Name: PHP Presentation: LifeLaunch – Helping your young adult reach their full potential!
Start: 2025-09-30T18:30:00+00:00
End: 2025-09-30T19:30:00+00:00

Neurodivergent people may learn differently or more slowly, things that might be easy or obvious to neurotypical people are not so for neurodivergent folks, and yet…in 18 years of working with neurodivergent people of all ages, I am continually amazed by the creativity, the kindness, the drive for equity and justice, the intelligence and the out-of-box thinking that neurodivergent individuals frequently display. In fact, we need neurodivergent people to move society forward, and it’s up to the 75% to make the world more hospitable for them.

Without neurodivergence, much of the modern world would not exist – computing, networking, sound engineering, breakthroughs in science have all been fostered in part or as a whole by neurodivergent individuals. As we face more and more dire consequences of climate change, overpopulation, income inequity, we need more, not less, brilliant minds and kinder souls.

We hope to foster empowerment in our clients, and kindness and equity in the neurotypical communities in which they live.

The ‘sudden uptick’ in diagnoses was caused in large part by the addition of autism as a broader diagnostic category followed by tens of thousands of people formerly diagnosed as intellectually disabled as now being autistic. While there may be a slight uptick in actually autistic people today, and there is evidence that environmental factors may trigger genetic factors that relate to autism, there is not an epidemic.
The world got more ‘normal’. In today’s educational, institutional, and societal arenas we have little patience for deviating from ‘normal’. This was not true 50 years ago, and certainly not further back in human history. Autistic people were the mechanics who could fix any farm tool. The ADHDers were the ones who set off on horseback to settle the West. The folks with bipolar were the incredible poets and artists. These were traits that were useful and fruitful. Now society demeans them. That is what we aim to change over time, to empower neurodivergent people to find their place in the world, whatever it may be.

Many people are self-diagnosed or identify as neurodivergent based on their lived experience. In my agency, we don’t make a distinction between diagnosed and undiagnosed because the support we give is based on the pain or challenges the individual faces, not based on a diagnosis. We work on the symptoms, not the diagnosis, and we only work on the symptoms that the client sees as getting in their way.

Clinicians use these labels in a similar way, to telegraph common issues a person might have. In the educational and social services realm, labels (specifically, formal diagnoses) become important as they are used to determine eligibility for services such as individualized educational programming (IEPs), access to social services and Social Security Disability (SDI) funding, and accommodations in the workplace under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We use the term neurodivergency as a blanket term, as many autistic people also have ADHD, and may experience depression and anxiety.

Neurodivergent folks make up about 25% of the world’s population – enough people for society to take seriously and understand. For clinical, educational, and social services purposes, we usually refer to different types of neurodivergency, or different neurotypes. So, 75% of us would be neurotypical neurotype, the remaining 25% would be neurodivergent. The more common types of neurotypes are autism, ADHD, learning differences, and mood dysregulation.

People with depression and anxiety can also struggle with executive functioning, even if they are not autistic or have ADHD. It’s a spectrum of differences that impact the individual and make their daily living more difficult as the world has been built for the 75% majority.

For example, one person might stim or self-regulate by lightly tapping on a desk, and another might engage in body slapping or foot stomping. We might think that the person lightly tapping their desk is ‘less challenged’ or ‘higher functioning’ because their behavior is seen as less disruptive to others. But because we as observers don’t know how much either person may be struggling or masking to ‘act normal’, we cannot easily infer whether either person is able to fully access their communities, secure gainful employment, and have meaningful relationships. Live their lives in safety and security.

In turn, we would refer to high or low needs in terms of what support the person needs to live their life as they wish, not high functioning or low functioning in comparison to what the 75% might consider ‘normal functioning’.

Brenda Peterson

Brenda got her start wrangling chickens and chasing sunsets on a ranch in the Bay Area—until the age of 3. She later graduated from SJSU with a degree in Child Development and earned her Master’s in Counseling (with a Career Counseling twist!) from SCU. After years navigating the high-stakes world of HR in Silicon Valley, she’s now diving deep into a Clinical Counseling degree at PAU.

Brenda is passionate about helping people find clarity, confidence, and healing—whether they’re navigating life transitions, career crossroads, or emotional challenges. Her goal is to create a space where people feel truly seen and supported.

