Our Team

“One of my priorities in life is helping people.”   

Her Focus: Discovering what a client needs from her and giving it to them in a dignified way.

Her Inspiration:  Kathy has an encompassing compassion for people. She wants to help others achieve a better quality of life and reach their personal best.  Her character has been shaped by being in a military family and always learning to make the best of each situation. She shares those skills to help others become more resilient in daily life.

“When you invite people in, make sure you make them understand they are welcome with you."

Her Approach: Kathy's priority as an inclusion specialist is to establish trust and to make a connection with her clients. She has broad experience and interests and connects on a personal level while maintaining a professional relationship.  She calls her approach "tough love," which to her means  getting her clients to recognize that there are some things that need to be done in order to grow and learn, "even if you don't want to do them or if doing them makes you feel uncomfortable.'' 

“It doesn’t matter to me who you are or what you can or cannot do, I treat people the way that I want to be treated, with dignity, understanding, and respect.”  

Her Focus: Making new and exciting memories and forming close and trusting relationships and lifelong bonds.

Her Inspiration:  Adriana has a younger sister who has ADHD/ASD.  Watching her grow up and struggle with forming social connections, Adriana saw how much she was excluded by her peers and those around her.  She just wanted to be understood and included and when she wasn’t, it was heartbreaking.  

Her Approach: Adriana’s goal is to provide a supportive, mentoring relationship which fosters free thinking and a creative spirit to build confidence and better sense of self.  We do this through exploring activities which promote life-long learning and independence. 

  Adriana has a younger sister who has ADHD/ASD.  Watching her grow up and struggle with forming social connections, A saw how much she was excluded by her peers and those around her.  She just wanted to be understood and included and when she wasn’t, it was heartbreaking.  

Empowering individuals with disabilities to break barriers, achieve wellness in every aspect of their lives.

Her Focus: Dedicated advocate for individuals with disabilities, committed to promoting inclusivity and accessibility in all aspects of life.  Passionate about providing support and resources to empower those with disabilities to thrive and succeed.

Her Inspiration: Inspired by my years of studying children with autism, assisting families in creating better home environments, and supporting both children and adults in living healthy and productive lives, it’s been my passion in enhancing the lives of individuals with disabilities. 

"Championing a world where every individual can flourish and achieve their dreams."    

Her Approach: With a strong foundation in communication, problem solving, and attention to detail, I am dedicated to utilizing my skills to drive positive changes and make a meaningful impact in the lives of others.  Through my passion for helping individuals with disabilities, I strive to create innovative solutions and foster a more inclusive and accessible environment for ALL.  

"Different, not less"    

"I approach situations with curiosity, ensuring everyone's opinions are valued. Inclusive participation leads to comprehensive solutions." 

Her Focus:  Connecting families with care experts at Inclusion Consultants to access available resources and work collaboratively towards the shared goal of personal empowerment.

Her Inspiration: As a Mexican immigrant, Stephania experienced firsthand the challenges and triumphs of navigating life in a new country. This background instilled in her a deep commitment to supporting others on similar journeys. Inspired by the values of community and cultural understanding, she brings a heartfelt dedication to her work. Every day feels less like a job and more like a mission to make a difference. 

"My cultural perspective gives me a unique understanding of the intricacies of asking for and accepting help and support. My strategy involves establishing a strong connection with clients, centering their specific needs, and building support systems to create an environment where individuals are empowered to advocate for themselves."    

Her Approach: Stephania, a seasoned professional with a wealth of experience in managing operations and leading cross-functional teams, has identified the challenges and gaps between families and community organizations. Her vision for Inclusion Consultants is to act as a bridge that connects and empowers families to use available resources fully. She places a high priority on creating efficient processes and fostering collaborative environments to enhance service delivery. 

Stephania's unwavering commitment to building trust and fostering inclusive environments is at the center of her work. Her unique blend of strategic insight and compassionate service ensures she is a valuable asset to Inclusion Consultants and the communities the team serves.

"Trust is essential because it involves asking people to make changes, typically during times of crisis. Listening openly and prioritizing the client's needs ensures their trust when making decisions and creating care plans."   

"The challenge for parents and caregivers is to feel responsibility and still be willing to hand some things over to someone else, and say, 'Help me.'”

Her Focus: Building language skills in social and work situations, and skills that affect understandability of speech.

Her Inspiration: Miriam's adult daughter has developmental disabilities. Miriam and her husband struggled to sustain their careers, to manage their daughter's disability and to plan for the future. When they realized they couldn't do it all, they turned to Inclusion Consultants for help. And now Miriam is giving the same kind of help to other families like hers.   

"I surrendered a lot of what I do to Nancy and Inclusion Consultants because I knew what was in my toolbox. But I didn’t know what all the possibilities were for her."    

Her Approach: Miriam says she wants parents to plan for "DD+1," which is the day after both parents have died. It's a blunt way of looking at it, but it frames the discussion in a clear way. Her goal is to help caregivers make sure that on DD+1, their child's life is as similar to the days before as possible.   

