Amy Byrne has a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in Fair Oaks, as well as on staff at River City Christian in Sacramento.  She is a TBRI trained practitioner and enjoys walking alongside others as they heal and grow.  Amy is the mother of 3 school age children, one of whom was adopted from foster care with special needs.  When not working, Amy can be found wrangling, driving around or playing games with her 3 kids, looking for times to sneak away with her husband or a good book.

Annette and her husband Wade have been married for almost 30 years. She is the mother of 6 children, two which are adopted twins, and has 7 grandchildren with one on the way. Annette has over 30 years of experience with children running a home daycare, foster parenting and working with children who have learning disabilities or mental health disorders. She studied health and nutrition at Shasta College and she gained her Health Coaching certification through the Dr. Sears Wellness Institute. Annette organizes monthly women’s gathering devoted to community and friendships. She is dedicated to inspiring healthy living with a whole food approach by creating meals that capture good taste and simplicity to enable everyone access to good health.

Brittney Kiel is a Special Education Teacher. She began her teaching career in South Central LA as a second grade general education teacher then had the opportunity to work in a battered women’s shelter as a house manager for 3 years. Currently Brittney teaches Special Education as a Special Day Class teacher. Her passion is Special needs students and behavior management and she has 11 years of experience in this field. Brittney and her husband Jeremy are the proud parents of their son Jordan who is almost 9 months old.

Carla and her husband Edward are the parents of seven adopted children and one birth child. Additionally they have been guardian parents to several children and are currently raising their grandson. Growing their family via adoption and guardianship parenting seemed like a natural extension of their separate careers as mental health professionals in the adoption field. Carla and Edward, along with several other adoptive families, founded The Parent Cooperative Community in order to fill the unmet needs of their own and other adoptive families of children from difficult beginnings.

Charity is a school counselor at John Adams Academy, a local K-12 charter school and has worked with students who have experienced trauma and abuse. She has also had experience in counseling and advocating for women with unplanned pregnancies. Charity is a mother of four children, one who was internationally adopted from Russia, and has personal experience with two of her children being on an IEP.

Charlotte has been married to her husband Scott for 12 years. They adopted two beautiful children locally through foster-adoption over the course of the last 7 years, and fostered two other children who later reunited with their birth family. Charlotte has been a Marriage and Family Therapist since 2007, and currently specializes in working with families who are raising children who have experienced trauma. Charlotte is a certified TBRI provider and her passion is connecting foster and post-adoptive families with the resources they need.

Chris and his wife Stacey adopted a pair of siblings in 2011 and it soon became obvious the new additions to their family would need help navigating the physical and emotional challenges they face. This led Chris to pursue a career change and through numerous seminars, conferences, trainings and courses, he earned a certificate from the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) in Neurofeedback (BCN) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) as well as certification as a Home Provider and Specialist with the Interactive Metronome. Chris now spends his time providing services to impacted children and the families who give so much to help heal them.  

Chris is a school counselor at John Adams Academy, a K-12 public charter school in Roseville. He has a history working with students who have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse and many other traumatic experiences within the school system. Chris is currently finishing a second Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and is passionate about advancing mental health in schools.

Claire is a pediatric Occupational Therapist serving children with a wide variety of special and unique needs. Born and raised in San Francisco, Claire has worked with children for more than half of her life beginning as a camp counselor and circus/dance teacher in high school then providing daily care for children with special needs during college. She earned a degree in Kinesiology from San Francisco State University and attended Pacific University where she received her Master’s in Occupational Therapy in 2013. Currently, Claire is a therapist at Growing Healthy Children Therapy Services in Rescue, focusing heavily on supporting children with sensory processing challenges. She also works as part of a special education team in several charter schools in Sacramento.

Debbie is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the Founder/Director of West Roseville Counseling Center. She is a Certified Adoption Competent Therapist, Certified Trainer for the Adoption Competency program and has post-graduate training in EMDR, TBRI, and EFT. She is the trainer for Resource Parents at Lilliput Families and for therapists/social workers who are seeking post-graduate certification in Adoption Competence (an 18-month long certification program). Debbie has been married for 25 years and is the parent of three children: two biological and one through international adoption.