A proud LGBTQIA+ ally, Brenda jumps at the chance to give back through volunteering. When she’s off the clock, you’ll likely find her painting, hiking the hills surrounded by redwoods, coaxing miracles out of her garden, baking something delicious, snapping photos of whales, or making waves with her favorite crew—her fabulous 75–95-year-old water aerobics teammates!

Emmeline Tober

Administrator

Having 10+ years of experience working in admin, Emmeline is dedicated to helping Evo Libri run efficiently and smoothly.

She currently lives at home with her family. Her kid brother is on the spectrum and has severe congenital heart defects. She works very hard to keep him healthy and happy but worries each day about his future. She is thrilled to be a part of the EVO team and loves working with such an amazing group!

Before covid, Emmeline did 20 years of community theatre, performing on stages throughout California. Nowadays, she hosts virtual script readings with her fellow thespians. She also enjoys arts and crafts, building legos, reading anything by Neil Gaiman, and watching horror movies with her brother!

Taz

World’s #1 Therapy Pug

Please welcome Taz to the Evo Libri team! In the spring of 2015, Central Coast Pug Rescue found this handsome gent living on the streets of Fresno and was soon adopted by our very own Cynthia Haartman, M.F.T. His foster mom at Central Coast Pug Rescue named him Taz after the Tasmanian Devil cartoon character, and after a few minutes of hearing him “talk”, you’ll soon understand why! (He believes in letting us all know exactly what he’s thinking!)

Taz became a registered therapy animal in 2016 and passes on his good fortune by helping others. A truly gentle soul, Taz loves to cuddle
and be pet. Give him a gentle scratch, a treat, or play him some Christmas music, and you’ve got a friend for life!

Favorite Treats: Chicken, cheese, and anything peanut butter Best Tricks: Wait, a high-five (for treats, of course)
Favorite Places: Butcher Park dog park, the car, dinner at Brown Chicken/Brown Cow, mom’s bed

Loves to be pet: behind the ears, under the collar, chest rubs

Winter Morgan

Corporate Coach and ILS services (She/They)

Winter earned her Bachelors in Fine Arts at San Francisco State University. She is autistic and has overcome many challenges in life and the work place. Winter’s experience involves working 13 years at Google to help them with many projects including their shopping tool, SEO, technical writing and making the tools user friendly for clients. She volunteers with youth and adults and enjoys helping people in need and equipping people with tools to help them better navigate the neurotypical workplace.

Winter is an ISSA certified personal training and nutrition/wellness coach and loves photography. They reside in Central Coast, California. They love the environment, animals, hiking and is a self-professed health nut foodie. When Winter isn’t coaching and mentoring, she can be found at the beach hanging with her pups Bela and Thor.

Contact Winter by clicking here.

Stephanie Lo

Employment and ILS services (She/Her)

Born and raised in the Bay, Stephanie’s passion for helping others led her to pursue a psychology degree, where she was given the amazing opportunity to work with neurodiverse individuals at the UCLA PEERS Clinic. After an incredibly positive experience working there and helping autistic individuals with social skills, job development, career development, and dating, Stephanie is excited to be a part of Evo Libri. She is currently working towards her master’s in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University to hopefully one day become a clinical therapist.

In her free time, Stephanie enjoys sharing meals with friends, video games, hiking, rock climbing, swimming, and anything related to Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.

Contact Stephanie by clicking here

Scott Haartman

Therapist (He/Him, CA LMFT 77097)

Scott is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (M.F.T.). He earned his Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from J.F.K. University in 2009. His clinical experience ranges from working in community mental health, school-based Counseling, on a hospital I.O.P. team, and in private practice. He enjoys working with clients of all ages and of any identity. He describes his clinical style as relaxed, collaborative, non-judgmental, yet direct. “A primary goal of mine is to understand my client’s struggles from the perspective of the client. Helping my clients break down and understand their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are often key tenants of how I work. Earning the trust of my clients and joining with them in their goals is my bottom line.”
Scott has a diverse range of interests outside the therapy room. A resident of the Lake Tahoe basin, Scott enjoys time in the forest and hiking. He is an avid reader and is currently writing a historical adventure novel. He also enjoys learning and performing sleight-of-hand magic.

Contact Scott by clicking here.

