Lisa von Geldern

Lisa is a parent trainee and the mother of a child with OCD, High Functioning Autism and Anxiety.  She comes to LEND with a small business/project management background in the graphic arts.  For more than 20 years she has worked collaboratively to ensure best project outcomes for clients such as Wells Fargo, Levi Strauss, eBay Motors, top commercial photographers and many others. Lisa likens her role to that of a translator, seeking to understand the project vision and offering best practices and cost-effective options while managing expectations and budgets.  She has over 25 years of experience in volunteering, with people suffering from alcohol and drug dependency, both at the individual and organizational level.

Lisa applied to ArizonaLEND as a result of a 25-week Social Skills Training program for her child at the UC Davis Mind Institute.  In that program, the relationships developed among the parents made her aware that her struggles and worries were shared by other mothers and fathers. The common desire to secure a healthy future and life for their children who are transitioning through the teen years and heading into young adulthood, the lack of a clear roadmap to do that, in part due to the variable expressions of ASD, and in part due to the social stigma attached to neurodevelopmental disorders, motivated her to learn more.  

The education and skill development offered by LEND has inspired her to seek a new direction to apply her talents and energy.  Improving life outcomes for ASD youth, and relieving (in some small way) parental fears of the future their children face, by helping grow more models of existing evidence-based programs and developing new ones, has become her passion.