Andrea Lopez, LPC (she/her)

Program Manager,  University Health Behavioral Health, Kansas City, MO

Andrea is a Program Manager of children/young adult mental health program at University Health Behavioral Health (UHBH) Kansas City, MO. She has worked in mental health the past 21 years at UHBH, which provides quality services to clients in the community regardless of ability to pay.  The past 10 years have been spent working in the children/young adult program, supervising mental health caseworkers and therapists. She works collaboratively with area schools to provide mental health services to their students. Andrea is also a board member of Educator Academy. The Educator Academy trains diverse individuals to become teachers in the Kansas City area.  Their mission resonates with Andrea which is why she supports Educator Academy. The mission: “We recruit, cultivate, support, and retain a diverse network of empowered and effective educators. We prepare teachers to create transformative and equitable classroom experiences for all students in the community we serve.”

Claudia Rojas, M.Ed. (she/her/ella)

International Newcomer Instructional Coach, Los Angeles Unified School Distirct, Los Angeles, CA

Claudia is committed to student voice, social justice, equity and access, innovation, and community collaboration.She has been an educator since 2003 and has always worked at high-needs schools in Los Angeles. Claudia taught social studies in East Los Angeles for 9 years; during the last two years of teaching, she helped to open a pilot school focused on social justice.  In 2012, Claudia helped to open another pilot school in South Central Los Angeles, this time serving as the principal. The school opened with a mental/behavioral health pathway after the community expressed a need for more practitioners in this field. After six years as a principal, she transitioned into restorative justice work serving as a coordinator at a high school and eventually at a school district. Since 2020, Claudia has served as an International Newcomer Instructional Coach where she supports teachers of high school students who have arrived to the U.S. recently.

Erika Rubinstein Irby, MSW PPS (she/her)

Middle School Clinical and Case Management Team School Social Worker, San Francisco Unified School District, San Francisco, CA

Erika is a School Social Worker with a passion for helping adolescents navigate the tumultuous years of middle school. With 17 years of experience in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), she has supported both students and staff, utilizing a trauma-informed approach that incorporates youth leadership and empowerment, creative arts, restorative practices, mindfulness, and cognitive behavioral strategies to foster safe and supportive learning environments.  She began her career in SFUSD as a site based social worker at a large comprehensive middle school, later transitioning to a central role where she helped to support over 80 School Social Workers and other staff through extensive mentoring, training, and crisis consultation. She was instrumental in developing the district’s current protocol for responding to mental health crises. In her current role, Erika provides individual and group therapy to students as part of the SFUSD Middle School Clinical and Case Management Team. Additionally, she offers consultation and training for the district-wide Crisis Response Team. She also serves as a national trainer with the Center for Safe and Resilient Schools and Workplaces, where she trains clinicians and educators on the evidence-based programs CBITS (Cognitive Behavioral Trauma in Schools) and Bounce Back. 

Erin Hughes, ACSW PPSC (she/her)

Wellness Coordinator/School Social Worker, June Jordan School for Equity, San Francisco Unified School District, San Francisco, CA

Erin is a school based social worker who has spent her career working with adolescents in San Francisco. For the past 17 years, she has been the Wellness Coordinator at June Jordan School for Equity, a small social justice high school in the Excelsior neighborhood. Her work primarily focuses on supporting the well-being of students and families through mental health services, case management, crisis prevention and intervention, and health education. Erin uses a trauma informed, strength based approach in her work with students that centers harm reduction and empowerment. 

Janelle Naomi Rouse, M.Ed (she/her)

Senior Educational Consultant of Literacy, Teaching Matters, New York, NY

Janelle is an educator, speaker, and artist born in Washington, D.C. Her work as an education consultant is focused on liberating the minds of members of the African Diaspora through decolonizing education, self empowerment for liberation, critical and creative thinking about the world. As an educator, Janelle is able to develop learning environments that are both culturally responsive, sustaining, and empowering. She began teaching in pre-schools in and around Washington, DC and in 2015 she began working in New York City Charter Schools as an elementary school teacher. After completing the Critically Conscious Educators Rising Series (CCER) through New York University, Janelle began to present at multiple conferences and events. In the past few years, her curriculums, presentations and art center on the African educational experience in America. Through each of her consulting practices, Janelle has helped to better inform educators on how to approach education from a liberatory and empowering space.  Janelle has continued her work as an educator, a facilitator, and a life-long learner through exploring creativity, traditional African ideologies, and right brain research to build culturally relevant learning environments that are supportive of youth developing a strong sense of self that allows them to actively participate in transforming the condition of their communities through the liberation of their minds and understanding of historical experiences. 