Samantha Chau

Director of Individual Services (She/Her)
BCBA 1-20-46215

As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, Samantha has worked with a variety of clients with the goal of building individual autonomy and developing meaningful relationships. One of her areas of specialization is social skills training with an age range of toddlers to older adults. Samantha is licensed in facilitating the PEERS® social skills training and the concurrent parent training program. She is constantly doing field research in trying to understand human connection, most likely in popular ramen shops. Her passions are eating overhyped trendy foods (i.e. MOCHI DONUTS), riding on the Onewheel, obsessing over her cats, among other stereotypical Bay
Area hobbies.

Contact Samantha by clicking here.

Megan Knight

Corporate Coach and Employment Services (She/Her)

Megan Knight has a Master’s in Psychology and serves Evo Libri in dual roles: as a job developer (specifically for our Southern California clients) and as our outstanding administrative assistant — meaning, if anyone knows what is going on, she does!
As the mother of two kids on the Spectrum, Megan knows only too well the struggles that parents and clients face, and she brings her no-nonsense, pragmatic attitude to all she does. Megan is such an integral part of Evo Libri, that we sometimes forget that she lives all the way in Temecula!

Contact Megan by clicking here

Matt Newton

Director of Programs, Events, and Outreach (He/Him)

Theorizing that one could time travel within his lifetime, Matt Newton stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished…” Well, not exactly. While Matt is not Dr. Sam Becket, he feels blessed to have jumped through several rewarding life experiences, including enjoying prior careers as a U.S. Army linguist, an advertising “madman”, and a marketing coordinator for a multi-global corporation.

With a degree in Psychology from San Jose State, Matt brings his multi-faceted background to Evo Libri as a jack-of-all-trades, overseeing program direction, increasing business outreach efforts, and working 1:1 with clients in job coaching, ILS and social skills support, etc. In addition to richly varied work life, Matt’s personal life also runs the gamut, as he enjoys martial arts, surfing, golfing, reading, movies, traveling, and, most importantly, being a husband to a fantastic high-school teacher and father to three beautiful children.

Contact Matt by clicking here

Mackensie Perry

Director of College, Employment and Justice Programs (She/Her)

Mackensie graduated from C.S.U. East Bay with her B.A. in Human Development. She has an extensive background as a caregiver and educator who truly enjoys helping others reach their full potential. She’s passionate about getting to the root of common challenges within the community to implement the most effective services.

Here at EvoLibri, this involves program development and case management for DOR services, as well as, other private and justice programs. She loves training the EvoLibri team on elevated business and coaching practices to maintain the highest standard of coaching throughout the company. In her 1:1 work, she loves digging deep to identify barriers with her clients and creatively supporting them to reframe any negative thought patterns or beliefs in order to see their goals come to reality.

Liz Weissman

Director of Special Education and Transition Services (She/Her)
M.Ed.

Liz is a credentialed Special Education Teacher who earned her BA in Psychology at ASU, and Masters in Education at CSU Monterey Bay. She taught in a nonpublic school for 8 years, working primarily with transition-aged students with autism, ADHD, and other diagnoses.

Liz aims to empower students, families and educators with the knowledge needed to confidently navigate the transition to adulthood. Through providing independent transition assessments, in-service trainings for special educators, and more, Liz now works closely with families and school districts to ensure high school students and young adults have access to the services, instruction and support they need to thrive in and beyond high school. Liz cares deeply for every client she serves, bringing compassion, expertise, and creativity into her work.

Contact Liz by clicking here

Keith Halperin

Corporate Coach and Employment Services (He/Him)

Keith Halperin has worked as a recruiter, sourcer, researcher, and consultant for highly diverse clients (from startups to Fortune 500 firms) throughout the San Francisco Bay Area since 1986.

He developed several roadmaps for recruiting best-practices and has co-created the field of Behavioral Recruiting (the application of Behavioral Economics, Cognitive Science, and Neuroscience to recruiting), and Generally Accepted Recruiting Practices (GARPs), and the Corporate Desirability Score (CDS).

He has been a featured panelist at recruiting conferences such as the annual conference of the Black Recruiters Network, the Technical Recruiters Society, the Recruiting Innovation Summit, #Tru Unconference, and an author and prolific contributor to ERE.net and Recruiting Blogs.

