About me

Rocha is a Care Coordinator at Cartwheel. Before joining Cartwheel, she interned and lived in Brazil working on urban development projects focused on sustainability and equality. Rocha is trilingual in English, Spanish, and Portuguese and is passionate about using her cultural and linguistic skills to help destigmatize mental health in the Latino community. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and lives in Houston, TX.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

Many kids and teens grow up in a culture where mental health struggles were often ignored and deemed as a sign of weakness. For many, this stigma makes it difficult to talk openly about issues with their families and with members of our community. As a Latina, I experienced this firsthand and have had to watch the people I care about most struggle in silence. Knowing how difficult it can be to simply start a conversation about mental health, I am dedicated to working with students and families to help them break this generational cycle.

About me

Camila is a Team Lead and Mental Health Therapist at Cartwheel. She is board certified Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker with over a decade of experience working in community mental health as an outpatient clinician, psychiatric crisis clinician, and supervisor. Camila is also an instructor for Harvard Medical School and previously taught clinical practice courses at Boston University. Camila specializes in the treatment of trauma and has extensive experience working with a diverse population, particularly with people who have experienced various forms of marginalization.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

I began my career in academia but ultimately left my doctoral program after feeling that I wanted a new direction. I was unsure of what path to take, but with help from trusted friends, I honed in on my love of exploring identity development and how the systems we live in shape our sense of self and view of the world. I decided to return to school—this time for social work. Social work aligned perfectly with my desire to help individuals enact positive change in their lives, and I soon realized that therapy was a particularly impactful and exciting path for me to do this work. Today, I work with folks across the lifespan, but I’ve always loved working with children and families in particular. I consider it a privilege and great responsibility to be allowed the opportunity to assist families of all kinds in guiding them to rediscover their own strengths and resiliency.

About me

Dr. Lim is a clinical advisor at Cartwheel. He is a psychiatrist serving patients at Boston Medical Center and was previously at Cambridge Health Alliance, both safety-net hospital systems in the Boston area. Dr. Lim is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and previously served as an advisor to Aetna/CVS and Lyra Health. He is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and lives in Boston, MA.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

I have been drawn to the field of mental health care since prior to medical school. In addition to a longstanding recognition of the fundamental importance of mental wellbeing, the complexities, challenges, nuances, and many unknowns are what have made the field most compelling to me. Cartwheel's mission of providing access to excellent and timely mental health care to all students deeply resonates with me.

About me

Crystal is a Mental Health Therapist at Cartwheel. She is a bi-lingual and bi-cultural Licensed Certified Social Worker who received her Masters in Social Work from Boston College. Crystal provides effective, transformative, and lasting life changes in children, adults, and families. She works with kids and teens struggling with depression, anxiety, stress disorders, adjustment, relationship challenges, trauma, and mood disorders. She is passionate about providing a counseling environment that encourages respect, safety, trust, and honesty while tailoring each session individually to the child's needs.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

I found my passion in supporting young people’s emotional development. In my previous role as a protective social worker for children, I learned that many mental health challenges have their roots in childhood struggles and traumas, as well as the broader systems we navigate from adolescene to adulthood: Family, school, community. As a social worker, I focus my work on helping young people navigate these systems and develop their own unique voice within them. Together, we build beliefs, habits, and skills that empower them to understand who they are and communicate their feelings and needs from the earliest ages. In doing so, we break down generational stigmas of keeping silent when we are struggling inside. My goal is to create a space for kids to be who they are—free of judgement—and to provide the emotional support they need to grow, heal, and develop.

About me

Daniel is the co-founder and COO of Cartwheel. Previously, he was a Policy Advisor to the US Surgeon General in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Daniel wrote the Surgeon General's Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health, a report that called attention to the youth mental health crisis. Before government, he worked as a consultant to state and local governments and private health insurers on topics such as behavioral health, COVID-19 response, and Medicaid. Daniel graduated from Harvard College and lives in Cambridge, MA.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

When I was a kid, mental health wasn’t something people talked about. Many, including in my own family, struggled quietly without the language or means to ask for help. Today, I see more and more people being open about their mental health. But when they try to seek help, they find that the system is broken: long waitlists, exorbitant costs, confusing processes, no way to evaluate the quality of care, and technology stuck in the 20th century. I see schools as a crucial part of the solution. Kids spend most of their day at school, and educators and staff are there to help but don’t always have the resources to do so. At Cartwheel, we’re partnering with schools to give kids access to care when and where they need it – helping fix a broken system.