Jennifer L. Price, MSW, LCSW (she/her)

Social Services Coordinator and Foster Care Liaison for Broken Arrow Public Schools, Broken Arrow, OK

Jennifer, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is the Social Services Coordinator and Foster Care Liaison for Broken Arrow Public Schools in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.  In her role, she assists students and families with connecting to resources to meet their needs, she leads the district’s Social Services Team, she co-coordinates the school-based mental health providers, and she serves on the crisis response team.  Additionally, she participates in various community mental health coalitions.  Jennifer has served as a school social worker for 12 years in public schools including Tulsa Public Schools and Milwaukee Public Schools. Prior to venturing into the school setting, Jennifer worked with both survivors and perpetrators of domestic violence through Domestic Violence Intervention Services.  She also has 8 years of experience training and supporting kinship, foster, and adoptive families as well as Department of Human Services staff during her time at the National Resource Center for Youth Services.  Jennifer earned her B.S. in Sociology from Oklahoma City University and her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Oklahoma.

Jessica Aguilar, B.A. (she/her/ella)

Director/ Family Partner, Grupo Poder y Esperanza, Indian Trail, NC

Jessica has a degree in Economics with a background in community development. Through the birth and care of her twin boys, diagnosed with Autism and ADHD, Jessica learned to advocate for her sons, despite the difficulties of being a non-native English speaker. She has earned the trust of Hispanic families in North Carolina by serving as a crucial advocate for families of children with special needs and partnering alongside them. Jessica is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Grupo Poder y Esperanza. Jessica ensures Latino parent voices are represented in roundtable conversations throughout the varied advocacy positions she holds. Jessica is a member of the Healthcare Consumer and Family Advisory Committee (CFAC), part of the DHHS I/DD Stakeholder Task Force, a Member of DHHS Tailored Care Management (TAG), and a member of the Hispanic/LatinX Community Response Team of the North Carolina Community Engagement Alliance (NC CEAL).

Jonathan Hankins, QMHA II (he/they)

Wraparound Care Coordinator, Multnomah County, Portland, OR

Jonathan is an LGBTQIA2S+ Wraparound Care Coordinator for youth and families in Multnomah County. Jonathan has recently returned to this passion after serving close to five years working in the nonprofit sector coordinating Suicide Rapid Response for the State of Oregon. Jonathan and his now high school aged son are native to rural Southern Oregon before heading across the state to beautiful, Portland Oregon – which has been home for almost a decade. In addition to suicide pre/postvention and systems of care work, Jonathan has served as co-chair for the Lethal Means Committee for the Oregon Alliance to Prevent Suicide – an incredible group of humans who have  successfully put forward multiple recommendations and life-saving initiatives to legislation.  Prior to finding a career in behavioral healthcare, Jonathan served several years as a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in foster care. When taking  time away from doing work he loves, he rejuvenates  by spending time exploring the great outdoors with his son and their dog. Otherwise you might find him on a paddleboard or dancing with friends at a music festival.

Kela Lynn, LCSW (she/her)

Suicide Prevention, Intervention, Postvention Coordinator, Crisis Response Coordinator, Corvallis School District, Corvallis, OR

Kela is a  Social Worker with over 20+ years of training and consulting experience, all related to the human connection. She has trained thousands of people in schools, social service, county, and private agencies; and she strives to train through a lens of trauma informed practice that is healing centered.  Kela’s knowledge is ever evolving, and with this she brings an understanding of how much more there is to learn. Kela earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Portland State University, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and she received a BS in Psychology from Oregon State University. She started her career working in institutional settings with youth, and has continued her work in social services agencies and schools. In Kela’s tenure working in and with schools, she became passionate about creating healthy relationships; as this is the foundation to unlocking a person’s ability to see themselves as wholly integrated.  Kela’s current day to day is crisis prevention and intervention work with the Corvallis School District in Oregon; this includes implementing the state’s Adi’s Act initiatives into practice to support students.  Kela believes we all hold great power to support healing and inspire differentiated perspectives and possibilities in our ourselves, our children and families future.

Kris Bifulco, MPH (she/they)

Postvention Coordinator/Manager, Association of Oregon Community Mental Health Programs, Salem OR

Kris is a public health practitioner with a background in music and expressive arts. Kris’ career has focused on mental health promotion, suicide prevention and postvention, 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy, grief, and the intersections of these topics with social determinants of health and human rights issues. Kris uses relational, community-rooted approaches to humanizing and adding nuance to “best practices.” They currently serve as the Postvention Coordinator with the Association of Oregon Community Mental Health Programs, providing training and technical support throughout the state to build systems capacity for youth suicide death response. Kris is also a contracted grant writer for Mosaic America, which aims to build belonging and social cohesion through intercultural arts engagements and authentic representation in data and civic life. When not working, Kris enjoys cooking with her partner, gardening, and spoiling their cats.  

