Lottie’s professional and personal dreams came together in 2010, when she began offering equine-assisted psychotherapy and learning to a wide variety of clients. Her passion for the work has only increased as she’s continually witnessed people make tremendous progress in their confidence, relationship skills, and sense of empowerment after interacting with horses. She brings to her work deep beliefs in every person’s inner wisdom and ability to overcome challenges. Before offering equine-assisted services, Lottie spent years working with abused and neglected children and adolescents in a variety of settings. She received her Masters and Educational Specialist degrees in counseling psychology from James Madison University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. In addition to her role as executive director of Groundwork Ranch, she operates a private counseling practice where she helps people navigate difficult life transitions and reclaim their personal power. In her free time, Lottie enjoys playing Frisbee golf with her family, gardening, and taking care of her horses. 

Dave Wyner, M.A., LPC, NCC received his master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Regis University. He’s a National Certified Counselor, a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and a Certified Advanced Grief Counseling Specialist. Dave co-facilitates all of Groundwork Ranch’s programs and helps lead program development. In addition to his work at Groundwork Ranch, Dave has a private counseling practice, called A Path Forward Counseling, where he specializes in helping people navigate trauma and grief. He was also the human half of a certified pet therapy team. Until his dog’s retirement in 2019, they visited patients at a local hospital and strolled the concourses of Denver International Airport, helping make travelers, airline personnel, and airport employees smile. 

Lottie’s professional and personal dreams came together in 2010, when she began offering equine-assisted psychotherapy and learning to a wide variety of clients. Her passion for the work has only increased as she’s continually witnessed people make tremendous progress in their confidence, relationship skills, and sense of empowerment after interacting with horses. She brings to her work deep beliefs in every person’s inner wisdom and ability to overcome challenges. Before offering equine-assisted services, Lottie spent years working with abused and neglected children and adolescents in a variety of settings. She received her Masters and Educational Specialist degrees in counseling psychology from James Madison University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. In addition to her role as executive director of Groundwork Ranch, she operates a private counseling practice where she helps people navigate difficult life transitions and reclaim their personal power. In her free time, Lottie enjoys playing Frisbee golf with her family, gardening, and taking care of her horses. 

Lottie’s professional and personal dreams came together in 2010, when she began offering equine-assisted psychotherapy and learning to a wide variety of clients. Her passion for the work has only increased as she’s continually witnessed people make tremendous progress in their confidence, relationship skills, and sense of empowerment after interacting with horses. She brings to her work deep beliefs in every person’s inner wisdom and ability to overcome challenges. Before offering equine-assisted services, Lottie spent years working with abused and neglected children and adolescents in a variety of settings. She received her Masters and Educational Specialist degrees in counseling psychology from James Madison University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. In addition to her role as executive director of Groundwork Ranch, she operates a private counseling practice where she helps people navigate difficult life transitions and reclaim their personal power. In her free time, Lottie enjoys playing Frisbee golf with her family, gardening, and taking care of her horses. 

Dave Wyner, M.A., LPC, NCC received his master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Regis University. He’s a National Certified Counselor, a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and a Certified Advanced Grief Counseling Specialist. Dave co-facilitates all of Groundwork Ranch’s programs and helps lead program development. In addition to his work at Groundwork Ranch, Dave has a private counseling practice, called A Path Forward Counseling, where he specializes in helping people navigate trauma and grief. He was also the human half of a certified pet therapy team. Until his dog’s retirement in 2019, they visited patients at a local hospital and strolled the concourses of Denver International Airport, helping make travelers, airline personnel, and airport employees smile. 

Lottie’s professional and personal dreams came together in 2010, when she began offering equine-assisted psychotherapy and learning to a wide variety of clients. Her passion for the work has only increased as she’s continually witnessed people make tremendous progress in their confidence, relationship skills, and sense of empowerment after interacting with horses. She brings to her work deep beliefs in every person’s inner wisdom and ability to overcome challenges. Before offering equine-assisted services, Lottie spent years working with abused and neglected children and adolescents in a variety of settings. She received her Masters and Educational Specialist degrees in counseling psychology from James Madison University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. In addition to her role as executive director of Groundwork Ranch, she operates a private counseling practice where she helps people navigate difficult life transitions and reclaim their personal power. In her free time, Lottie enjoys playing Frisbee golf with her family, gardening, and taking care of her horses. 

Lottie’s professional and personal dreams came together in 2010, when she began offering equine-assisted psychotherapy and learning to a wide variety of clients. Her passion for the work has only increased as she’s continually witnessed people make tremendous progress in their confidence, relationship skills, and sense of empowerment after interacting with horses. She brings to her work deep beliefs in every person’s inner wisdom and ability to overcome challenges. Before offering equine-assisted services, Lottie spent years working with abused and neglected children and adolescents in a variety of settings. She received her Masters and Educational Specialist degrees in counseling psychology from James Madison University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. In addition to her role as executive director of Groundwork Ranch, she operates a private counseling practice where she helps people navigate difficult life transitions and reclaim their personal power. In her free time, Lottie enjoys playing Frisbee golf with her family, gardening, and taking care of her horses. 