About me

Gregory is the Associate Medical Director at Cartwheel. Dr. Barnett is a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist and has worked with students and families for over seven years. He is a Max Gray Fellow in the Child and Adolescent Mood Disorders Program at the University of California Los Angeles, and he was previously a clinician at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a social safety net hospital serving families in the Boston area. Dr. Barnett is a graduate of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, completed residency at Harvard Medical School, and completed his fellowship at UCLA.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

As a shy, only-child, I was fascinated by others’ stories, and I enjoyed thinking about what experiences potentially led my peers and myself to be different. Things started to come together during senior year of high school when I took AP Psychology and learned that ‘anxious’ described me better than ‘shy’ — but the former was not a word we typically used in my community. I wanted to keep exploring psychology, but it wasn’t until years later that I thought about a career in medicine. I simply hadn’t considered that someone from my racial and socioeconomic background could go to medical school; there were no physicians in my family, and I’d never met a doctor who looked like me. Ultimately, I found a way to follow this dream, and I continue to draw on my personal upbringing as motivation to support—and represent—the next generation of kids and families. Cartwheel provides care and education that I would have deeply appreciated in my own childhood, and I’m excited to be part of something that will lead to a larger shift towards wellness.

About me

Hang is a Mental Health Therapist at Cartwheel. They are a licensed clinical psychologist and has worked with students and families for over 10 years. Hang has worked primarily with lower-income communities of color in a range of clinical setting, including schools, community mental health clinics, and partial hospitalization programs. They also provide mental health consultation for organizations serving youth of color from refugee and immigrant backgrounds and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for organizations that serve diverse populations. Hang is most passionate about working with queer and/or trans children and youth of color as they navigate their various sociocultural identities in the context of systemic oppression and marginalization. Hang lives in Somerville, MA.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

My family and I left Vietnam as refugees when I was a baby and we landed in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Growing up low-income within a family and culture where mental health struggles were never acknowledged, I wished that culturally responsive mental health services were available and readily offered in the public schools I attended. Learning that Cartwheel's mission is to close this huge gap in mental health services for public school students was so exciting to me. Then when I was informed that Cartwheel is partnering with Chelsea Public Schools, I knew this was the best way to give back to my own community — and beyond.

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About me

Helen is a Care Coordinator at Cartwheel. Before joining Cartwheel, Helen worked with students of all ages, from elementary to college-aged. Her most recent experience was working with the Anne Arundel County Department of Health in the REACH program. Working with immigrant families, Helen helped families navigate healthcare and receive medical services at a discounted price. Helen graduated from Notre Dame of Maryland University with a Bachelor's in Business and a Master's in Leadership and Management. She lives in Maryland.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

Being the first-born child in my family meant I was the first for many things. I thought that since I was the precedent for my family, I had to be perfect and have the answers for everything. This mentality has caused me to develop anxiety and panic attacks. Neither my Guatemalan parents nor I fully understood what was happening to me. I got the help I needed after seeking the resources I needed. However, I realized many students like me were going through the same thing but did not know what to do. The lack of mental health education motivated me to close the gap and help those in similar situations.

About me

Jessica is a Mental Health Therapist at Cartwheel. She is a board-certified licensed independent clinical social worker, certified family therapist, and clinical supervisor with over 12 years of experience serving students and families. Prior to Cartwheel, Jessica was Team Lead at the Cambridge Teen Health Center, a school-based mental health clinic affiliated with the Cambridge Health Alliance. Jessica is a strengths-based, trauma-informed clinician and graduated from New York University where she received her Masters in Social Work.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

I have always loved "helping people." From a young age, I remember volunteering at my local food bank and nursing home. As I continued my education and work experiences, my love for "helping others" has grown and developed. Working with the adolescent population is my passion, and I believe it’s incredibly important for this age group to have a safe space where they can express their thoughts and feelings, develop coping skills for depression and anxiety, and increase their confidence and self-esteem. I’m excited to be a part of the Cartwheel team as we provide an opportunity for a larger network of students to receive this crucial support.

