Hi, I’m Antonia Barba (she/her), LCSW

I have been working in community mental health services for close to 20 years, across a broad range of roles and settings.

I have had the joy of working with many children, young people and families over the course of my life and career - beginning in my teens and early adulthood as a recreation counselor, mentor and performing arts educator; later on, as a volunteer HIV hotline and drop-in counselor; and most recently as a provider and advocate of trauma-informed treatment and care for adolescents, young adults and their families.

I come to this work humbly, passionately, with accountability practices in place, and with a commitment to ongoing learning, relationship building, and community care.

My career has afforded me the opportunity to be a mentor, advocate, teacher, therapist, trainer, curriculum developer, supervisor, group leader, program director, project manager, product developer, and innovator.

If we work together, it’s important to me that you know - I believe that mental health work is social justice work, is anti-racist work, is LGBTQ+ affirming work, and that any work we do in the service of others should center and validate folks who live at the intersection of marginalized identities and experiences. I hope you also have passions and values connected to this work and that we can learn from each other!

Get to Know Me

I am a cisgender and queer woman of mixed mestiza and white European ancestry, who holds light skin privilege. I was raised and grew up in a middle-class community in the Bay Area of California on the traditional lands of the Ohlone and Tamien people, and I currently reside and practice in the NYC metro area on the traditional lands of the Munsee Lenape and Wappinger people.

I share these aspects of my identity and experience because they are an important part of who I am and significantly impact how I move about the world. Reflecting on and knowing who I am, including where I hold privilege and power, where I experience marginalization, and the tensions existing between those spaces, is an important part of providing trauma-informed and culturally-affirming care.

I truly enjoy and am committed to collaborating with others to transform and expand spaces, services and programs to become more trauma-informed, inclusive and culturally-affirming. In fact, a lot of my life experiences to date have prepared me and led me to exactly this place.

Core Values

AREAS OF SPECIALITY

  • Supporting LGBTQ+ children, youth and their families.

  • Trauma-informed care with children, youth and families with a focus on LGBTQ+ youth, Transition Aged Youth (TAY), Youth and families impacted by child sex trafficking/CSEC.

  • Young Adult Peer Mentorship in Community Mental Health Settings.

  • Secondary Trauma Prevention and increasing self and community care.

OUR ADVISORY GROUP

  • Megan Clarke has 20 years of experience working to address and prevent trauma, end violence, and build equity. Her core purpose in this work is building toward a world where all children and adults are supported to live their fullest lives and be celebrated as their fullest selves.

    Megan currently works at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS), where she provides technical assistance about trauma-informed organizational practices and service provision, with a particular focus on anti-racism and LGBTQ+-affirming practice. Additionally, she is an Adjunct Faculty member in the Department of Public Health at Campbell University, where she teaches about trauma-informed and equity-centering public health, values-based organizational leadership, LGBTQ+-affirming care in rural communities, and violence prevention.

    Prior to her role at the NCCTS, Megan was the Director of Statewide Capacity at the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault, where she supported rape crisis centers across the state in movement building and developing organizational capacity.

    Megan has lived in NC for most of her life and currently lives in Durham, NC.

  • Tiffany Casanova is New York-based entertainment and media attorney, who has worked for Disney, CBS, Showtime and A&E Networks. Tiffany also creates original short form original content for children, including videos that help children explore creativity and how best to support the earth via eco-friendly projects.

  • Kalie Giovanni is a licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been specializing in caring for youth and families for over 15 years. She maintains a small private practice and consulting business, while holding a position as a Pediatric Social Worker within the Emerge Gender and Sexuality Clinic for Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults at Johns Hopkins. She received her Masters in Social Work from Boston University, with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Michigan State University. She completed her clinical social work internships with Fenway Health at the Sidney Borum Jr. Health Center and Boston GLASS at the Justice Resource Institute.


    Kalie’s clinical interests have focused on affirming care for the LGBTQIA+ community, with an emphasis on equitable care. Her practice is dedicated to examining attachment and communication patterns, identifying and naming rupture and repair work in relationships, and fortifying family systems. She prioritizes collaborating with community partners and providers to engage in best practices and ensure equity in access to care. Kalie has presented locally and nationally about affirming care for LGBTQIA+ youth, trans and gender diverse youth, treatments for trauma in children and families, and the intersection of LGBTQIA+ youth and caregivers within the child welfare system. Her interest in educating and collaborating has resulted in shared publications of screening tools and best practice guides, as well as webinars.


    Kalie is a Co-Chair of the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Expression Collaborative Group and Affiliate Member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. She is also a member of the National Association of Social Workers. She has previously served as the Family Focused Treatment Association Georgia Chapter Chair and the Vice President of the Georgia Association of Licensed Adoption Agencies. Outside of work, Kalie is typically caring for her own family and menagerie of pets. When she has a moment to sit, she enjoys a good sci-fi novel or paging through recipe books of meals she will never make.