Nurturing Change CEO

---

Amanda Herron is the CEO of Nurturing Change. She has spent her 25 year career serving children and families, initially by creating, revamping, and directing family ministry programs, then later entering the field of child welfare. Amanda began her service in child welfare as a foster parent recruiter and foster home developer. Later, she worked as an apprentice at a Residential Treatment Center, where she developed her skills in TBRI®, then was hired to train and coach foster and adoptive parents and schoolteachers in TBRI®. Amanda later served as the Director of Social Services for a children's home.

Amanda holds a Masters in Social Work degree from Texas State University, a Masters of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary, and a Bachelors in Social Work from Asbury University. She earned a Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from Austin Community College, is a TBRI® Practitioner and Educator, and a Licensed Master Social Worker.

In her spare time, Amanda enjoys hiking to waterfalls in the Blue Ridge Mountains, hosting dinner parties with friends, decorating for the holidays, and playing with her two cats, Katie Grace and Special Agent Jack Meower.

James Fogal is a personal financial planner with an emphasis upon comprehensive financial planning, and charitable gift planning. James has been connected to the nonprofit sector professionally since 1994.  

He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Asbury University, a Master of Arts degree from Indiana University in Philanthropic Studies, a Master of Arts degree in Theological Studies as well as a Master of Divinity degree in chaplaincy from Liberty University’s Rawlings School of Divinity, and he is a PhD candidate in Education at Auburn University.  James has been a chaplain with multiple organizations and has been a leader in Critical Incident Stress Management. He has been a paramedic in Georgia and Alabama for 25 years and currently teaches healthcare classes at a high school. He also teaches CPR/first aid and wilderness advanced first aid training to groups throughout Alabama and Georgia. He and his wife have two sons and three kittens. 

Christina has over 15 years experience working in child welfare in both nonprofit and public service settings and received her Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW) from The University of Texas in 2020. She is a Licensed Master Social Worker and a Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Practitioner. Christina worked as a Program Director for a residential facility that served children, youth, and families, worked at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services - CPS as a case worker, and as a hotline advocate for survivors of domestic violence/sexual assault/trafficking/child abuse.

Christina's strengths include crisis counseling, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, grief and loss counseling, and utilizing trauma informed care practices for youth and families.  As a board member of Nurturing Change, Christina shares her excellent leadership skills, administrative skills with non-profit budgets and supervision, professional networking and public speaking.  

Christina enjoys spending time with her partner, Raymond, their children, family, and friends.  In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors, camping, and going for walks with her pet dog, Amor!  She loves traveling and the adventure of visiting new places both within the US and internationally.   

Amanda has 15 years of experience working with teens who have experienced trauma and other adverse childhood experiences. She began her career working for a non-profit residential treatment center serving teens who were aging of of foster care. This is where she was introduced to TBRI® and earned her Master of Arts in Professional Counseling through Texas State University. Amanda interned and was hired on at a Juvenile Justice department where she brought her passion for TBRI®  to Juvenile Services, taking their trauma-informed approach to the next level by providing practical interventions for staff and families to use. Amanda is now a Licensed Professional Counselor and a TBRI® Practitioner and Mentor. 

Amanda is now on her 4th implementation journey as Deputy Director of Behavioral Health in a Juvenile setting. Amanda has experience training TBRI® skills to staff, parents, and kids from hard places in various settings including Juvenile Detention, Court, Residential Treatment, Probation, and the Juvenile Justice Alternative Learning Program, and has collaborated with other juvenile justice professionals on their implementation journey. Amanda is a self- proclaimed TBRI® nerd (you should see her costumes), and enjoys finding creative ways to share TBRI® within her department, the Juvenile Justice Setting, and the community as a whole.

In her spare time, Amanda enjoys spending quality time with her family, being

outdoors, watching live music, and crafting. She also recently moved from Austin to the country where she is enjoying small town life and raising show cows and chickens.