Leadership
Founder & Executive Director
Dr. Gordon is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 25 years of experience providing culturally-sensitive, specialized intervention to infants, young children and families who are at risk and/or have experienced trauma. She has a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and a Masters in Psychology and in Clinical Psychopharmacology. Dr. Gordon is a California-endorsed Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist, Certified Infant Massage Instructor by World Institute for Nurturing Communication (WINC) without borders, Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist, Certified Effective Black Parenting Instructor, Certified Make Parenting a Pleasure (MPAP) Parent Educator, and Advanced level provider of Developmental Individual Relationship (DIR) Floortime. Dr. Gordon has over 20 years of clinical supervision and consultation experience in both the public and private sector and has conducted numerous presentations, trainings, and workshops.
La Faune Gordon, Ph.D., M.S.
Sandra Cortes, MA, MFT Candidate
Volunteer
Mrs. Cortes has been dedicated to Children and Families, Inc. since the beginning. She has a Bachelor’s and Master's degree in Psychology and is a certified Infant Massage Instructor by WINC without Borders and MPAP Parent Educator. Mrs. Cortes is fluent in English and Spanish, is culturally aware, able to effectively communicate and connect well with our children and families, and is actively engaged with the community in need.
LaJoi Lewis, Psy.D.
Family and Community Care Specialist
LaJoi Lewis holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and has over 15 years of experience working with children of various developmental capacities. Dr. LaJoi is passionate about providing clinically sound and culturally sensitive interventions and psychoeducation to individuals and communities. Her experience managing teams of mental health clinicians reflects other areas of her professional interests: facilitating trainings, professional mentorship, and providing mental health consultative services.
A Snapshot of the 2022-2023 Cohort of Clinical Trainees
The Clinical Trainees come from various graduate programs throughout Southern California and Minnesota. The 2022-2023 Children and Families, Inc. cohort of clinical trainees come from Alliant International University, California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), St. Mary's University, and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
![Tal Aronoff School ID picture[64]_edited_edited.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/832bd7_cbafbdd869f54842b11888036ea1e91a~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_216,h_148,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/Tal%20Aronoff%20School%20ID%20picture%5B64%5D_edited_edited.jpg)
Mary "Ark" Arlauskas, M.A.
Clinical Trainee Chicago School of Professional Psychology (Psy.D. Program)
Tal Aronoff, B.A. Clinical Trainee Chicago School of Professional Psychology (Psy.D. Program)
Nancy Cardenas, B.A. Clinical Trainee California State University, Dominguez Hills (MFT Program)
Tameka Gibbs, B.A.
Clinical Trainee
Saint Mary's University (Master's Program)
Cassandra Gonzales, B.A.
Clinical Trainee Chicago School of Professional Psychology (Psy.D. Program)
Madison Grant, B.A. Volunteer Case Manager Santa Clara University
Rachel Jensen-Cole, B.S.
Clinical Trainee Alliant International University
(MFT Program)
Nichole Jimenez, B.A.
Clinical Trainee California State University, Dominguez Hills (MA Psychology)
Tom Whitlock, B.A.Clinical Trainee California State University, Dominguez Hills (MFT Program)