Lesley G. Delapaz, B.S. (she/her/ella)

Trauma Informed Coordinator, Multnomah County, Department of County Human Services, Portland, OR 

Lesley has been in a number of social services roles in the past 22 years and is currently the Trauma Informed Care Coordinator for Multnomah County’s Department of County Human Services (DCHS). Lesley champions racial justice and change management lenses in both policy work and support efforts for DCHS staff. Lesley’s focus is on crafting culturally appropriate resources, tools, and trainings that staff utilize and disseminate to community members they serve. She employs various strategies to engage audiences with different accessibility needs, including creating quarterly newsletters with written, video, and audio content and maintains the internal DCHS Trauma Informed Practices website.  When she’s not presenting, training, or thought partnering, she’s parenting two teens, knitting, or participating in collective care activities.

Lorene Diaz, B.A. (she/her)

Internal Culture Human Resources Manager, Oregon Education Association (OEA) Choice Trust, Tigard, OR

Lorene is the Internal Culture HR Manager at OEA Choice Trust where our mission is to empower Oregon’s public education communities to nurture a culture of well-being for each of their employees. In this role, she is a steward of organizational values alignment, employee well-being, equity, and restorative connection. Her previous work experience primarily focused on crisis intervention, supporting survivors through the criminal legal system, and trauma-informed support for survivors of violence. This has informed her approach to re-imagining “HR” in becoming a truly healing-centered and grief-sensitive approach to resourcing our humanity in the workplace.  

Melissa Gillespie, M.Ed, PPS (she/her)

Elementary School Counselor, Elementary Counseling Department Chair, 504 Coordinator, Student Council Advisor, No Place for Hate Advisor, Las Virgenes Unified School District, Calabasas, CA

Melissa is a Los Angeles based Elementary School Counselor with a decade of previous experience as a High School Counselor and National Community Facilitator for the nation’s largest bereavement camp. She sits on multiple committees for the California Association of School Counselors (CASC), including co-chairing the Outreach & Engagement Committee, and serves on the CSAC School Counselor of the Year Selection Committee. Since 2012, Melissa has spoken at conferences across the country in the areas of mental health, trauma-informed approaches at school, grief & loss, and resilience based programming. She earned her Masters in School Counseling and PPS credential from USC in 2011, and her preliminary administrative services credential in 2019.  

Michelle Holmes M.S. Ed (she/her)

Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, Crane Country Day School, Santa Barbara, CA

Michelle is a lover of hip hop, hoop earrings and tiramisu. A proud New Yorker by birth and Trini by ancestry, she loves sharing her culture with all. She is a mom, wife, friend and fierce supporter of community. She has dedicated her career as an educator to ensuring her village and all those in her sphere are seen, heard and appreciated. She has been teaching in public and private institutions for 22 years as a classroom teacher, teaching artist and museum educator. In 2022, Michelle became the inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Crane Country Day School. Michelle obtained her bachelor’s degree from Queens College and her Masters of Science in Museum and Elementary Education from Bank Street College of Education. Additionally, she has completed studies in Language-Based Learning Disorders at Windward’s Teacher Institute and completed facilitation training with NAIS, Lion’s Story and National SEED Project.

Nole Kennedy, M. Ed. (he/him)

Student Wellness and Safety Specialist, Oregon Department of Education, Salem, OR

Nole is the Student Wellness and Safety Specialist in the Oregon Department of Education’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. In this role, his main focus is on furthering Adi’s Act initiatives (suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention) throughout Oregon schools. Prior to joining ODE, Nole worked for seventeen years in public education in Oregon, first as a teacher and later as building administrator, developing his knowledge of educational and student wellbeing best practices along with his commitment to ensuring safe, welcoming, and inclusive school environments. Nole is passionate about seeing all students thrive in school through fostering a sense of belonging, and believes that elevating the voices of traditionally and currently underserved populations is essential to achieving equitable outcomes for all. Nole lives in central Oregon and loves traveling, reading, and seeing and performing live music. Above all, he is most fulfilled when laughing and spending time with his wife and two teenage children. 