About me

Joanna is the Care Manager at Cartwheel. Previously, she worked at New Jersey Brain Care, Trinitas Regional Medical Center, and CVS Pharmacy. She has been a mentor for the Collaborative Mentoring Program and a Teacher's Aid for Polish schools, working with elementary and middle school students in achieving set personal and educational goals. Joanna has volunteered in Nicaragua as an English tutor and assisted on sustainability projects in building kindergarten classrooms out of recycled plastic bottles. She graduated with her Masters in Health Administration from Rutgers University.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

Although I have such wonderful memories of my childhood at home, I always think back to how difficult it was for me to thrive in school. My parents immigrated to the U.S. and raised my brothers and me in a small town. English was my second language, and there were limited resources within the schools I attended. With the difficulty of learning a new language, the pressure of being a “straight A” student, and a cultural stigma around mental health, I often felt alone and anxious. I did not receive much guidance on how to navigate these challenges because I was too scared and embarrassed to ask for help. For these reasons, I’m dedicated to serving as a support system for others in every way I can, whether that’s through volunteering, working, or being a friend that others can lean on. No one should ever feel alone and be too afraid to ask for assistance or encouragement, especially students. I’m so excited to work at a mission-driven organization like Cartwheel and with colleagues who strive to help students and families every day.

About me

Joe is the co-founder and CEO at Cartwheel. Prior to Cartwheel, Joe founded Hope in a Box, a nonprofit that helps educators build diverse and inclusive English classrooms. Joe grew Hope in a Box to support 700 schools and 100,000 students across all 50 states. Previously, he worked for Generation.org, the global education nonprofit organization, and for McKinsey & Company as a consultant on K-12 education topics. Joe has written on education issues for Politico, Education Week, Entrepreneur Magazine, and the United Nations, and he is the recipient of the Jefferson Award for Public Service and Forbes 30 Under 30. Joe graduated from Yale College and lives in Cambridge, MA.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

I was raised on an old farm in a small town. There was a lot to love about my hometown, but like in many rural communities, no one talked about mental health. As a closeted gay kid, I felt stifled. I often struggled to get out of bed and go to school, and for years, I couldn’t imagine a version of my life I wanted to live. It would’ve made all the difference to have a mentor or coach or counselor help me reflect on who I was—and who I wanted to be. Years later, I’m so grateful to have a strong community and sense of self. But kids shouldn’t have to wait to get the support they deserve. They should aspire to more than getting out of bed and making it to class. They should be able to experience joy. They deserve to envision and build a life they’re excited to live. With Cartwheel, I’m doing everything I can to make this vision a reality.

About me

Juliana is the Medical Director at Cartwheel. Dr. Chen is a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist and has spent over 15 years working with students and families in the Boston area, including at Massachusetts General Hospital, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Chen is passionate about promoting resiliency and overall wellness in children, and her clinical skills and experience span many contexts, including school- and family-based interventions and supporting families with diverse cultural backgrounds. Dr. Chen is on faculty at Harvard Medical School, a previous SAMHSA Minority Fellow, and a current Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. She graduated from the Yale School of Medicine and completed residency and fellowship training at Harvard Medical School. Juliana lives in Somerville, MA.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

As a second-generation child of immigrant parents, I loved learning about my family and where they came from. As I grew, I had the same interest to know and understand the stories and journeys of others. Growing up, I also remember needing and wanting to talk about harder-to-navigate feelings and experiences, yet I was in a family and culture where we didn’t talk much about emotions or difficult topics—and so there was so much that was left unsaid, and I felt like I had to carry on my own. These early experiences have shaped my career path and inspired me. I believe in the importance of building family and community connections and through Cartwheel, I am excited to expand opportunities for all children to have that forever-critical experience of feeling supported and emotionally seen and heard.

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About me

Kristina is a mental health therapist with Cartwheel. She is a Licensed Certified Social Worker and received her Masters in Social Work from Boston College. She has focused most of her training around trauma and crisis support, mainly with adolescents and young adults. Her training includes working with the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department at Cambridge Hospital, where she provided evaluations and therapy to adolescents, as well as case management and emotional support training through the Department of Children and Families, the Boston Emergency Services Team, and a local pediatric cancer nonprofit.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

Growing up, I saw the significant impact that mental health plays on people’s lives, especially during middle and high school. Watching close friends, classmates, and other community members face life-altering challenges left me feeling helpless and desperate for change. These feelings of helplessness and desperation drove me to build my career around mental health: I wanted to learn how I could help people find their inner power to heal and grow. At Cartwheel, I’m excited to partner with students and families to encourage and support their healing and development. I work to incorporate a culturally sensitive, trauma informed approach to building relationships to ensure a secure space for exploration and growth.

