Meet the heart of Tend Collective.
Grounded in empathy and fueled by continuous learning, we are here to guide, support, and inspire positive transformations in every organization we consult. We are guided by the saying, “how we do the work is the work we do.” We know that personal healing is nested within healthy organizations and only a healthy internal culture can create authentic community impact. We understand the power of personal growth and healing, community and organizational care, and we bring that wisdom to our work.
MEET OUR TEAM
Alison Cebulla, MPH
Founder, Consultant
Alison has a background in nonprofit management, grassroots organizing, volunteer management, 1:1 and group coaching, emotional intelligence, interpersonal trust and communication, and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) science education. She worked in the Fair Trade industry, which seeks to end violence against women through economic empowerment, from 2011-2013 and 2015-2017, trying out the tech industry in 2014. Concurrently she launched a health coaching business to help people develop emotion management skills for better health, teaching the popular Give Up Sugar for Good Program from 2017-2019.
Her work as a health coach led her to realize that Adverse Childhood Experiences are barriers to people attaining their health goals—the same realization the original researchers had when their weight loss intervention failed—leading them to ask deeper questions about childhood trauma and publish their findings in the landmark 1998 ACEs paper. This led Alison to go back to school for an MPH to work in trauma prevention.
She has worked professionally with trauma experts such as Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Dr. Gabor Maté, Dr. Ed Tronick, and more as the producer of live events at PACEs Connection (2019-2022).
She holds a BS in Conservation and Resource Studies from UC Berkeley (2009) and a Master’s in Public Health from Boston University (2019). She received her Health Coach Certification in 2014.
Alison runs the Kind Warrior blog and social media accounts to promote kind living that includes environmentalism, feminism, anti-racism, and systems of oppression literacy. She hosts the Latchkey Urchins & Friends podcast, which is in Season 3, that heals trauma with humor.
Alison has lived experience with severe mental illness, namely Major Depressive Disorder, and recovered from Substance Use Disorder 20 years ago. She’s especially passionate about implementing trauma-informed care in psychiatric and substance misuse rehabilitation programs and facilities. In 2014 she lost her cousin, who was a best friend, to substance misuse-related suicide and in 2022 she lost a beloved ex-partner to a fentanyl overdose.
”It’s not trauma-informed if it’s not informed by trauma survivors.” - Cissy White (1966-2023)
Bri Twombly, LMSW, IMH-E®
Consultant
Bri Twombly has worked in mental health, educational, government, and non-profit organizations providing consultation and training to create equity-centered trauma-informed systems. She has experience integrating research-supported equity-centered trauma-informed principles into organizational policies, employee recruitment and retention practices, and program evaluation.
As a licensed therapist and consultant, Bri has over ten years of specialized experience in the treatment of infant and early childhood trauma, toxic stress, and positive childhood experiences. She is trained in Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and Components for Enhancing Clinician Experience and Reducing Trauma (CE-CERT). She is endorsed by the Michigan Association of Infant Mental Health as an Infant Mental Health Specialist.
Bri is a certified Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Interface Master Trainer, Trauma Smart facilitator, and HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) facilitator. She has experience training on many topics including early childhood trauma, equity-centered trauma-informed care, positive childhood experiences, and employee retention. She has presented nationally and internationally: at the Zero to Three annual conference, the Michigan Association of Play Therapy conference, and the World Association of Infant Mental Health conference.
She holds a BA in History from the College of the Holy Cross and a Master’s in Clinical Social Work from the University of St. Thomas and St. Catherine University.
In her free time, Bri enjoys skiing with her family and watching hockey.
Dr. Donielle Prince
Advisor
Dr. Donielle Prince, PhD, has worked in both educational and mental health organizations offering expertise in research, policy analysis, and mental health education and training. Major projects have included managing program evaluations, developing learning collaboratives, and leading in-person and virtual (webinar-style) training series. Dr. Prince’s educational background developed her expertise around learning systems, counseling psychology, and the sociology of culture and race, earning her B.A. at Wellesley College (1995), her MS.Ed. at the University of Pennsylvania (1996), and her PhD at Stanford University (2006).
Dr. Prince’s professional experience includes skilled research and policy analysis focused on the social and cultural contexts of complex organizations and systems. In addition, Dr. Prince offers consulting to develop research-supported, innovative solutions to problems of organizational culture. With expertise rooted in learning, developmental, and psychological theory, as well as 30 years of application of these theories in practice and research, Dr. Prince can address organizational challenges such as cultivating and sustaining healthy interpersonal relationships, trauma-informed conflict management, and exploring the intersections of race, equity, and social justice in institutional and community work.
Marianne Avari, MPA, MS
Advisor
Marianne has worked in the public and nonprofit sectors for the majority of her career. In each of the positions she’s held, she noticed the same reoccurring problem: trauma-informed people-operations practices put in place in the workplace were antiquated or nonexistent.
In addition to her regular job duties, Marianne used her assessments of workplace cultures to volunteer to create employee engagement events, advocate on behalf of staff to update policies and procedures and facilitate healthy communication among departments and teams.
Marianne recognizes that many workplaces are not currently equipped to handle the ever-changing and different needs of a multi-generational workforce. It is through her organizational assessments and recommendations that gives rise to healthy and empathic satisfaction among leadership and staff.
Marianne graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She also holds dual Master's degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in Public Administration and Criminology.
In her free time, Marianne is a reality T.V. enthusiast and dog mama to her chihuahua, Squirrel.