Eric and his wife Amy, founders of Transformational Family Ministries, have adopted four wonderful special needs children who deal with a variety of difficult issues (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders-FASD, attachment disorders, and Autism). After obtaining certification and training in several different alternative methods for teaching and parenting children with special needs, Eric and Amy authored the book, “In the Midst Of…A Short Guide for Encouraging Parents of Special Needs Children”. Their passion is helping parents navigate the frequently choppy waters of parenting children from hard places.

Jena is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who is passionate about her work with families and children affected by PTSD and Complex Trauma. Starting her career with San Francisco's Juvenile Justice System 10 years ago, Jena has sought after the most long-lasting and effective modalities for healing the whole person after traumatic experiences. She now specializes in working with children of trauma in conjunction with her team at the Pacific Counseling and Trauma Center in Folsom. Jena is also a dance and yoga teacher and is passionate about incorporating those forms of therapy into her work.

Jennifer has been a Counselor and Instructor in the Community College system for over 20 years. She has also been a foster parent for over 25 years, specializing in pregnancy support and parenting teenage girls. She currently works as a Counselor/Professor at American River College and at Sierra College as the Foster/Kinship Care Education Program Coordinator where she develops new curriculum to meet the needs of the populations served. Jennifer is married, has two biological children, 1 adopted daughter, and 3 step children plus is privileged to be called Grandma by several wonderful kids.

Megan is a passionate advocate for families who have experienced trauma.  She is a single mother of two girls, who both battle with the effects of trauma in and out of school. Megan brings her knowledge of trauma to the classroom as a private piano teacher of special needs students and currently as a Teacher’s Aide at John Adams Academy.

Natalie is a graduate from the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). She specializes in working with children and adults who have experienced abuse or domestic violence. Currently Natalie is completing a Postdoctoral Fellowship at UNR where she conducts research and provides trauma-focused treatment. She is also completing postdoctoral work at the UC Davis CAARE Center providing Parent-Child CARE, a brief intervention to improve parent-child relationships. In her spare time she enjoys rock climbing, backpacking, and being in the great outdoors with her family.

Paige is a graduate from the Combined Counseling and School Psychology program at Florida State University. Paige's research interests include trauma and suicide, and she specializes in working with children and adolescents who have experienced trauma and child maltreatment. Paige is currently completing her Postdoctoral Residency at the UC Davis CAARE Center where she conducts Child Welfare Evaluations, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. Aside from work, Paige enjoys hiking with her dogs, traveling, and daydreaming about Florida beaches. 

Tiffany and her husband, Matt first became passionate about advocating for vulnerable kids in 2010 after a mission trip to Haiti. Over the next 7 years, they returned to Haiti many times co-leading short-term mission teams while also launching and leading a church-based orphan care ministry locally. Tiffany is a church ministry coach for the Christian Alliance for Orphans and out of her passion for unity she founded Defending the Cause Regional Alliance in 2016. She believes that every child deserves a family who loves them and that we’re all called to make a difference for the kids and families struggling around us. Tiffany and Matt have 2 amazing kids, James (12) & Laurie (14), who were adopted from Haiti after a miraculous 6 1/2 year international adoption process.

Tiffany and her husband Eric have been married 13 years, have two children, Blake and Paige, who were adopted from Placer County Foster Care and a baby on the way. Together, Eric and Tiffany have a heart for strengthening the family unit. They were children's pastors at Destiny Christian Church for 10 years and now are Directors of Destiny Community Center where they offer resources to strengthen and support families. Trained in Love & Logic and Kimochi Social Therapy, Tiffany teaches West Coast leaders in churches, community centers and public schools and she developed a 3-week Co-Parenting curriculum for separated/divorced/foster/adopt/blended families. With a degree from UC Davis in Psychology emphasizing on Child and Family Development, Tiffany is trained in assessing and implementing family health strategies. Eric and Tiffany's goal is simple, to provide the resources and education necessary to see stability and health in local homes.