"Hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it. Hope is the belief that destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by the men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be."

President Barack Obama

Ron Strong

MSW, MPH, LCSW, ACSW

Mr. Strong has Master's degrees in social work and public health from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also pursued doctoral studies at the University of Chicago (ABD). Mr. Strong is a licensed clinical social worker and holds a professional educator’s license, Type 73, in the area of school social work.

Mr. Strong has 40 years of post-graduate social work experience in areas including outpatient mental health, school-based health services, residential care administration, police social work (direct service and administration) including work with gangs and police involved youth, and extensive background in therapeutic school-based programs.

He has developed school and community-based mentoring and other preventive intervention programs. His areas of expertise include working with at-risk students and families, developing preventive community-based programs and building strong and collaborative relationships with parents and families.

Together, Mr. Strong and Dr. Baechle have worked collaboratively for over 20 years providing family therapy services and developing and administering a school-based mentoring program in a therapeutic day school setting. They share a passion for helping at-risk youth and families, using a trauma-informed approach, and for developing preventive intervention programs to build hope and resilience in complex family systems.

Cathy Baechle

MSEd, NCSP, PhD

Dr. Baechle began her career as an Educational Diagnostician at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1864, Gallaudet has become a global leader in education and research for deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.

After a 7 year tenure at Gallaudet, Dr. Baechle earned a doctorate in school psychology then worked for 23 years as a therapist in a therapeutic day school on Chicago’s North Shore.

Dr. Baechle’s experience as a school psychologist includes working with at-risk students and families; individual, group and family therapy; developing and administering mentoring and family therapy programs; psychological assessment and intervention; and building strong collaborative partnerships with colleagues, students, parents, families and school district leaders.

Dr. Baechle also holds bachelor's and master’s degrees in Special Education, concentrated in the areas of Deaf Education, Learning Disabilities and Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities. She earned her Ph.D. in School Psychology at Illinois State University. Dr. Baechle is a licensed school psychologist, holds a Type 73 professional educator’s license, and has national certification as a school psychologist.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

American Psychological Association (APA)

Illinois School Psychologist Association (ISPA)

National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)

National Association of Social Workers (NASW)

Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP)

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