About Me
WHERE I COME FROM
I immigrated to the United States in 1991 from Moldova, Kishinev as a Refugee from the former Soviet Union. We arrived at the San Francisco airport with nothing to our name. The value of hard work and living in community were modeled in our home as my parents worked three jobs each to provide for myself and my three siblings.
As a young child and early teen, I participated in many after school programs including choir, orchestra, and was the program coordinator for five years at a local children's camp in Castro Valley. After graduating from Dublin High, I attended DVC in Pleasant Hill before moving to Colorado to complete my BA in Psychology. I returned to California and worked for an Architect in San Francisco as the office Manager while working as a behavior technician part time in the East Bay.
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I live in Pleasant Hill with my family. My oldest attends school as a Kindergartener at Sequoia Elementary. My youngest will follow his sister footsteps in a few years. My husband is a Firefighter with the Contra Costa Country Fire Protection District. Our dog, Gus, loves to meet people on walks and our cat, Absolom, prefers the quiet life away from the public eye. We also raise chickens and I love to garden in my spare time.
A THRIVING CAREER
After marrying my husband in 2013, I returned to school and earned my Masters Degree in Education. I completed the required coursework and hours to sit for the Behavior Analyst Certification Board Exam two months before the birth of my first child in 2016. I became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in February 2017 and began working as a clinician for families with children diagnosed with Autism. My dedication, work ethic, and ability to approach situations with different perspectives was recognized quickly and I was promoted to Senior Clinician and oversaw three distinct regions with multiple teams. In December 2021 I left behavioral health and pivoted to mental health.
I am currently the Regional Director of Quality Assurance in Mental Health and oversee teams across three counties (Santa Clara, Alameda, and Sacramento).
