I have been supporting students and families in their educational journeys for more than twenty years, first as a High School Director and then as Executive Director of Odyssey Community School. In my role as College Director with OpenDoors of Asheville, I partner with students in 7th through 12th grades and their families to find social, emotional, and academic success. I have specialized training in supporting parents and students with successfully navigating learning differences, with executive function disorder support, college and career counseling and workforce skills development, as well as in early childhood learning, including training to support young children in developing secure attachment through the Circle of Security program.

In my role as a college counselor, ​I have particular experience working with students who are passionate about science, medicine, business, and the arts, with a special focus in film and design. The list of colleges to which my students have been accepted into is extensive and includes: Bard, Brown, Berklee College of Music, Duke University, Drexel University, Digipen, Dupaul University, George Washington University, Howard, NC State University, Spelman, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, as well as most of the 16 schools in the North Carolina university system (and many more). I love supporting young people in becoming the truest and healthiest version of themselves, using strategies that build inner connection and outer success.

Over the years, I have collaborated with more than twenty seven schools and countless non-profit organizations in and around Western North Carolina and throughout the Southeast, and I have many years experience in strategic organizational planning, professional development scaffolding, and fiscal awareness and budgeting. As the child of two public school teachers, I am very grateful to our public school systems and the loving work many teachers do on behalf of our young people. In practice, this partnership takes many forms, acting as a consultant for families when there is a breakdown in communication or systems, as a team member along with teachers and school counselors for educational planning, as a consulting administrator who creates curriculum and/or organizes community wide events, and as a non-profit advocate who supports the region’s resource development for teens and young adults.