Lia has over 20 years of diversified experience in the fields of Human Services, Information Technology, and Higher Education, including program planning and oversight, counseling, organizational development, adjunct faculty and systems consulting. Lia received their MA in Counseling Psychology from Rosemont College and their BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Lia has directed a variety of substance abuse treatment programs throughout the Philadelphia and South Florida regions encompassing diverse populations including members of the LGBTQIA+ community, mothers with children, chronically homeless men and women, adults with co-occurring mental health disorders, diversion programs for criminal justice involved men and the formerly incarcerated. She has worked with clients along the entire continuum of care including outpatient, halfway, residential, and inpatient settings. She is a former board member and grant writer for a grassroots non-profit organization designed to assist women with community reintegration after incarceration through individual counseling and job training. Lia’s proudest achievement thus far in her career was the development and opening of the first inpatient substance abuse treatment program exclusively for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals in the country. Through this groundbreaking program, not only were program participants able to get appropriate and affirming care, but for many who were homeless upon admission they were placed in permanent independent living upon program completion.

In addition to her background in running treatment programs, Lia has experience following consumers along the continuum of care providing an array of aftercare services including co-founding a non-profit organization which promotes not only sober living but developing an array of life skills and employment skills that prepare client’s to become self-sufficient and are conducive to achieving and maintaining long-term sobriety. She has used her experience in Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania and as an Adjunct Professor in Rosemont College’s Graduate Program for Counseling Psychology to launch a consulting business which provides an array of recovery management services, but specializes in Clinical Training and Organizational Development with a special emphasis on helping programs assess their level of competency when it comes to providing clinically relevant and culturally affirming care to members of the LGBTQIA+ communities.