Founder & CEO
Heather Young is a board certified behavior analyst (BCBA, #1-13-14211) and a certified PEERSⓇ provider trained by the Semel Institute at UCLA. Heather earned her Masters degree in Special Education at San Francisco State University. She has over 17 years experience working with people with autism of all ages, their families, team members, therapists, schools, and communities to provide meaningful change for her clients’ lives.
Heather is passionate about teaching, supporting, advocating, and building community for neurodiverse individuals and their families. She has witnessed and experienced the power that a safe and supportive group can hold. Teaching social skills in a group format has tremendous benefits, including social skills acquisition, shame reduction, confidence building, motivation, accountability from supportive peers, a sense of belonging, guidance, and feeling accepted and validated from people who are like you. In a world where we are increasingly isolated, being part of a community that understands you is invaluable. This is why she created S Groups.
In her spare time you can find Heather spending time with her husband and two daughters. She loves going on walks, yoga, attending concerts, and the beach. She resides in the Bay Area, California.
Senior Therapist
Katie James is a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) and a certified PEERSⓇ provider trained by the Semel Institute at UCLA. Katie earned her Bachelors degree in Recreational Therapy at Indiana University Bloomington. She has over 10 years of experience working with individuals of all ages with a wide range of disabilities. Katie’s career has mostly been focused on the intellectual and developmental disability population, which includes the autism community.
Katie has worked in a wide range of settings within the field- supported employment, special recreation, residential, day programming, adaptive sports and more. Throughout her career, the importance of learning appropriate social skills stood out to her as an area of the utmost importance and that’s where her passion lies. Katie is passionate about teaching social skills so her clients can not only be successful, but thrive in all aspects of their lives- friendships, dating, career, family and more.
In her spare time, Katie enjoys a variety of outdoor activities including hiking, camping, running and skiing. She also loves going to concerts and spending time with friends. She resides in Denver, Colorado.
Therapist
Hilary Wu is a certified PEERSⓇ provider trained by the Semel Institute at UCLA. She earned her Masters degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Autism Spectrum Disorders at Cal State Los Angeles. Hilary has over 10 years experience working with neurodivergent children. Previously, she was a special education teacher in a kindergarten through fifth grade classroom. She is currently pursuing her PhD in the Human Development and Psychology Division at UCLA. Her research focuses on mental health in autistic adults and the importance of collaborative approaches with families. Hilary is dedicated to helping neurodivergent children and adults thrive by supporting their mental health and empowering them to lead fulfilling lives. Her work is grounded in a strengths-based perspective and a commitment to neurodiversity-affirming practices. In her free time, Hilary enjoys spending time with her husband and their dog, playing video games, and going on walks. She is also an avid traveler and has explored many countries around the world.
Therapist
Lisa Hoang, LMSW, MSW, is a social worker with a bachelor and master’s degrees from the University of Kansas. She is also a certified PEERSⓇ provider. She has 3 years of experience working with neurodiverse individuals in non-profit and private practice settings. She practices with a trauma-informed, strengths based perspective, and utilizes interventions such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), motivational interviewing, and solutions-focused therapy. In her free time, Lisa loves spending time with her household full of animals (4 dogs and a cat) and caring for her house plants. She also loves getting lost inside of a good book or video game, particularly if the genre is fantasy or romantic comedy.
Therapist
Maureen Wargo is a certified PEERSⓇ provider trained by the Semel Institute at UCLA. She has a Master of Science in Psychology with a concentration in Applied Behavior Analysis. Maureen is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with over 8 years of experience supporting children, teens, and adults with autism and related diagnoses.
She has advanced training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and is dedicated to helping clients build confidence, independence, and meaningful social connections. Maureen’s work emphasizes compassionate, family-centered care and integrates parent coaching to strengthen support beyond therapy sessions.
In addition to her professional experience, Maureen brings the perspective of raising children on the autism spectrum, which deepens her understanding of the challenges families face. In her free time, she enjoys traveling in her RV, spending time with her family, and searching for agates along Lake Superior’s shoreline.
