Beech Acres Parenting Center serves over 38,000 children and families each year.
MISSION
We combine science and compassion to deliver innovative solutions that equip adults to meet children’s needs and cultivate their strengths.
VISION
Imagine a world where every child’s natural strengths are nurtured, so they realize their endless potential.
OUR UNIQUE APPROACH
Natural Strength Parenting™ encourages adults to be intentional and mindful in their parenting and caring for children, while focusing on the child’s innate strengths. Building on their strengths will increase their confidence, self-esteem and resilience all which lead to a positive well-being.
COMPASSIONATE
SERVICE
COLLABORATIVE
TEAM CULTURE
HIGH-QUALITY
STANDARDS
DATA-INFORMED
INNOVATION
OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM
What brings you JOY at work?
Top Strength:
Love of Learning
LAURA MITCHELL
Chief Executive Officer
(She/Her)
“Hearing the successful stories of people whose lives we have changed in meaningful, positive, and lasting ways.”
Top Strength:
Honesty
BRITTANY SPEED
Chief Operating Officer
Chief Financial Officer
(She/Her)
“Working with compassionate and talented colleagues, leveraging our strengths together to support kids and families.”
Top Strength:
Sense of Meaning
Lisa Babb
Vice President of Thriving Families
(She/Her)
“I love hearing stories about families positively impacted by the work of our team at The Beech. All children, parents, and caregivers deserve the respect and support our team provides.”
Top Strength:
Kindness
Dr. Carrie Bunger
Vice President of Effective School Solutions
(She/Her)
“The ability to collaborate across sectors to make a true impact in the lives of families we serve.”
Top Strength:
Curiosity
Meghan Hensley, SHRM-SCP
Vice President of Talent & Culture
(She/Her)
“Supporting team members growth, fostering connections, and creating a positive culture where people feel valued, belonging and thrive brings me joy everyday.”
Top Strength:
Kindness
Jordan Huizenga
Vice President of Development
(He/Him)
“Learning why community members connect with our work and recognize the impact they make when they support Beech Acres.”
Top Strength:
Sense of Meaning
Shelly Baxter, MA LPCC-S
Director of Parent Connext® & Community Partners
(She/Her)
“Feeling supported by colleagues, appreciated for accomplishments and seeing the impact of our efforts on the lives of the families we serve.”
Top Strength:
Kindness
Sarah Breetz
Director of Risk Management & Quality Improvement
(She/Her)
“Solving challenges, enhancing processes, ensuring safety, and fostering teamwork and continuous improvement in risk management and quality.”
Top Strength:
Curiosity
Christy Burnett
Director of IT & Data
(She/Her)
“I appreciate the opportunity to work with so many wonderful, intelligent, and compassionate individuals.”
Top Strength:
Humor
Catherine Cosker
Director of Clinical Intervention
(She/Her)
“Finding solutions that improve the lives of children and families we serve.”
Top Strength:
Spirituality
Patty Frankland
Director of Accounting/Controller
(She/Her)
“Being able to do what I love with a wonderful team!”
Top Strength:
Sense of Meaning
Tayna Givens
Director, Finance & Operations
(She/Her)
“I derive great joy from work, because of the incredible colleagues I’ve met over the years and positive relationships that have entered my life.”
Top Strength:
Humor
Victoria Jamison
Director of Empowerment Services
(She/Her)
“Helping families overcome obstacles, fostering growth and making a meaningful impact in the community.”
Top Strength:
Fairness
Shalay Pitts
Director of Prevention Services for Effective School Solutions
(She/Her)
“Understanding and knowing the true value of family, friendship, and work life and overall well-being. I get joy knowing that these spaces need to be healthy to keep me healthy and grounded.”
Top Strength:
Honesty
Rebecca Ranford
Director, Foster Care & Adoption
(She/Her)
“My team.”
Top Strength:
Creativity
Janice Weiss
Director of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships
(She/Her)
“Watching my team flourish at work and my
family laugh together at home brings me
joy.”
Top Strength:
Fairness
Callie Welch
Director of Implementation and Impact
(She/Her)
“The ability to collaborate across sectors to make a true impact in the lives of families we serve.”
Board Chair
Vice Chair
Treasurer
Secretary
Board Members
Michael Beattie
Elaine Billmire, M.D.
Ashley Blevins
Terri Bunting
Michael Dantley
Jennifer L. Dougherty
J.R. Foster
Rogelle A. Hackworth
Britney Hamberg
Randy Hammann
Andy Holzhauser
Mireika Kobayashi
Laura Lewin
Shwetha Manoharan, D.O.
Chad D. Molley
Maggie Otero
Carlos Schemmel
Robert Shapiro, M.D.
Kristal Smith
Tracy Stillwell-Hoskins
Bob Welch
President & CEO
Laura Mitchell
Natural Strength Parenting™ is Beech Acres Parenting Center’s distinct approach to positive parenting. It integrates the concepts of being intentional, mindful, and strength-based to better help caring adults see and encourage children’s unique strengths so they can thrive. Research supports the benefits of these three practices in helping all people achieve their goals. Beech Acres is the first organization to recognize the power of combining them into one foundational approach.
