Learning Collaborative: Supporting Youth with Foster Experience and the Crisis Care Continuum

Meet the Presenters

Gibrán Méndez, LMFT is the Director of Quality Improvement at Stanford Sierra Youth & Families and an Adjunct Professor of Counseling Psychology at University of San Francisco. He is an experienced bilingual and bicultural therapist who has worked in community-based mental health settings serving youth and families. In his leadership role at Stanford Sierra Youth & Families, he provides oversight of all aspects of program quality improvement, evaluations and outcomes, and clinical practices. He is highly skilled at developing documentation standards and strategies to support staff in conceptualizing their services. Gibrán earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Spanish and a Master’s Degree in Psychology with emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy at California State University, Chico.

Sydney Bice is a Family and Youth Partnership Coordinator with Stanford Sierra Youth and Families and has worked as a mental health advocate for the last four years. She has navigated the mental health and kinship care systems and utilizes this lived experience to empower youth and elevate their voice and choice as they navigate services in mental health, foster care, and CSEC populations. She coordinates monthly virtual trainings to help build awareness of cultural humility, emotional self-awareness, and strength-based services for youth and families. Sydney draws on both her Bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Sciences and her lived experience navigating systems to drive her advocacy work for youth and families.

Christina Cagle has sixteen years of experience working in the youth and family provider field. In her lived experience as a mother and adult sister/caregiver, she has touched the child welfare, juvenile justice, and mental health systems. Her lived experience helps her train and support new resource parents in understanding the necessity of biological family’s reunification plans. With her Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Master’s in Social Work, Christina utilizes her educational background and lived experience while advocating for families in various systems of care. She is an established trainer of over eleven years in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention and American Red Cross.

Ebony Chambers, Chief Family and Youth Partnership Officer, has been with Stanford Sierra Youth and Families for over seventeen years, offering leadership within Peer and Mentor Advocacy programs, the Empowerment Training Center, and other community-based services. Ebony brings both personal and professional experience, having navigated multiple systems with her child. She brings that perspective to her role providing oversight, advocacy, and support to families in the Northern California regions. Ebony is also is an instructor for the UC Davis Center for Family Focused Practice and teaches courses focused on racial equity and inclusion. In addition, she worked with the National Council of Behavioral Health, addressing health disparities within her local community. In that role, she focused on eliminating barriers and increasing access for the LGBT community. Actively involved in the community, Ebony is a member the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Steering Committee and other community initiatives, ensuring family and youth voice is integrated at every system level.