Dr. Sara Pollard, ABPP, is a board certified Couple and Family Psychologist. She completed a postdoctoral psychology fellowship with the Georgia Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (GCTSI), an NCTSN Category III center and collaboration between Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University School of Medicine. She is certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and is a Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) International Certified Therapist and Level 1 Trainer. Dr. Pollard provides therapy, testing, and integrated primary care services for children in foster care at Children's Health in Dallas and supervises a postdoc fellow. She is especially interested in projects related to integrated care, child welfare, STS, EC/DD, RPC/parent training, and cultural and systems issues.

Our Lotus Project will provide workshops, webinars, and consultation regarding trauma-informed care and prevention for Asian and Pacific Islander (API) children and families in the U.S. In collaboration with the Professional Advisory Board and Community Advisory Board members, we will address culturally competent trauma-informed care and prevention for API children and families through our project website and the national networks of service providers and public officers.

Puerto Rican Family Institute (PRFI) has opened the Children and Adolescent Trauma Center to provide trauma-informed services to Latin children ages 2 to 21, their families, and communities. Our clinicians are trained in the evidence-based practices, TF-CBT, embedding the principles of a trauma-informed organization in PRFI and offering community trauma education, consultation, and referral information to a diverse range of partners. The geographic catchment area is comprised of three New York City boroughs: Manhattan, Bronx, and Brooklyn, where PRFI maintains clinics and where we have strong current partnerships with schools and community-based organizations. Emotional trauma is one of the most unrecognized, undiagnosed, and untreated forms of trauma. Puerto Rican Family Institute proposes to help change that by enhancing our clinical expertise, leveraging the trust PRFI has established in the NYC Latin communities, and relying on the reputation we have for high-quality, culturally-informed services among our partners – medical organizations, schools, community coalitions, and other community organizations. We will provide education to understand a trauma-informed framework and perspective and prioritize practical and applied strategies that have immediate benefits for the well-being and healing of traumatized children, families, and staff who work with traumatized populations.

Megan Ragan is a Licensed Social Worker with over 10 years experience in rural child-serving systems. Megan is considered a trauma specialist by those in her professional community; and she has accrued over 250 hours of training on subjects related to childhood trauma, trauma-informed care and secondary traumatic stress. Since 2020, Megan has been leading the Illinois branch of the Centerstone Trauma, Training and Treatment program. During this time, she has provided numerous community and organizational trainings on subjects related to trauma as well as facilitated the creation and development of the clinical program which currently provides evidence-based trauma therapy to over 200 local children. Most notably, Megan has been afforded the opportunity to increase trauma awareness through educational and positive messaging using multiple mediums including television, radio, and print. Megan is a trained clinician with formal training and experience in multiple evidence-based practices including TF-CBT, EMDR, CPP, and PCIT. In July 2022, Megan resigned from her position at Centerstone and is currently employed by The Stress and Trauma Treatment Center in Eldorado, IL, as an associate on a HRSA grant focused on addressing Southern Illinois' rural opioid crisis. In this position, Megan collaborates with community partners to exam the intersection of trauma and substance misuse for the purpose of increasing preventative measures as well as developing the current systems and supports already in place.