Staff

Maya Coleman, PhD

About Maya

Executive Director

Maya Coleman is the Executive Director of Hand in Hand Parenting and leads an international staff and cohort of 200+ Certified Instructors to share Hand in Hand’s unique approach with parents, caregivers, educators, and professionals worldwide.

For the previous decade, Maya worked as a Clinical Psychologist in private practice with families of young children who had challenging early experiences including preterm birth, early illness and medical treatment, developmental challenges, and caregiving disruptions. Maya also worked with preschool educators to bring Hand in Hand’s trauma-informed social-emotional learning strategies into their classrooms and programs.

Maya is also the Special Education Discipline Coordinator for the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program in the Center for Child and Human Development at Georgetown University, and she teaches in Georgetown’s Certificate Program in Early Intervention.

Maya lives in Washington, DC with her spouse Binny, their 18-year-old Moxie, and their 2 dogs Tricksy and Kai.

Executive Director

Emily Murray

About Emily

Program Director

I’m a mom to an 18-year-old and a 10-year-old and live in Southern Maine with my family. For the past 20+ years, I have been finding ways to bring transformational support to parents and families.

I actually began working in this field before I had children because I could see the impact that better support and more resources could have on a family. Ripples of this support flow out to the community and the world.

I began working as a birth and postpartum doula which led to founding and creating Birth Roots Center for Community Supported Parenting and the Facilitating Community facilitation style. Birth Roots is still going strong serving hundreds of families every year.

I found Hand in Hand when my oldest was a toddler. As is the case for so many parents, but especially shocking for me given my line of work, I found a surprising gap between the parent I wanted to be and the one that came out of my mouth in those early years. Turns out that knowing how you want to parent doesn’t automatically make that a reality.

With the tools I now teach to parents and professionals, I was able to close that gap and feel a whole lot more connected to my kids and way better about myself. I love this work - both supporting families and communities but also supporting the instructors who bring these tools out into the world.

In addition to being the Program Director at Hand in Hand and teaching classes, I love working on little craft projects. I knit, crochet, and sew (or any other craft my 10-year-old wants to try). I may have way more buttons than any one person should have but I just adore big jars of colorful buttons! My favorite project ever was a crocheted Baby Yoda that was a huge hit several holiday seasons ago. Or maybe the very realistic owl Halloween costume I made with my 10-year-old in 2023. Or maybe the adorable reversible fabric bags I use for knitting projects…how could I choose?!?

In another life, I would study epigenetics and bring new understanding about how we’re actually able to heal generations of people by using the Hand in Hand tools!

Thank you for finding your way here and supporting this work, too! It takes a really big team to make the cultural shift we need in this world!

Program Director

sareli beltrán

About Sareli

Operations Director

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sareli is from what is now known as California, grew up in (Ohlone) San Jose, and was born in Tongva land (Los Angeles). Their mother and grandmothers are from Ahuazotepec, Puebla. sareli recognizes their Mexica-Hnahnu descent and has begun to remember their original language one word at a time.

sareli is fortunate to be the parent of three phenomenal humans, who are growing up too fast and one by one entering or have entered adulthood. sareli currently lives on the lands of the Dakota and Lakota nations, in the city of Minot. sareli’s pronouns vary; use their name, sareli, when possible.

sareli’s roles within Hand In Hand are centered within operations. They are wrapping up their master’s in Disability Studies in Human Services and contemplating if they will pursue a PHD or pause their academic journey for now.

sareli has been of service to their communities for over 25 years.

In sareli’s free time, they offer anti-oppression trainings, traditional medicine workshops, or hold resource groups online.

Operations Director

Kathy Gordon

About Kathy

Parent Club Manager

Kathy is particularly interested in working with foster and adoptive parents, and parents of children with any type of special need, learning or behavior challenge. She offers the Parenting by Connection Starter Class in person in Los Angeles and on the phone. She works with parents individually and does trainings for educators and professionals who work with children. She is a gifted speaker and offers and introductory talks on Parenting by Connection, as well as specific topics such as Tantrum Training, Setting Limits, Listening Partnerships and Connecting with Your Teens. Her passion is practicing and teaching conscious child-raising by connection, in order that we may foster cooperation and peace in our families and the world.

Parent Club Manager

Michelle Kokel

About Michelle

Training Director

After earning a Ph.D. in molecular genetics and completing a postdoctoral fellowship in developmental neuroscience, my career in academic research took an unexpected turn after I became a parent.

I have been involved with Hand in Hand since 2008 when I first experienced the transformative power of the Listening Tools. I feel privileged to support parents as they take on the emotional work that helps untangle what gets in the way of building warm, close, connected relationships and strong support systems.

My areas of interest as an instructor and consultant include helping children heal from developmental trauma, supporting parents through emotional projects, working with anger/aggression, supporting children with learning differences, and sibling relationships. In addition, I often work with adoptive families, helping parents connect with children who have experienced disruptions in early attachment relationships.

As Training Director, I lead the Hand in Hand Training Intensive and Leadership Practicum, teaching and mentoring parents and Professionals as well as candidates working toward Hand in Hand Instructor Certification. I also provide continuing education for our Instructor Community and am involved in keeping Hand in Hand materials and curricula up to date and in line with the Hand in Hand theory of emotional functioning. It’s an ongoing pleasure to work closely with so many wonderful humans!

I’m a proud mom to my adult children and live in California with my husband Tom, our 19 year-old, and a very sweet dog.