Testimonials
“Zeyda is a joy to work with. She is deeply knowledgable and incredibly thoughtful about program design. She designed a counseling program from scratch and seamlessly integrated it with our Special Education program as appropriate. Zeyda understands children's needs at a deep level and is very skilled at training others to do the same. The counseling program Zeyda developed was the best I'd seen at any school site I've worked at. I highly recommend working with Zeyda - you won't regret it!.”
— Stephanie Horwitz, Former Special Education Director
“Zeyda has and continues to be a positive force in any community she serves. Through our work together in East Oakland, I've witnessed the positive impact of her establishing a culture that prioritized mental health within a historically-underserved community where this was an emerging norm. During that time, Zeyda developed trauma-informed small group-based curricula for students and workshops for families - providing ongoing access and resources for processing and healing trauma. Zeyda's passion for mental health and wellness exudes in all that she does and I look forward to seeing the impact she will have on even more communities..”
— Ahjia Moore, Director of Restorative Practices at Bright Star Schools
“Zeyda--is not only an amazing person to work with and collaborate but her work with young people is the key. She is compassionate --she consistently works at building relationships and trust with young scholars. Her deep knowledge about mental health and best practices are always in use in my classroom. She often leads mini workshops for teachers in order for teachers to best serve their students who have experienced trust. Students trust Zeyda and her warmth is always a shining light for young scholars.”
—- Yesenia Sanchez, English/ELD Teacher
“It's hard to speak about Zeyda without using hyperbole because her work is transformative in a beautifully unique way. Her capacity to lead a team, develop thoughtful and effective professional development experiences for staff, and provide high quality counseling to young people is unprecedented in my 20 years of working in education. In one year I witnessed monumental growth in Zeyda's students and colleagues resulting from her anti-racist Social Emotional Learning practice and expertise. Working with Zeyda is truly a humanizing experience..”
—— Marcy Hernandez, Middle School Assistant Principal
“In my collaborations with Zeyda as a colleague, she excelled at making individuals feels seen and heard. Zeyda brings more than just knowledge; she's putting the soul back into school systems.”
—-- Ruby Jimenez, LCSW