Dave Wyner, M.A., LPC, NCC received his master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Regis University. He’s a National Certified Counselor, a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and a Certified Advanced Grief Counseling Specialist. Dave co-facilitates all of Groundwork Ranch’s programs and helps lead program development. In addition to his work at Groundwork Ranch, Dave has a private counseling practice, called A Path Forward Counseling, where he specializes in helping people navigate trauma and grief. He was also the human half of a certified pet therapy team. Until his dog’s retirement in 2019, they visited patients at a local hospital and strolled the concourses of Denver International Airport, helping make travelers, airline personnel, and airport employees smile. 

Hello! I'm Laura. I work with current and hopeful foster parents as they navigate licensing, working with the professional team, trauma-conscious parenting, connecting with (bio) families, and advocating for the kids in their care. My content also supports people who work with foster children on a day to day basis including workers, CASA advocates, teachers, daycare providers, and beyond.

Devin Sweat (she/her) is a Master of Social Work (MSW), Licensed Social Worker (LSW), and Licensed Addictions Counselor (LAC). She has worked in the substance use field for 15 years in a variety of settings and roles including residential treatment, a homeless youth shelter, withdrawal management, case management, integrated behavioral health, medication assisted treatment, grants management, and federal policy. She currently works at Aurora Mental Health and Recovery as the Clinical Manager of the withdrawal management program. Devin is passionate about serving the underserved and advocating for true person-centered care. 

Hello, I’m Kathy Ramirez, Family Time Supervisor for Adams County Dept. of Human Services. I’ve been a child welfare professional for 20 years and began my career with Adams County in 2006. I spent 8 years as a permanency caseworker, did a very brief stint as a family team meeting facilitator, was a permanency supervisor for 6 years and have been in my current role with family time for 4 years. I obtained my bachelor’s degree in social work from Colorado State University, my master’s degree in social work from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and am a licensed clinical social worker.

My passion for family time began during graduate school at UNLV, while completing my internship at Donna’s House Central. In my role as a visitation monitor, I supervised communal family time sessions with high-risk domestic violence offenders who were Court Ordered for supervised time with their children. Providing children with physically and emotionally safe space to experience time with their parents was incredibly rewarding and it promoted needed healing for the children we supervised.

Over the past 20 years, I’ve had a front row seat to watch how parent/child contact has evolved from passive supervised visitation to hands on, parent coaching and beyond. Through our current model, our intention is to help parents identify their child’s needs, recognize their own strengths, be willing to develop new skills and engage in treatment to address child protection concerns. We are highly aware that a parent’s level of engagement in family time can directly impact their participation and willingness for change in a case.

Amber Chiapetto is a foster care advocate, speaker, and creator who uses her lived experience to bring honesty, compassion, and accountability to conversations about foster care. After being returned to the foster care system as a teenager following a 12-year adoption, Amber began sharing her story online to give a voice to aged-out foster youth and push for meaningful foster care reform. What started as vulnerability turned into community — her platform has now reached over 800,000 followers.

Through raw storytelling and advocacy, Amber speaks openly about the realities of foster care, including hardship, neglect, and abuse, while also highlighting resilience and healing. Today, she is a two-time college graduate, a mother of three, a business owner, and a passionate partner to foster families who want to do better for the children in their care.

In partnership with Be The Source, Amber shares her story, answers difficult questions, and offers insight to help foster families create safer, more healing homes, so no child has to feel alone in the system.

Gracie moved from Wisconsin to Duluth to attend the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where she quickly fell in love with the city. At UMD, she earned bachelor’s degrees in both Biochemistry and Criminology. During her undergraduate career, she served on the Sexual Misconduct Hearing Committee, tutored in math and chemistry courses, was a teaching assistant for the criminology department, and completed an internship at First Witness. Throughout her time at UMD, Gracie focused on coursework in Psychopathy and Crime, Understanding Violence, Criminal Forensic Psychology, and Sociology of Gender. After graduation, Gracie continued her work with First Witness as the Operations Assistant.

Before working at First Witness, Gracie worked at a local residential addiction treatment facility, where she gained a passion for advocating for marginalized individuals who had experienced severe trauma in their lives. She also worked at afterschool programs in the area for three years, and spent her summers outside at camp, teaching kids how to paddle, climb, bike, and hike. These positions, combined with her education, fostered her love for working with children and families and strengthened her knowledge of how trauma affects children, adolescents, and adults.

In her free time, Gracie enjoys paddling up the North Shore, trying new coffee shops, going on long hikes, and watching even longer movies.