Part owner of Hopeful Beginnings with husband, Greg, Nicole Nickles is the company’s CFO and Officer Manager. She manages all of the client files and employee files. Along with her team, Nicole makes sure that the highest possible quality is achieved. She is in charge of making sure all billing is completed, and the needs of the company’s staff are taken care of. Prior to Hopeful Beginnings, Nicole taught 4th grade in Granite School District for 10 years. She also worked with an educational software company where she had the opportunity to travel throughout the Western United States and work with teachers. After the Nickles’ third child was born, she opted to stay home to raise the children, in addition to her responsibilities at Hopeful Beginnings. “I am so grateful for my husband and his desire to work with the community and his vision he had when starting up Hopeful Beginnings. I love coming to work and being able to work side by side with my husband, and the wonderful staff we have here at Hopeful Beginnings. I get excited to share with those I meet about the many services we are able to provide, along with our wonderful team coming out to the homes of those we help to better serve them.”

Amy Firth grew up in Bountiful, Utah. She graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor Degree in Psychology before attending Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus, where in 2005 she received a Master of Arts in Psychology. Amy returned home and began to search for employment opportunities that matched her desire to help others. In an effort to work more directly with her clients, Amy returned to school at the University of Utah and in 2008 received a Master of Social Work Degree. Since then she has been working with children and families to promote hope, healing and resiliency. In her spare time Amy enjoys traveling, hiking and spending time with friends and family, especially her dog Diesel and son.

Tamra Parko has lived the majority of her life in the Salt Lake area, with several years during childhood in Kansas City (Go Chiefs)! She has been doing social work since 2002 when she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioral Science from Utah Valley State College. In 2014, she decided to pursue her Master’s Degree in Social Work which was completed in 2017. Tamra was part of Hopeful Beginnings since before the doors actually opened. She has loved to witness the immense growth and the way the community embraced us and our In-Home Model. Tamra loves to provide therapy to all populations, but especially loves children. She is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) as well as play therapy, sand tray therapy, and trauma therapy.

Tamra is married with 2 children who are growing like weeds. She loves the beach, warm weather, and traveling with her family. Her favorite saying is “Be the Change You Want to See in the World.”

Susiane Manning earned her MSW from the University of Utah. She has worked in a variety of settings (including health technology startup, outpatient clinic, in-home services, crisis services, inpatient evaluations, community-based, etc.) with diverse populations (adults, children, and families). She also has an active clinical license in 8 states. Susiane has worked for Hopeful Beginnings for 7 years and is committed to providing client-centered and strength-based care to educate, empower and improve health and wellness.

Tyler earned his Masters of Social Work at Utah State University. He started his social work career over 20 years ago assisting vulnerable populations facing challenges related to sexual abuse. Since then he has had experience serving our community in several different areas, while advocating for social justice. Tyler has a passion for empowering and assisting others. He loves being a part of people’s lives, watching them grow and achieve what they thought was not possible. When Tyler is not working he's enjoying the time spent with his wife, family, friends, and his 4 little kids. He also enjoys the outdoors and anything to do with sports. He is a huge baseball fan and spends most of the time on the sidelines coaching.

David Koldewyn went to the University of Utah where he earned is MSW in 1995. He has spent the majority of his Social Work career working with children and adolescents in day treatment settings. He finds fulfillment in seeing the growth clients make when they learn new skills and address and overcome past traumas. Dave enjoys working with an incredibly talented, knowledgeable, and committed day treatment team. In his personal life, Dave enjoys being outdoors whether hiking, trail running, mountain biking, or snowshoeing. Dave has lived in Utah for the majority of his life. He has three amazing daughters, and one dog - that likes him sometimes. Dave's personal belief is that we are all doing the best we can and that we can do better when we know better.

Susan moved from Alaska to Utah in 1993 to pursue her Master of Social Work degree at The University of Utah. For 16 years, Susan worked in Salt Lake County as a school based therapist with at risk and underserved youth and families. Susan has extensive experience providing clinical care to youth and families who experience trauma, anxiety, depression, and behavioral dysregulation. Susan recognizes that youth and their families can experience improved social, emotional, and academic success by engaging with a continuum of natural and community based supports. Susan is passionate about serving youth in their neighborhood school settings, as schools provide a natural setting to engage collaborative prevention, intervention, health, and wellness supports.

In her free time, Susan enjoys being active in the outdoors with her kids and dogs.