Rituparna (Ritu) Roy, M.S.S.W (she/her)

Special Projects Manager, Eugene School District 4J, Eugene, OR

Ritu received her B.S in Psychology from Louisiana State University and M.S in Social Work concentrating on community organizing & nonprofit management from the University of Texas at Austin. Since 2012, Ritu has worked in crisis response, direct services, and in prevention initiatives spanning suicide, sexualized violence, and substance misuse & abuse; primarily with a focus on youth and young adults within education systems.     She is dedicated to advocating for people that have historically been or currently are feeling silenced. Thus, to effectively address the dynamics of community wellbeing, she believes that we must acknowledge and collectively commit to reducing all forms of oppression. In holding multiple intertwined identities on the margins in the USA, she also recognizes how the places she has privilege have helped in navigating and advocating within systems. Consequently, her trauma-centered approach includes an intersectional, holistic, community-healing lens. Which she endeavors to do with grace, authenticity, and dad jokes. She is also a passionate champion of chocolate and day-dreaming being integral for her daily self-care.

Selena Quiroz, B.A. (she/her)

Youth Advocate, Homies Empowerment, Oakland, CA

Selena grew up in the heart of East Oakland. She embodies both street smart and book smart. Her upbringing exposed her to a range of realities that profoundly shaped her journey. During high school, she discovered the Adelante/Homies Empowerment program, which connected her deeply to her history, culture, and the roles of healer, hustler, warrior, and scholar. Inspired, she pursued a degree in Sociology, returning to her community to apply her knowledge and wisdom. As the program coordinator of LIL (Love inspires leaders) Homies, Selena supports undocumented and unaccompanied minors navigating the justice system. Recognizing a greater need, she expanded the program to serve at-risk youth from elementary to high school, emphasizing preventive measures. She is committed to the work, but also believes in work life harmony. She is now raising a little one of her own and hopes to continue to build a strong village for her.

Sheri Hanni, MSW, PPS (she/her)

Mental Health and Wellness Advisor, Butte County Office of Education, Chico, CA

Sheri has devoted 30+ years at Butte County Office of Education to fostering resilience and positive experiences for students. Her work encompasses attendance, mental health, trauma-sensitive discipline, and multi-tiered support systems. As part of the Crisis Response Team, she supports schools through traumatic events, prioritizing safety and connection.  Sheri’s expertise guides her roles on the State School Attendance Review Board and in CASCWA leadership, where she champions policies and practices recognizing both adverse and positive experiences’ impact on student success.  Her current passion project, *Amplifying Student Voice for Authentic School Improvement*, centers student narratives in school improvement. By creating safe spaces for students to share their stories, Sheri aims to develop targeted solutions that address challenges while building on positive experiences. Sheri strives to create school environments where all students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally, regardless of their past or present challenges.

Shericka Smith, DSW, LCSW (she/her)

Mental Heath and Crisis Coordinator, Fayette County Public Schools, Lexington, KY 

Shericka  is a mental health coordinator and crisis response team lead for Fayette County Public Schools in Lexington, Kentucky. Shericka obtained an undergraduate degree from Transylvania University, then earned her Masters in School Social Work from the University of Louisville. Most recently, she obtained her Doctorate in Social Work at the University of Kentucky where she researched the impact of childhood trauma and the lack of mental health resources for minority families. She has been able to speak nationally about her research on trauma as well as on crisis response and preparedness. Shericka serves on several crisis boards including the local and state multi-disciplinary teams on child sexual abuse, the child fatality review board, and most recently the child sex trafficking workgroup. She is passionate about navigating a path to better and more equitable mental health resources especially following a traumatic event or crisis.

Tiarra L. Fentress, B.A. (she/her)

Comprehensive School Safety Coordinator, Puget Sound Educational Service District, Renton, WA

Tiarra is an anti-racist educator, behavioral health advocate, and suicide loss survivor. Tiarra has over 10 years of experience sharing her passion for serving youth and families in behavioral health and education. She received her undergraduate degree in Society, Ethics & Human Behavior from the University of Washington. Her research in  racial trauma, grief and healing have remained central to her professional work. She continually strives to ensure youth are provided the resources, trauma-informed support and opportunity to dream limitlessly and thrive. Tiarra currently serves as Comprehensive School Safety Coordinator for Puget Sound Educational Service District’s Regional School Safety Center. In this role, she provides consultation and professional development in the areas of comprehensive school safety planning, threat assessment and crisis response. 

Inaugural 2023-2024 Fellowship

For information about the 2023-2024 SCRR Leadership Fellows’ Capstone projects, visit our Spring 2024 Network of Practice – A Spring Festival of Learning – The 2023-2024 SCRR Leadership Fellows’ Capstone Project Symposium event page.