He is a board member of AASCEND– the Autism, Asperger, Coalition, for Education, Networking and Development), runs the weekly Monday Night Virtual Job Club, and is Co-host of the BAVC-award winning AASCEND-TV public-access television program.

He identifies as neuro-divergent: being both on the Autism Spectrum and with ADHD.

Contact Keith by clicking here

Jasmine Wong

ILS and Executive Functioning Coach (She/Her)

Jasmine graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with her B.A. in Gender studies. As a member of the UCLA Pre-Law Society, she enjoyed studying Disability Rights and Labor Law. Jasmine spent time as the Resident Advisor for the “Sustainable Living Learning Community” floor where she gained experience equipping college freshmen with the support, tools, and knowledge to thrive in their personal, social, academic, and career pursuits.

She has navigated through the complex systems of obtaining her own ADA accommodations throughout college and the workplace to succeed in reaching her goals. This experience drives her
passion to advocate for and assist others through this process to make life accessible.
In addition to her work at Evo Libri, Jasmine is a relief Veterinary Technician for urgent care and emergency hospitals around the Bay Area. Pursuing multiple passions is important to her in this dynamic world. She is a strong social justice advocate who is deeply passionate about serving the community, caring for animals, and protecting the environment.
During her free time, she enjoys spending time with her dog, hiking, yoga, traveling, and trying new cultural foods!

Contact Jasmine by clicking here

Ileana Gomez

Director of Mental Health Groups and Media (She/Her)
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (CA AMFT141808)

Silly, quirky, coffee addict, Halloween- and Disney-lover—these are a few things that describe Ileana.

Growing up in a traditional Mexican household with her four brothers, Ileana has always been a hard-working gal. Ileana is the first in her family to graduate from college, receiving a B.A. in Criminology with a concentration in Forensic Science and a minor in Psychology with an emphasis in Human Development, as well as received her dual Masters in Counseling and Forensic Psychology from Holy Names University.

Ileana was in the process of joining the S.J.P.D. as a detective until she chose a slight career change and is working as a Forensic Mental Health Specialist on top of her work with Evo Libri. After working with children and young adults for over 12 years as a teacher’s assistant in the Oakland and Fremont Unified High School Districts and being a peer mentor in college for incoming first-year students, she realized her love for working with our youth especially the neurodivergent community.

Contact Ileana by clicking here

Helen Vallaeys

Coaching and Therapy Services, MFT Trainee (She/Her, CA AMFT146819 / APCC16355)

Originally from Austria, Helen moved to the United States in 2009 after spending the better part of her college and early professional years working and studying across France, Belgium, Thailand, Ireland and Australia. The same curiosity that led her to explore the world also brought her to the field of counseling. After spending the first 15 years of her career in the corporate and non-profit fields, she decided to turn her curiosity about the human psychology into a profession. She has a Masters in Psychology from Harvard University and a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Palo Alto University.

At Evo Libri, Helen enjoys supporting and empowering neurodiverse individuals and their families. She believes in a strength-based approach to mental health that fosters acceptance and compassion and provides individuals with the support and tools they need to thrive.

In her free time, if she doesn’t have her nose in a non-fiction book about mental health, you’ll find her out and about with her three young children, enjoying a short hike with a friend, or being crafty with a hammer or needle in hand.

Contact Helen by clicking here

Cynthia Haartman

Intake and Case Management Coordinator (She/Her)
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (CA LMFT 53835)

Comedy movie junkie, lousy recipe-follower, and named “jump rope queen” in first grade! – in case any of that becomes relevant. Cynthia’s passion for helping others began at a young age and blossomed while earning her Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology at John F. Kennedy University. She has a background working individually with clients, in group settings, and in residential care. She also has a psychotherapy private practice and has trained her stubborn little pug, Taz, to work alongside her as a registered therapy dog.

When not working, she can be found with her pug at the dog park, grilling outside with her husband, in a yoga studio, or playing games with her family. She loves games; her grandfather taught her to play poker as soon as she could count and hold a hand of cards independently. And if all else fails, she will be watching old reruns of comedy sitcoms, on the couch, with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia Non-Dairy ice cream (that pesky dairy sensitivity!) We are happy to have her aboard!

