Jenny has worked in a variety of roles since joining Washburn Center in 2003. Jenny’s past experience includes elementary day treatment, in-home individual and family therapy, school-based individual and group therapy, children’s mental health case management, outpatient therapy and providing therapeutic services at a homeless shelter. She received her Bachelors degree in Social Work and Family Studies from St. Olaf College and her Masters in Social Work from the University of St. Thomas/College of St. Catherine. She began supervising the Case Management team in 2008 and the Intensive In-Home team in 2013. Her areas of expertise include helping children who are severely emotionally disturbed, providing wrap around services for children and families who have been exposed to trauma and providing in-home family therapy. Jenny’s trained in EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing) and has a passion for treating the family as a whole in order to assist with long term and holistic healing.

Katrina Cisneros is a full-time faculty member at the School of Social Work, University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She is a bilingual clinical social worker that has expertise in working with chronically stressed families in a variety of complex settings and in very diverse communities.  In the Clinical Mental Health field, Katrina has provided years of both individual and group clinical supervision and in-home and outpatient mental health services for a number of agencies in the Twin Cities. She has also worked internationally in Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina in community organizing, program development, teaching and outreach.

Sondra Samuels is the President & CEO of the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ), a collaborative of over 40 partner nonprofits and schools. Along with parents, students, partners, and staff, Sondra is leading a revolutionary culture shift in North Minneapolis focused on ending multigenerational poverty through education and family stability. The NAZ Collaborative is working toward a single goal—to prepare low-income North Minneapolis children to graduate from high school college- and career-ready. NAZ has scaled up in support of over 1,000 parents and 2,300 students as they turn the social service model on its head and lead the creation of a college-bound culture throughout the community.

Mary Beth Lardizabal DO is the medical director for child and adolescent psychiatry for Allina Health, guiding mental health treatment for children and adolescents throughout one of the largest health care systems in Minnesota. She is board certified in adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, and addiction psychiatry. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.  She is chair of the Ethics committee for the Minnesota Psychiatric Society as well as serving as a MPS Council member. She is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine (ABIHM). Dr. Lardizabal’ s philosophy is treating the whole child and their families  using evidence based interventions including psychopharmacology and  integrative treatments,  including acupuncture, meditation, nutrition, exercise, mind body skills, hypnosis, and EMDR.  She is also the Chief of Medical Staff at United hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Pahoua Yang is the Vice President of Community Mental Health & Wellness at the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation in St. Paul.  She has worked as a clinician with diverse client populations in multiple settings and has served on a number of national and statewide committees and task forces aimed at advancing health equity.  In 2017, Pahoua received the Polaris Award for Health and Human Services from the University of Minnesota’s Office of Equity and Diversity for her ongoing commitment to creating a more responsive and equitable mental health system. She is on the board of the Minnesota Association of Community Mental Health Programs and serves on the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ Cultural and Ethnic Communities Leadership Council.  In 2014, she was named Professional of the Year from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Minnesota. Pahoua holds a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a doctorate in Educational Psychology (CSPP) from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. In her spare time she enjoys being with her family and her Kindle.

Jaton is an engagement consultant with the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) focused on family wellness. She works hand-in-hand with partners, families and scholars to understand their needs related to conflict, social-emotional, safety, and other wellness concerns. Jaton began her work at NAZ in 2012 as a family achievement coach, working to increase parent engagement and boost scholar outcomes. Through active engagement with systems, families, and scholars, she adopted a belief that when a person or system seeks healing that it should be treated as an emergency — it requires deep, intimate, and personal work and an authentic supportive team. Armed as a trained facilitator in “personal empowerment,” she is able to provide supportive, evidence-based tools to aid in the spaces that have a direct impact on Northside scholars and families. Jaton is completing her associate degree in psychology at Minneapolis College with the long-term goal of pursuing her bachelor’s degree in social work.