinical Psychology at U.T. Medical School and her Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Julie Kaplow

Julie Kaplow, PhD, ABPP, is a licensed clinical psychologist, board certified in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. Dr. Kaplow serves as the Executive Vice President of Trauma and Grief Programs and Policy at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. She is also Executive Director of the Trauma and Grief Centers at The Hackett Center for Mental Health in Houston and the Children’s Hospital New Orleans and serves as Professor of Psychiatry at Tulane University School of Medicine. In these roles, she oversees the development and evaluation of novel treatments for traumatized and bereaved youth and disseminates trauma- and bereavement-informed “best practices” to community providers nationwide. A strong proponent of a scientist-practitioner approach, Dr. Kaplow’s primary research interests focus on the behavioral and psychological consequences of childhood trauma and bereavement, with an emphasis on risk and protective factors that can be used to inform interventions. She has published widely on the topics of childhood trauma and grief, with over 85 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. Dr. Kaplow received her BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan and her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Duke University. She completed her internship at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School followed by postdoctoral training at the Center for Medical and Refugee Trauma at Boston Medical Center.

Zoe Njemanze

Zoë Njemanze, MPH is a consultant and design thinking specialist working to authentically present and address the needs of diverse communities. It was during her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin where she became familiar with the socio-cultural systems and factors that impact the health and mental well-being of communities of color. Zoë completed a capstone project entitled, Microaggressions: An Emerging Idea that Perpetuates Everyday Challenges, but an Understudied Risk Factor for Mental Health Outcomes in Black Americans (2018). Zoë takes specific interest in microaggressions and supporting one’s self-confidence and self-identity to combat the deleterious effects of racist experiences, a topic explored in her master’s thesis, A Case Study of Texas’ Universities Mental Health Professionals and Microaggressions of Black College Students Attending Predominantly White Institutions. Zoe has since worked with the Hiram Clarke Community Resiliency Project, UTHealth School of Public Health, MobilizeGreen and the University of North Carolina in capacities including, but not limited to, the social determinants of health, project implementation, anti-racism and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Name Goshere

“I will incorporate School-wide SEL practices with Character Strong, help build resiliency among students and staff, and continue to support the mental health and overall well-being of students and staff.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the presentations and discussions. It is refreshing to come together with professionals who are willing to talk about the topics so many tiptoe around.”

“Being mindful of students’ experience, life story, and background when working with them.”

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