About me

Leah is a Mental Health Therapist at Cartwheel. She is a licensed certified social worker and a Boston local, having attended Boston Public Schools and received her graduate training at Boston College. She is passionate about increasing access to and destigmatizing mental health care. Previously, she worked in a community health center as a case manager and community health worker, worked as a college counseling clinician, and counseled people of all ages and genders on sexual and reproductive health. In college, she founded an intergenerational discussion group, aiming to improve the mental health of older adults and college students. Leah lives in Boston, MA.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

As a donor-conceived child raised in a household with two mothers, my family felt less than ‘normal.’ I learned to embrace this difference, and I grew up with a deep curiosity of other people and their life stories. My passion for counseling really began when I was in high school when my guidance counselor supported me during difficult periods of transition. But I remember how limited her schedule was and how many students she was supporting at once. I am excited to work with Cartwheel to increase access to mental health care for youth during crucial developmental periods and especially in the context of a pandemic, persisting racial violence, and gun violence. I am hopeful that Cartwheel’s work will break down barriers to accessing mental health support and help students thrive.

About me

Maya is Head of Product at Cartwheel. Her HealthTech experience started at LiveBetter where she helped develop automated well-being solutions and co-founded the company’s employer offering. LiveBetter was acquired by Ginger (now Headspace Health) where Maya worked on the member and clinical product teams and built user-centric experiences to improve virtual-first mental healthcare. Maya joined Spring Health as the founding product manager of the Caregiver Experience team where she led delivery of a proprietary electronic health record (Compass). She graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara and studied at Columbia University School of Social Work and Mailman School of Public Health. In collaboration with a research team at Columbia University, Maya has published research on the use of chatbots as a tool to democratize mental health care delivery. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

I studied psychology for my undergraduate degree with the goal of working with children in a therapeutic setting. My first work experiences were at a non-profit family resource center and then a government behavioral health clinic. Through these experiences I saw first-hand the depth of need for mental health resources and the difficulties connecting people to care. Around that time, I also started working at LiveBetter where I realized the ways that technology could support and expand access to mental health care and found my passion for working in the product space. I'm excited to combine my interests in health equity, developmental psych, and innovative technology at Cartwheel to build experiences that streamline access to high quality, culturally responsive mental healthcare.

About me

Ndia is a Mental Health Therapist at Cartwheel. She is a board-certified licensed independent clinical social worker with over five years of experience serving students and families in the Boston area. She has served as a school-based clinician in Cambridge Public Schools and worked in a range of clinical settings including charter schools, boarding schools, and hospitals. She is passionate about increasing access to mental health for children and families especially in underserved and diverse communities. Ndia received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the College of the Holy Cross and her Master’s degree in Social Work at Salem State University.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

I grew up in a community where focusing on mental health wasn’t the norm. I want to use my career to give people in communities like mine a safe place to share their thoughts and feelings. Mental health is just as important as physical health; taking care of your mind, body, and soul is essential. As a black woman, I know that representation matters, and I want people to see me and understand that they can access services where they feel represented and heard. I especially enjoy working with students because I know how valuable it is as a child to have someone listen and help as best as they can. Students need to know they are supported, and I love being that person for them. Cartwheel is bridging the gap between schools and mental health services and helping the entire school community be a haven for students and families.

About me

Parker is a Mental Health Therapist at Cartwheel. She is a board-certified licensed independent clinical social worker with over a decade of experience serving students and families in the Boston area. Parker has practiced in residential- and community-based clinics, detox and substance use disorder treatment centers, and school-based settings. She is driven to help young people and their families build skills to overcome challenges, enhance their quality of life, and achieve higher levels of self-love, self-compassion, and self-confidence. She utilizes a person-centered, strengths-based approach integrating cognitive behavioral theories, dialectical behavior theories, mindfulness, and attachment and trauma informed modalities. Parker attended Northeastern University where she received her bachelors in science of Psychology. Parker received her graduate training and a certificate in Trauma Informed Treatment from Boston College Graduate School of Social Work. She lives in Quincy, MA.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

