Diana is Co-Executive Director of the Brooke Whitted Center (BWC) and the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School. She shares lead administration responsibilities for both programs. Diana joined the O-School in 1995 as a teacher and served as principal before being named to her current post. Before the O-School, she opened the Therapeutic Day School at Children’s Memorial. Diana also collaborated on a variety of learning disability diagnostic clinics, A.D.D. centers, and programs designed to meet the needs of gifted learners. Early in her career, she gained invaluable experience working as the teacher for the Children’s Unit at Chicago Lakeshore Hospital where she first learned about the concept of milieu. She has since devoted much of her career to ensuring that these core values remain at the center of the work at the O-School. Diana has facilitated meetings and presentations with numerous schools and school districts across the country.

Diana is a strong advocate on behalf of students and young adults with exceptional need. Diana is active on a variety of local, state and national legislative forums and often is called upon to join research and recommendation commissions that serve to advise on special education across the state.

Diana holds a doctorate in education, a post-graduate degree in educational leadership, a graduate degree in curriculum and instruction, and an undergraduate degree in elementary education from National Louis University. She maintains Professional Educator Licenses in general administration, special education, secondary education and elementary education.

Pete is Co-Executive Director of the BWC and the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, where he shares lead administration responsibilities for both facilities.

Pete has spent most of his professional career at the O-School and has broad experience in a variety of diverse therapeutic environments. He began with counselor positions at the O-School, which led to him being named Assistant Director for Residential Services. He was appointed to his current post in 2008.

During his clinical training, Pete worked at a large intermediate care facility for chronically mentally ill adults, at Cook County Jail as a therapist, and at a large state operated facility in New York City that cared for 2,000 mentally ill adults. Additionally, he worked in a private psychological testing services office as a psychometrician; a local hospital emergency room as the crisis intervention specialist; and an outpatient clinic as a therapist and early childhood intervention specialist. Pete currently teaches at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago as a lecturer.

Pete’s education and training is in clinical psychology. He holds a bachelor’s and earned his master’s at the University of Chicago, while working at the O-School. He earned his doctorate from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology.

Rachel is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) with a Master of Arts in Art Therapy from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has worked with individuals with significant mental illness for over nine years and specializes in working with those who have experienced trauma. Rachel has experience providing individual, family, and group therapy services. For the last five years, Rachel has provided supervision to Masters level clinicians and interns. In addition to her training as an art therapist, Rachel works from a strengths based, relational approach and demonstrates the flexibility and capability of utilizing mainstream therapeutic interventions such as CBT, TF-CBT, and motivational interviewing. As the Program Manager at The BWC, Rachel works with the transitional counselors and therapists to develop clinically appropriate services tailored to meet the individual needs of participants and the milieu.

Kelly, The Brooke Whitted Center’s Therapist, provides clinical leadership, develops and supports programming, and provides individual, group, and family therapy. Kelly collaborates with Transitional Counselors to promote a comprehensive and inclusive approach to supporting participants in reaching their goals. She meets with participants 1-2 times a week to help them process current and past challenges, develop coping strategies, and improve effective communication. Kelly uses expressive arts and other engaging strategies to build working relationships. 
 
Kelly began her career in a therapeutic day school before spending over 6 years working in community mental health as an outreach worker, clinical team leader, and expressive arts therapist. She worked with adults living with severe and persistent mental illness using a range of artistic modalities to support expression, emotional processing, skill building, social action, and relationship development. 
 
Kelly is a licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the state of Illinois and holds a Bachelor’s in Theatre from Butler University and a Master’s in Counseling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy from California Institute of Integral Studies.

Veronica is the BWC’s Administrative Assistant. She was a part-time substitute counselor at the O-School for three years before working for the Chicago Transit Authority. She returned to the O-School community in 2015 and assumed her current position.

Veronica holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and sciences with a major in sociology and a concentration in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.