Joseph Yau is board certified in Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. At one point he worked in Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine. Thirty years ago, he decided to switch to psychiatry since he enjoyed working with people and their families, adults and children alike. In psychiatric work, he learned that we were are beings of our upbringing and our surroundings. Many things decide how we choose, how we enjoy and deal with adversities.

Joseph says, “Often in my working, I am rightfully asked which medications would help with the symptoms. I am glad that I can be of help. I would like all my clients reflect on what is adding to their stress emotionally. That in fact may help even more.”

Courtney was born and raised in Sandy, Utah. She earned a scholarship to play division 1 soccer at the Utah Valley University where she attended for undergrad. She then received a Master's degree in Social Work through the University of Utah. Courtney has wanted to work in the social work field for as long as she could remember. Both of her parents have social work degrees she was lucky enough to have role models who value service, compassion, and kindness. Courtney says “My parents have been amazing examples to me and have taught me cherished lessons that I hope to bring to my own practice.”

Ian Schiffman earned his Master's Degree in Social Work at The University of Utah. He is a therapist and therapeutic tabletop group leader. He developed two therapeutic groups utilizing tabletop role-playing games to promote social skills, frustration tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness and cognitive flexibility for children and adolescents. Ian is passionate about working with neurodiverse populations such as those on the Autism spectrum. He enjoys gaming, comics and snuggling with his hedgehog, Bertrand Danger Snufflebottom.

Growing up in the military Jordan has lived all over but has always called Utah home. He received his Bachelors in Social Work from the University of Utah. Jordan is married and has 3 children, 2 boys and a daughter. Besides keeping his family active in sports and other activities, Jordan is a Stephen King fanatic and loves board games. In 2012 he received the Division of Child & Family Services Salt Lake Valley Region Caseworker of the Year. While growing up in the military Jordan spent a few years in Kansas making him love the Kansas City Chiefs.

Before becoming a counselor, Kristine taught as an elementary teacher and realized how much she loved working with students one on one. She wanted to spend more than 5-10 minutes helping children and adolescents.

Kristine says “I am a country girl through and through with my love of the outdoors and country music. If you don’t find me outside, I am typically reading, enjoying the arts, doing a craft, watching the Flash, or planning my next world adventure.”

Amy is currently attending University of Utah majoring in Social Work. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Amy has a passion for volunteer work also, she is currently active in several roles at the University of Utah’s Bennion Center. In her free time she enjoys snowboarding, volunteering, eating sushi, drinking coffee, and spending time with her three dogs.

Margene started her career working with DCFS and did everything from CPS investigations, foster care worker, and even had 1 ½ years working in an adoption’s unit. While working at DCFS Margene went back to school and received her Masters in Counseling degree from University of Phoenix. She worked for Valley Mental Health for 10 ½ years where she worked with adolescents in residential units for substance abuse, day treatment programs, one that was specific to Autism Spectrum and Low Functioning adolescents, and also worked with Sex Specific Treatment children’s outpatient unit. Margene has been with Hopeful Beginnings for almost 7 years working with all ages, just recently as Timely Access for DCFS Medicaid clients. She has specialized in Trauma, EMDR, Sand Tray and Attachment Therapy. Margene has been a singer in several choirs, along with her husband, they spent 27 years singing and touring, which gave us the opportunity to go to many different states as well as Russia and Armenia. Margene and her husband have four children, their oldest has Cerebral Palsy and is totally disabled, he lives at home with us and is joy of our life. Their second son has four children, and she says "Being a Grandmother is my favorite job ever. I will probably never totally retire because I love what I do but I will be semi-retired in June to spend more time at home with family, especially my grandkids.”

Pilar is bilingual from South America-Peru. She graduated from the University of Utah with a double Masters Degree in Mental Health and Child Well-Being. Her areas of expertise include advocacy for children and their families, parenting, homeless people, LGBTs, the elderly population, and domestic violence. Pilar believes that every person, regardless of their age, sex or race, deserves to be valued and respected and each tool that is offered helps to make healthy decisions, be happy, successful, increase Self Awareness, Self Dignity, and Self Accountability. She is expecting her first grandchild soon and is beyond happy!

Alyssa has a Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Gonzaga University. She is certified in TF-CBT; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy. When Alyssa isn’t working you can find her hiking, backpacking, skiing, and exploring Utah's natural beauty with her husband.