I believe everyone deserves to have someone in their life who really hears them. I’m passionate about empowering children, adolescents, and families through the therapeutic process. As a child, mental health services were stigmatized and undervalued in my community. I never had the tools to understand and manage what I was feeling, or how to navigate my challenges. I was living within the constraints of my emotions, feeling helpless unable to see other ways of thinking and feeling. This experience has driven me to equip youth and families with tools to manage their own emotions, strengthen relationships, make sense of the past, create change, be more present, and navigate life’s unexpected obstacles. I hope to fulfill a sense of ‘hope’ in more children and adolescents and help them embrace an open-minded perspective.

About me

Sarah is the Program Director at Cartwheel. She is a board-certified licensed independent clinical social worker and certified special educator with 15 years of experience working with students and families. Previously, Sarah was as a school-based mental health provider and a special education teacher in Boston Public Schools. She also delivered care to children and families at the Adolescent Residential Treatment program at McLean Hospital in Boston. Sarah believes in people’s ability to change, at all stages of life, and approaches her clinical work with compassion, drawing on methodology from Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and General Psychiatric Management. Sarah holds a MEd from Pace University and a MSW from Boston University. Sarah lives with her husband and 2 children in Medford, MA, and enjoys dabbling in Jewelry Design and Gemology.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

I opted to attend college in NYC my freshman year, in 2001, and had been in college for only a few weeks when the World Trade Center was attacked. College was an emotional rollercoaster for me, and as a young woman attempting to navigate life and relationships, I lacked the support I needed and often experienced anxiety. Years later, I was lucky to begin working with a therapist in NYC who significantly shifted my perspective—and my future. I had been teaching for several years and made the decision to return to graduate school to become a psychotherapist, motivated by the change my therapist had shown me was possible. Every person should have the right to this opportunity, no matter age or background. At Cartwheel, I strive to provide this opportunity to every student by practicing thoughtfully and remaining curious.

About me

Stephanie is Mental Health Therapist at Cartwheel. She is a board-certified Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and a Licensed School Adjustment Counselor. Stephanie has worked in multiple school districts in the greater Boston area as an educator and a clinician in various therapeutic programs, during which time she helped districts develop mental health screening initiatives and classes for mental health education and skill-building. Stephanie also worked as an In-home Therapist and Clinical Supervisor at Youth Villages, a nonprofit agency that provides intensive clinical care to children and families and whose model includes advocacy for positive change to child welfare systems. Stephanie's clinical approach is humanistic, strengths-based, and relational. She believes that in building a warm and caring space, her clients can show up authentically and work collaboratively toward their goals. Stephanie graduated Stonehill College and received her Master’s from the Boston University School of Social Work. She lives in Newton, MA.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

When I first started working as an educator I quickly became aware of how much a student's mental health could impact their ability to be fully present and engaged in school — and this was almost 15 years ago! We now have more mental health resources than ever before for students and their families, but still have much work to do to provide equal access to high quality clinical care. This recognition is what inspired my pursuit of a career in social work, and I have seen firsthand how many students thrive when they are truly seen and supported. Partnering at Cartwheel with a great team who share my passion for this work, I am looking forward to providing students with personalized support and helping them find the value in prioritizing their mental health and wellness.

About me

Sydney is a Mental Health Therapist at Cartwheel. She is a licensed certified social worker with experience serving students and families in outpatient, inpatient, and school-based settings. Sydney completed her Clinical Social Work Fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital, a teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School, and she received her master’s degree from the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research of Bryn Mawr College. Her training included work in the Gender Multispecialty Service, the Adolescent Substance Use Program, and the Advocating Success for Kids program in the Primary Care Center.

What inspired you to work with students and families?

Stories can change the way we think about ourselves, the systems we exist within, and our place in the world. Listening to stories is where my interest in working therapeutically began. Prior to social work, I had a career as a news reporter. Holding individuals’ grief, shame, and trauma to use as copy often left me feeling morally distressed. I recognized that my desire was not to tell others’ stories but to help individuals harness the ability to tell their own. These experiences brought me to social work where I strive to help children and adolescents embrace their strengths and narratives so they can reach their full potential. My areas of expertise include working with youth experiencing anxiety, depression, and trauma. I care to bring humor, gentleness, and authenticity to all of my relationships and interactions.