2025 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Founder of Creative Studio and Adjunct Professor and Art Therapy Supervisor at Loyola Marymount University

Through her expressive arts programs, Nadia Paredes helps people connect with their inner creativity and empower their minds and souls. Nadia founded Nadia Paredes – Creative Studio, a bilingual resource for empowering, healing, and artistic inspiration. With expertise and training as an Art Therapist, Intuition Painting Facilitator, and Licensed Marital and Family Therapist, she creates programs for transformation, creativity, and art-making as a mindfulness practice. Nadia also works in corporate wellness as a speaker and workshop facilitator.

Owner of Creative Energy Art Therapy

Jacksonville, FL

Raquel Farrell-Kirk is a board-certified art therapist and program evaluator. She has over 20 years of experience providing art therapy in hospitals, schools, museums, and community programs and was the lead therapist for The Power of Art, a Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded initiative that supported the community in the years following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting. Her clinical skills and community work led to her work as a program evaluator. She is passionate about using program evaluation, particularly art based and qualitative methods of inquiry, to help organizations and initiatives maximize their positive impact on individuals and communities.

Associate Adjunct Professor at The University of the Arts, Adjunct Faculty at Drexel University, and Director & Psychotherapist at Parent to Child and Therapy Associates

Philadelphia, PA

Assistant Clinical Professor and Director of Student Support at Counseling at Northwestern Graduate Program

Huntersville, North Carolina

Adjunct Professor at Mount Mary University and Adler Graduate School, Teaching Assistant at the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute, and Founder The Light of The Heart: A Community Art Therapy Project.

Aurora, IL

Art Therapist, Nemours Children’s Hospital

Orlando, FL

Licensed Professional Counselor and Art Therapist, Deep in the Art of Texas Therapy

Licensed Professional Art Therapist, Veterans One Stop

Hillsboro, TX

Rachel Mims is a U.S. Army Veteran, Board Certified Art Therapist, and License Professional Counselor Supervisor. Rachel graduated from Florida State University in 2014 and worked with veterans and their families in higher education, with non-profit organizations, and as part of the local mental health authority for 10 years. She currently works in private practice providing supervision to new therapists and individual services for women, LGTBQ+ Folx, and veterans who have experienced trauma, are neurodivergent, and/or have chronic health conditions.  Rachel also provides consultations for mental health professionals looking to open a private practice or transition to living in another country.

Adjunct Professor at Drexel University and Clinical Therapist

Paulsboro, NJ

LaToya Pegram is a board-certified art therapist, licensed professional art therapist, and licensed professional counselor who believes in living a life dedicated to William James’s words; “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” Pegram has over 15 years of experience providing art therapy and counseling services in schools, non-profit organizations and higher education institutions. Pegram dedicates her life’s work to teaching, mentoring young adults, and supporting inner-city youth. Currently Pegram applies her clinical skills in a private practice setting, providing individual, couples, and family therapy.

Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Caldwell University, Owner of Empowered Hearts Therapy, LLC.

Hackettstown, NJ