Contact Cynthia by clicking here

Charlene Mahabali

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (She/Her, CA LMFT 84057)

Charlene is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT). She earned her masters degree in counseling psychology from Jfk and has been license since 2014. Her clinical experience ranges from inpatient settings, outpatient, community, mental health, school-based counseling, as well as seeing clients in private practice. She enjoys working with clients and working with them to achieve their goal.

Charlene‘s interest outside of work is spending time with her family, discovering new food, listening to music and traveling.

Contact Charlene by clicking here

Bhavita Patel

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (She/Her, CA LMFT 88800)

Cartoon fanatic, soccer mom of two, and Spelling Bee champ in second grade!

Bhavita (AKA “B”) earned her Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology at John F. Kennedy University. She initially started her career working with SARC clients, which broadened her understanding of the mind and her curiosity to dive deeper into therapy. She has experience in working with clients who are in crisis and need additional support and has a background working individually with clients, in groups, and both outpatient and inpatient
treatment. She currently works in an inpatient setting and looking forward to seeing clients thrive in their own environment.

When not working, she spends time with her family and kids playing games, cuddling on the couch watching movies, having tent nights with s’mores and trying to squeeze in a workout!

Contact Bhavita clicking here

Angelique Bagley

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT 37081) – Director of Therapy & Behavior Services (She/Her)

Angelique is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has extensive experience working with all different types of clients and specializes in working with children, adolescents, and young adults. Her experiences include working in school settings, private practice, agencies specializing in children and adolescents, and an outpatient hospital. She has also helped create the California licensing exams for marriage and family therapists for many years. She loves supervising the next generation of therapists. We are so happy to have such a dynamic and experienced therapist on the Evo Libri team!

Contact Angelique by clicking here

Andrew Arredondo

Administrative Assistant (He/Him)

It’s come full circle! Andrew Arredondo’s first introduction to Evo Libri was as a client in 2013, and now he is officially part of the team. Andrew is on the Autism spectrum and has spent several years working on his professional development while furthering his education and professional development at San Jose State University (SJSU).

While part of the San Jose State community, Andrew participated in Braven to facilitate his professional development and Generation of Aspirational Leaders (GOAL) to aid his leadership and communication skills. In addition to presenting on these programs, He has been called upon several times to give talks at SJSU classes about his experiences living with Autism and how it has informed his roles as a student and professional.

A life-long San Jose native, Andrew loves drinking plain sparkling water and is addicted to Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi. He prefers Diet Coke because it is not as sweet as Diet Pepsi.

Contact Andrew by clicking here.

Amber Jackson

Corporate and Employment Coach (She/Her)

Amber earned her undergraduate degree in 2010 at California State University East Bay, majoring in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. She has enjoyed working with children with neurodiversity in an elementary school and in-home setting as a behavioral interventionist for the past ten years. While she enjoys working with children, she enjoys working with adults, helping them find their way back to a happier lifestyle and nutrition through her Health Coaching practice. With a great love for coaching and assisting individuals in meeting their goals, we are delighted to have her as a part of our

Some examples of Amber’s great joys include: shopping for vintage clothing, reading, hosting holistic health coaching and CrossFit therapy, yoga, and daily walks.

Contact Amber by clicking here.

Jan Johnston

Tyler, MA (She/Her)

Founder and C.E.O., Business and Program Development; Career, Transitional, Executive Functioning Assessment & Counseling

Retreating from tech, Jan Johnston-Tyler earned her M.A. in Counseling from Santa Clara University in 2007 and founded Evo Libri Consulting, intending to bring services to those who typically don’t qualify for regional centers, but who still have barriers that stand in the way of success.

Drawing on her previous experience in Silicon Valley tech
(project management, technical communication and training, customer support), she has authored four books and her work appears in peer-reviewed journals. Jan also has written the vast majority of Evo Libri’s proprietary curricula and assessment tools.

With her extensive corporate experience, Jan brings energy, creativity, and vision to her work. As a counselor and coach, she brings practical and empathetic solutions to all her clients.
Finally, as the mother of two young adults with a variety of diagnoses, she knows firsthand what support can do for neurodivergent populations and how exceptional these people are. In her free time, Jan loves to cook, write, garden and spend time with her menagerie of cats, bunnies, chickens, and bees.

Contact Jan by clicking here

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PHP Presentation: LifeLaunch – Helping your young adult reach their full potential!

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