THE THREE PILLARS OF NATURAL STRENGTH PRACTICES™
STRENGTH-BASED
Discover and develop your natural gifts to build confidence, enhance your capability, and create meaningful connections
INTENTIONAL
Envision the life you want to live, clarify your values, set realistic goals, and take actions that reflect those values to create a purposeful life
MINDFULNESS
Be present, fully engaged and accepting in the moment.
FINANCES & REPORTS
At Beech Acres Parenting Center, we believe in practicing fiscal responsibility and increasing financial resources through our endowment and our ongoing fundraising efforts. Careful consideration is given to allocation of these resources to achieve the greatest possible impact in our community.
Our History
1849
To provide loving care for hundreds of children left homeless after the cholera epidemic, the German Protestant Orphan Society opened their hearts and purses to build a residential home in Mt. Auburn, sowing family love stories for generations to come.
1900’s
By the 1940’s
the Orphan Feast, a love-filled community annual fundraising effort featuring the biggest parade in Cincinnati, netting annually over $50,000, attracting 80K visitors at its peak.
1948
A beautiful loving home takes root on a 60-acre farm in Anderson Township. Six cottages set around a grassy lawn encircled by stately beech trees, inspired both our new name and great hope for thousands of children to come.
Beech Acres became a licensed foster / kinship care and adoption provider, growing loving connections across Cincinnati. Our success is rooted in a network of care: critical training, 24-hour on-call support, and unique matching that ensures a loving fit for families and their placements.
2025
Whether we connect a child with their ideal foster or kinship home, help with their adoption into a forever family, or support a child reuniting with their bio parent, we grow lifetimes of love stories that shine light and hope into our collective futures.
It all starts with the children. Throughout our long history of uplifting children and parents, Beech Acres has served as a community partner for essential resources, parenting tools, and wrap-around care.
From our parent coaching programs through our new Inclusion Services Consultancy to our social emotional learning platform in schools, we leverage the science of character strengths to help every individual be their best self every day.
In our ever-changing times, we equip all children and families with the support they need to thrive — no matter their circumstance — so that each may reach their endless potential,
building a stronger future for us all.
1999
Beech Acres Parenting Center hosted the For the Love of Kids® parenting conference from 1999 to 2011, bringing the wisdom of national and local parenting experts to hundreds of parents looking to help their children thrive.
We seeded in-school innovations to help children build self-love and confidence: 1. Beyond the Classroom student mental health services, and 2. The Character Effect, a flexible SEL curriculum based on character strengths.
Parents support grew into core offerings: 1. The Parent Enrichment Program in partnership with Hamilton County Job & Family Services, and 2. Parent Connext®, 1:1 coaching to nurture loving family relationships despite everyday challenges.
Beech Acres moved back downtown to better serve our diverse community needs, establishing welcoming offices at Elsinore Place and re-focusing on Prevention services to sow loving connections for generations to come.
Currently serving over 38,000 individuals across Cincinnati…
We continue to nurture thousands of family love stories every day.
Beech Acres’ 2026 response to the growing mental health crisis utilizes an upstream approach to fortify universal prevention strategies for thousands of children, parents and caregivers in Greater Cincinnati.
Our vision of a “system transformed” reflects a community that equips every family with the support and protective factors to yield resilience for overcoming life’s challenges. We are rolling out innovative programs to meet evolving needs:
2024
We launched two inspiring events to serve the community: Love Grows Here Breakfast, highlighting stories of impact that inspire support, and For the Love of Kids Festival, where we took over Washington Square with a day of free family fun for kids of all ages.
WLWT
Sheree
Paolello with Kerry Brown
HANDLING
CONFLICT BETWEEN CHILDREN
“If you have more than one child in the home, you probably have had to deal with conflict between them…”
WLWT
Sheree
Paolello with Kerry Brown
LEADING
THE WAY
“We are almost one month into the new year, making it a good time to check in on our New Year’s Resolutions…”
MOVERS & MAKERS
“Beech Acres Parenting Center has received $1.1 million in two grants from the Millstone Fund to support wraparound services that promote mental wellness and improve the emotional well-being of local children and adults…”
WLWT
Ukraine Delegates Visit Beech Acres
HANDLING CONFLICT BETWEEN CHILDREN
“Beech Acres Parenting Center, in partnership with the Cincinnati Kharkiv Sister City Partnership, welcomed a Ukrainian delegation for an insightful panel discussion on supporting children, parents, and caregivers facing trauma.”
WLWT
“CINCINNATI — If you have more than one child in the home, you have probably had to deal with conflict between them…”
WLWT
“CINCINNATI —We are almost one month into the new year, making it a good time to check in on our New Year’s Resolutions…”
Movers & Makers Cincinnati
“Beech Acres Parenting Center has received $1.1 million in two grants from the Millstone Fund to support wraparound services that promote mental wellness and improve the emotional well-being of local children and adults…”
