Meet Our Team

Anna holds a B.A. and M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology (San Jose State University). Anna now has 28 years of experience as a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist and has spent the majority of years in the public school setting. After retirement from the public schools, Anna missed the little ones. She yearned to work with children and their families in Early Intervention. She discovered that the children who made the most progress were the young children that had parent involvement. The home setting was the most functional setting and the younger the child the faster the progress. Anna has significant experience with a variety of speech and language needs, such as: early speech and language delay, cognitive delays, autism spectrum disorders, articulation and phonology, language disorders (semantics, syntax, morphology, pragmatics) and various genetic disabilities. She is compassionate about the families she works with and is grateful for the opportunity to work with this very special age group.

Brenna was born and raised in southern California, and earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Communicative Disorders at the University of Redlands. She has eight years of experience serving a wide variety of clients from toddlers to teens, first in public schools and then in the private practice setting. Brenna is trained in Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) in Gestalt Language Processors (GLPs) through Meaningful Speech, and is passionate about providing neurodiversity-affirming care. Off the clock, Brenna enjoys cooking and traveling with her husband and toddler-age daughter.

In 2004, Castara received her M.A. in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences from the University of Colorado-Boulder and began her career working as a Speech-Language Pathologist in the medical setting at Children’s Hospital Colorado. During her time at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Castara worked in the outpatient clinic, inpatient units, and in many of the specialty care clinics. Later, she became the Associate Clinical Manager of the Speech Department. In 2016, Castara and her family moved to sunny San Diego, where she began working at Rady Children’s Hospital as the site/clinical manager for the Oceanside and Escondido Developmental Services clinics. Since then, Castara has acquired years of experience working as a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist in a variety of settings (early intervention/in-home, school districts, private clinics, and preschools) with children of all ages and varying needs. She loves working directly with families and teaching children to become better communicators! During her free time, Castara enjoys relaxing on the beach, running/walking, and hanging out with her family.

Originally from Arizona, Dani obtained her B.S. in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences from the University of Arizona and her M.S. in Communication Disorders from Arizona State University. She has experience working with a variety of client populations and clinical settings including acute rehabilitation, pediatric neurological clinic, public school district, home health and early intervention settings. She enjoys all things related to the brain and has specific experience working with adults and children with neurodevelopmental differences. She has gained strong clinical experience and training in autism, receptive and expressive language disorders, articulation disorders, apraxia of speech, fluency and cognitive delays. Dani enjoys spending her time cooking, raising her two dogs with her fiance, going to the dog beach and exploring new places in San Diego.

Gina has been a speech-language pathologist since 1997. She has enjoyed serving children and families throughout San Diego County in outpatient clinics, educational settings, in a pediatric inpatient hospital, early intervention home visits, and in pediatric home healthcare. She has prior experience working in outpatient and inpatient settings at Rady Children’s Hospital & Health Center and Tri-City Medical Center. Gina has a special interest in early intervention and early childhood language. She was presented with the Award for Continuing Education (ACE) by ASHA’s Continuing Education Board in 1999 and 2019 in recognition of continued professional study. Gina has volunteered for ASHA’s S.T.E.P. “Student to Empowered Professional” Mentoring Program and Rady’s FACES for the future program. When not at home visits with children and families, you can find Gina enjoying being outdoors with family or friends, or learning a new recipe!

Gianna obtained her B.A in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences from San Diego State University and her M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology from Jacksonville University. After graduation, she moved back to sunny San Diego and began her career working with school-aged students. Gianna has worked with toddlers, adolescents, and adults across a variety of settings including outpatient, inpatient, public school, and telehealth. She has experience working with a variety of needs including but not limited to articulation/phonological disorders, ASD, language delays, fluency, and AAC. Gianna’s greatest joy is working with children and their families through coaching and direct intervention to make a difference. In her free time, Gianna enjoys hiking with her fiancé, picnics, and spending time at the beach.

Kelly graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Communication Science & Disorders from Queens College. She then went on to receive her master’s in Speech-Language Pathology at Molloy University.

Kelly is originally from New York but decided to move to San Diego in 2021. She has worked with a diverse population of patients with communication disorders including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, expressive and receptive language delays, social-pragmatic delays, childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), phonological disorders, and Spanish-English bilingual children with speech and language delays.

Kelly is an energetic and passionate SLP who loves working with kids and their families to reach their communication goals! In her free time, she enjoys staying active by working out and hiking as well as spending time at the beach.

Lauren graduated from the University of California, San Diego, with a B.A. in Sociocultural Anthropology. Subsequently, she graduated with a M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology from California State University, San Marcos. As a graduate student, Lauren had the opportunity to work in a variety of settings: an elementary school; the acute, rehabilitation, and transitional care units of a hospital; as well as adult and pediatric private outpatient clinics. After working in an acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital, Lauren pursued her passion for working with pediatric clients and their families. She loves to facilitate speech and language development within child-led, naturalistic play-based therapy sessions, with attention to the unique needs and interests of each child; as well as utilizing up-to-date, evidence-based practices to support therapy techniques and client progress. Lauren also loves opportunities to involve families and caregivers in therapy sessions, and throughout the entire therapy process. In her free time, Lauren practices yoga, Pilates, reads voraciously, loves spending time in nature, and with her family.

Mallory Zeller is a San Diego native, born and raised in Coronado California, where she now resides with her husband and two daughters. She attended Westmont College and played on the women’s soccer team there while obtaining her bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies. She later obtained her master’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Cal State Northridge. She is passionate about supporting the pediatric population and their families to promote functional and sustainable communication skills by using play-based, neuro-affirming practices. She has experience working with a variety of age groups in the school, hospital, and clinic-based setting and is a certified natural language acquisition clinician. If she’s not at work, you’ll likely find her at the beach with her family.

Originally from Minnesota, Marissa received her B.S. in Communication Sciences & Disorders from the University of North Dakota and her M.S. in Communication Sciences & Disorders from St. Cloud State University. She has experience working with kids of all ages across a variety of settings (public school, outpatient clinic, telehealth and in-home early intervention). Marissa loves working closely with families to empower caregivers with tools that foster communication across everyday routines. She has a passion for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), sensory integration and has been trained in Natural Language Acquisition Framework. She has clinical experience with but not limited to articulation/phonological disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Gestalt Language Processing (GLP), fluency disorders, apraxia of speech and mixed receptive/expressive language delays. Marissa enjoys spending her time taking care of her houseplants, cooking, spending time with her two cats and exploring new places.

Michelle received her B.A. in Psychology from California State University of Northridge and began her career working as a behavioral therapist (ABA) for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. During this time she realized her passion for teaching communication, which led her to go on to obtain her M.A. in Communicative Sciences and Disorders from California State University, San Marcos. Since then, Michelle has acquired years of experience working as a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist in a variety of settings (private clinic, in-home, and child development centers) with children of all ages and varying needs. She loves working directly with families and teaching children to become better communicators!

Natasha received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her M.S. in Communicative Disorders from California State University, Fresno. Born and raised in the Central Valley, Natasha decided to relocate here to sunny San Diego after graduate school. She started working at an elementary school as a speech language pathologist, and enjoyed supporting her students ages three to ten years of age. After working in the school setting for six years, Natasha decided to make the switch to early intervention. She has since been experiencing the joys of early intervention and working with her clients and families to empower them through both coaching and direct intervention. She enjoys finding new and different ways to functionally meet the needs of her clients. The best part of her job is being able to be a part of her clients’ growth and helping them to uncover the power and fulfillment that comes with experiencing their own self-expression.