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Director
Sandy Avzaradel, MS Ed., is the Director for Start Well. She was hired in 2017 by the Early Childhood Mental Health Collaborative to design and implement the Early Childhood Mental Health and Wellness Program (now Start Well) and was the Program Manager for the initial implementation, serving 48 early care and education programs across the county. Sandy is also the Director of Early Childhood OC, an organization which promotes Orange County’s Early Childhood Policy Framework, champions an increase in funding to early childhood programs and services, and supports initiatives which cultivate resilient families, ensure quality early learning and promote comprehensive health and development. As a part-time adjunct faculty member at California State University, Fullerton in the Child and Adolescent Studies Department, Sandy enjoys sharing her early childhood passion and expertise with future educators.
Sandy has provided numerous local, state, and national presentations with a focus on social and emotional development, toxic stress, resilience, mental health and challenging behavior, school readiness, child development, special education, parent education, and Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) for early childhood. Sandy is newly elected to Orange County’s Local Child Care and Development Planning Council, is a committed volunteer and former Board Member with Families Forward, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Orange County Association for the Education of Young Children. When not advocating for everything ‘early childhood’, Sandy enjoys spending time with her husband, two adult children, and her dogs!
Senior Consultant
Rhysa Suh, M.A., BCBA, is a Senior Consultant with Start Well: Mental Health Consultation for Early Care and Education. She has partnered with programs and families across Orange County to highlight the importance of mental health in young children. Rhysa has a background in Psychology and Sociology and master’s degrees in Applied Behavior Analysis and Criminology, Law and Society. She is also a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and has focused on addressing challenging behaviors in preschool settings. She has spent the past 18 years in the field of early childhood as a teacher, social skills provider, behavior specialist, mental health specialist, and parent educator.
Rhysa is passionate about creating positive early childhood experiences for children, families, and providers in our community because it has the potential of having a long-lasting impact for us all.
Elisabeth Campos, MSW, graduated from New York University with her Master’s in Social Work in 2013. Prior to pursuing her social work degree, she spent two years as a full-time fourth grade teacher in Harlem, NYC. As a graduate student, Elisabeth focused her clinical studies on human behavior, cultural diversity, and child development including researching and writing on parenting approaches and attachment theory. Her graduate clinical internship work involved working as a play therapist with children as young as four years old in a school setting. Upon graduating from NYU, Elisabeth worked for three years as a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) in Philadelphia, both as a lead school social worker, as well as an evaluator for children as young as three years of age at a trauma treatment agency. Elisabeth is passionate about relational and systems theories, as well as using a trauma-informed and culturally-responsive approach to working with teachers, caregivers, parents, and children.
Elisabeth has spent over three years living in Brazil with her family, and currently spends much of her free time with her two girls, ages 5 and 2, who keep her on her toes and inspire her every day.
Elizabeth O’Grady, LCSW, is an early childhood Mental Health Consultant with Start Well Orange County. Elizabeth received her Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Science from York College of Pennsylvania and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Temple University. Early in her career, she worked both as a pre-school teacher and a school administrator for various early childhood education programs, which ignited her interest in studying early childhood mental health.
While studying for her Master’s degree at Temple University, Elizabeth completed additional coursework in play therapy. Throughout her career, Elizabeth has gained experience by working in private and public-school settings as well as in medical facilities, government organizations and in private practice. Elizabeth is a licensed clinical social worker in the states of California and Pennsylvania.
Outside of her career, Elizabeth is passionate about teaching kid’s yoga classes and spending as much time as possible at the beach.
Kim Versluis holds a Masters Degree in Teaching Elementary and Secondary Education, a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership and a Bachelors Degree in Child Development. Over her 20-year professional career she has led in afterschool care, taught in the preschool and elementary classrooms, run a home day care, and served almost a decade as Director of Programing for Children and Families at a local mega-church.
She has a heart to serve people and seek justice for all, especially children. She has volunteered with many non-profits in Orange County, has traveled all over the world serving vulnerable children, families and communities, and is currently a licensed foster parent.
She loves the beach, reading, travel, music, and learning new things. She enjoys spending time with her 12 yr. old daughter, family and friends.
Stacy Becerra is a Bi-Lingual passionate Consultant and Leader with 15 years experience in the Early Childhood Education field. She is working toward a world that values Early Childhood Education, with a focus on relationships, optimal social emotional development, developmentally appropriate practices, and Sensory Integration practices that support behavior management in the classroom. Stacy has leveraged knowledge of strength based resources to foster positive relationships with Early Childhood Education professionals. Stacy’s career has focused on empowering Early Childhood professionals and is committed to uplifting others, and recognizing the unique abilities of individuals.
Stacy is a certified trainer in Zero to Three’s “The Growing Brain” and has presented to hundreds of Early Childhood Education professionals. In addition, Stacy is a certified Classroom Assessment and Scoring System Observer for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschool children, and a DLL trainer.
She received a B.A in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Bilingual Spanish English from California State University of Long Beach, and a M.A in Teaching with a concentration in Early Childhood Education from National University.
Stacy enjoys walking her dogs, reading, exercising, and spending time with her daughter and husband.
Veronica Oliver is a Mental Health Consultant at Start Well in Orange County, with over 12 years of experience working with children and families. She worked at the University of Irvine’s Infant Toddler Center during her undergrad and later became a teacher after earning her Bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Psychology. Since then, Veronica has earned her Master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis with an emphasis
in Autism Spectrum Disorders from Ball State University. She has been a parent educator for Child Behavior Pathways for the past 6 years and has facilitated over 40 COPE Parent Behavior Management groups. In addition, she has worked as a Mental Health Specialist, serving preschool programs in Orange County supporting social emotional best practices as well as providing direct support to early childhood providers and educators.
Through her experience as a teacher, parent educator, and mental health specialist, Veronica has worked with hundreds of families teaching positive proactive alternatives and interventions meant to help navigate them through difficult and challenging situations. She is extremely passionate about working with children in helping them reach their maximum potential and success.