Board of Directors
Sarah Joseph, Hope Roots Board Chair & Founder
Sarah Joseph is a trauma therapist and the founder and board chair of Hope Roots. For over two decades, Sarah has been learning about nonviolence, spirituality, and psychology. In 2005, a lecture on ahimsa (nonviolence), ignited a fascination with yoga psychology which eventually led her to pursue further training to become a mental health professional.
She holds B.S. in Psychology and an M.A. in Counseling. She has spent over a decade of her adult life living in India and relocated to Northern Colorado in 2019. Her vision is to use trauma therapy to not only help survivors heal but also to disrupt the systems that perpetuate violence. She strongly believes that the best trauma therapy should be available to those who need it most and wants to see Hope Roots lead the way in creating better access to trauma therapy globally. She has two hilarious and creative children and loves growing plants inside and outside.
Clara Drew, Treasurer
Clara is a long-time advocate for destigmatization and open dialogue about mental health and the need for broader access to mental health care. She previously worked for a New York City-based non-profit for several years and with diplomats based in New York. She is excited to be able to put her experience and organizational skills to use to advance Hope Roots’ mission and work towards providing resources and care to those impacted by trauma.
She has an undergraduate degree from The New School and a Juris Doctorate from Fordham University. She currently works as an attorney for the New York City Department of Social Services and lives in Brooklyn with her cute husband and two equally cute cats.
Chitra Ramaswamy Jayakaran, Social Worker & Family Life Educator
Chitra envisions transforming cultures of violence into cultures of peace. Chitra is a trained social worker, specializing in Family & Child Welfare, with over twenty years of experience in holistic development work and leadership.
She completed her Master’s degree in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai - India. Her work experience includes peacebuilding and intercultural training, social empowerment of women facing injustice, public health awareness and community empowerment, teaching gender and social analysis, life skills curriculum for teens and women, writing and editing for a family magazine, being Health Improvement Practitioner with the NHS Gloucester (U.K.). She has worked in disaster management situations in Orissa and Gujarat (India). She is currently a teacher, trainer, and writer on intercultural engagement, family life education & peacebuilding.
Diana Houghton, Ph.D. (Candidate)
Diana is a registered psychotherapist and received her M.A. in Somatic Counseling with a concentration in Body Psychotherapy from Naropa University. She started her therapy career at the Veteran Administration Medical Center in Cheyenne, WY before opening her private practice working with domestic violence, childhood trauma, relationship issues, and life after combat.
Presently, Diana is a Ph.D. candidate of General Psychology at Grand Canyon University. She is interested in the role of education in alleviating the unknowns of our own psychology as we face our life events.