"My daughter is taking on roles we never thought she would ever take on because we built in a structure to support her."    

"Everyone is kind of afraid, parents included. You approach it by nurturing, but also with tough love."  

Her Focus:  Case management; connecting families to community resources; supporting clients and families with transition planning. 

Her Inspiration: Mikelle is inspired by witnessing others living each day to their fullest potential. Over the past 16 years, Mikelle has been dedicated to helping persons with IDD and mental illness gain the life skills necessary to be successful in their homes and in their community. She is dedicated to helping people gain independence, confidence, and personal success in all areas of life.  

"I have the ability to connect with adults with disabilities because I am able to gain trust. And I don’t give up."    

Her Approach: She starts by building rapport and establishing a trusting relationship. Mikelle empowers her clients and caregivers by actively listening to them about what they want their life to be. With that in mind, she creates and helps maintain a system of supports that can get them through challenges. At times, she will step in to defuse a stressful situation, but always with the goal of giving the caregiver resources and contacts that can empower them to handle things themselves.  

"Making decisions for your adult child encourages them to be dependent on you. It’s okay to let go. If you let go, you will see your child can do things you didn’t expect.”     

"Everyone needs someone to talk to. I will always be the person you can come to in the good and the bad times."

Her Focus: Being a trustworthy, supportive, and motivational presence in relationships with clients and family members.

Her Inspiration: Going back as far as elementary school, Shelby was the one asked to help classmates with disabilities. She realized that most of the time they just needed help from a friend, as many of us do. Someone to confide in and talk about the negative AND positive things with. Her inspiration comes from seeing those classmates come out of their shell and open up more and more as their relationship formed. 

Her Approach: Building trust and creating a fun and open environment is the beginning of Shelby’s approach. Once that’s completed, she tries to work towards the goals of the client and build confidence. 

“Each individual and their family are the experts. They know their interests, preferences, effective strategies and goals. I look forward to becoming part of each individual’s team and helping them to identify and achieve their goals.”

Her Focus: To help connect individuals with resources and services, monitor and coordinate those services, develop life plans so the individual and family can feel comfortable knowing their loved one is and will continue to be cared for, even in their absence. I am also able to serve as an educational advocate for parents who are attempting to access services for their child or need support in monitoring those services in special education.

Her Inspiration: I have 35+ years of experience working in private and public educational settings with students of all ages and their families, navigating the systems for special education and preparing students for the transition into the adulthood.  It was extremely rewarding to connect with each student and their family. Having an opportunity to support individuals requiring adult services and their families allows me to continue making connections with people, giving me a feeling of fulfillment. I have met some amazing people and feel privileged to be a part of their lives. My experience was also helpful in supporting my own child through the special education system and the transition into adulthood, which continues to be an ongoing process. Every step counts. 

Her Approach: As I connect and support people, I want them to feel accepted, productive and as independent as possible. We are all unique and have different ways of learning and viewing ourselves and the world. It is important to listen to each other and to be open to others points of view.

"I work with people to help them navigate the world around them. That’s different for everyone, with different living situations, work environments  and  social lives."

Her Focus: Helping clients develop social skills, plan social interactions and make community connections.

Her Inspiration: Merle's son, Adam, is an adult with cerebral palsy who she says is "tired of listening to his parents." She knows from experience that adults with disabilities need someone they can turn to for advice that a parent might give but who is NOT their own parent.

"I'm not your mother, but I can do what I think your mother might have done."

Her Approach: Merle takes her clients with disabilities under her wing and helps them decide what their needs are. When she's talking with caregivers and clients about goals, she reminds the caregiver of the client’s strengths and weaknesses. Recognizing a client’s needs helps set realistic expectations for the caregiver, but recognizing their strengths helps them both aim higher. 

"It’s really valuable to see a situation through fresh eyes. Inclusion Consultants has a different  perspective, and we understand the context of the system."   

"I work with people to help them navigate the world around them. That’s different for everyone, with different living situations, work environments  and  social lives."

His Focus: Providing mental health services to children and adults to strengthen families and help provide a safe and nurturing environment of care. 

His Inspiration: After decades of advocating for policies for the aging population of Virginia, Peter was inspired to shift careers after the birth of his daughter. As a single parent, Peter has helped her through the many challenges she has faced and questions she has raised which led him to seek advice and support from the social work support team around him. It wasn’t long before he realized this was the direction he should take professionally.  

"In the realm of social work, every challenge faced by children and adults becomes a gateway to empathy and understanding. I am grateful for the opportunity to walk alongside them, learning from their resilience and courage."

His Approach: Peter will be learning more about play therapy for children as well as counseling for couples. Peter would like to focus on families built through adoption, surrogacy, and foster care and the special challenges they face. Overall, he has a vision to bring counseling and services such as those provided by Inclusion Consultants to Richmond, Virginia as he completes school and residency.