OUR TEAM
Amy Schuman
Founder and
Movement Therapist
Amy has been working for over 35 years helping a variety of populations through the use of body awareness exercises and creative arts activities. Amy is a Somatic Movement Specialist, Pilates instructor, fitness trainer and Z Health Practitioner. Amy’s studies include an M.A. in Health Education with a major in Somatic Movement Education from John F. Kennedy University and a B.S. in Education with a major in Recreational Therapy from University of Georgia. Her studies include Somatic Experiencing, Feldenkrais and Thomas Hannah work, Franklin Method and she has an array of training in Trauma.
Her desire is to create a space for others to heal. She loves swimming, writing, hiking, dancing, creating art and being in the snow.
Angie Kavert
Director of Outreach & Administration
After 30 years of working with kids both in the childcare industry and the church setting, Angie joined the non-profit scene working with ARM of Care as the Director of Administration and Outreach. She is passionate about helping others and has volunteered in a variety of capacities serving her community. After residing in Walnut Creek for 24 years, Angie and her husband moved to South Reno. They are loving living in South Reno. Angie is the proud parent of two adult children, two grandsons and two granddaughters.
She loves spending time with family and friends and staying healthy and fit. During her spare time, you can find Angie hiking, camping, visiting wineries, music venues and basically anything outdoors.
Deborah Sharpe
Program Specialist
Deborah has been practicing art therapy for 35 years. She is a board-certified, registered art therapist. She has a Bachelors in Studio Art from UC Berkeley, a Maters in Art Therapy from New York University, and a Ph.D in Art Therapy Psychology from Dominican University of California.
Deborah brings a background in therapeutic work with clients of all ages, identities, and backgrounds, a passion for serving individuals and communities, and a commitment to nurturing the light that resides in all people by facilitating and supporting life-enhancing experiences that can be assessed through the expressive arts, mindfulness and meditation, breath work, and movement. Deborah teaches at Saint Mary’s College of California in the Counseling Department. As an art therapist and educator, she understands the importance of nurturing the next generation of change-makers.
Deborah and her spouse, Bill, have a beautiful son and daughter-in-law who bring endless joy to their lives. Deborah enjoys being creative and making art. She is nourished by nature and travel, loves cooking for family and friends, and practices meditation, yoga, and walking for self-care. Deborah thrives in working within and through community and deeply values the healing that comes from being deeply involved in service to others.
Rodrigo Caldera
Program Specialist
Rodrigo Xavier Caldera uses movement based expressive arts in order to provide opportunities for growth and transformation by accessing a part of the brain otherwise unavailable to the thinking mind. He obtained a MA in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Somatic Psychotherapy from California Institute of Integral Studies and a Tamalpa Practitioner Certificate from Tamalpa Institute. He holds a license as a Marriage and Family Therapist in CA and created Human Experience Psychotherapy, a private practice, offering psychotherapy services grounded in Somatics. He is committed to supporting groups and individuals who have experienced suffering and seek to gain insight, reparative experiences and increase a sense of personal empowerment through compassionate inquiry.
Rodrigo enjoys gathering with friends, exploring new local and foreign places, hiking, playing, and moving in nature, creating tasty and healthy meals, and making art as a painter, dancer, performer, and creative writer.
Melinda James Teutschel
Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist
Melinda has a BA in Dance from the University of Oregon. Through her business, The Smart Body, she works with a variety of populations and brings her breadth of experiences to our team. She is educated in: Bodymind Centering, Laban/Bartenief Movement Analysis, Contact Improvisation, Dynamic Embodiment. She has certifications in: Franklin Method, Pilates, Yoga, Moving for Life, Fitness Training, Holistic Life Coaching and Massage; and is a Registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist.
Melinda has been part of the ARM of Care team from the beginning. She believes that by integrating many unique and effective methods of somatic embodiment and body-mind fitness that others are empowered to make their own smart choices for wellbeing, movement and life. Melinda is a lover of music, dance, gardening, hiking, camping, biking and travelling.
Board of Directors
Steve Navarro
President
Steve is a graduate of Queens College of the City of New York with a major in Psychology. He has a NYC teacher’s license and attended the MBA program at St. John’s University. Steve began his career in banking in 1970 retiring in 2018. He worked in many aspects of banking and a number of foreign banking institutions including Bank Leumi, Creditanstalt, National Bank of Canada and ING. Most of his career was to develop relationships with a focus on business development and portfolio management. He has been a voting member of Credit and Loan Review Committees.
He comes to ARM of Care with a wealth of experience in business and strategy. He currently resides in NYC and has a daughter who is an Art Therapist that works for a non-profit providing shelter for battered families.
Kim Carroll
Vice President
Kim is a Certified Hospice Nurse with her Masters Degree, an Approved Educator for Hospice Care and End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC)Trainer. Kim has been in a variety of healthcare settings over the past 35 years, with a focus on education. For the last 14 years, she has had several roles with hospice care. Now retired, her primary focus is to empower families and medical professionals with knowledge and support, to care for loved ones at End of Life, be they extremely young or very old. Kim’s strengths include working with others to support new beginnings for the Bay Area’s most vulnerable, and providing education on trauma to ARM of Care’s practitioners.
Amy Schuman
Founders Chair & Movement Therapist
See Bio Above
TJ Burke
Advisor
T.J. started his professional career in software sales more than 20 years ago. The success he had with his relationship based approach to selling led him to an equally successful career in staffing. He is also a seasoned actor and musician, and started performing for audiences when he was 7 years old. T.J. is married with six children, (that is not a typo…four teens and two grade schoolers) and a noisy little pocket parrot.
Amy Hiett
Advisor
Amy Hiett works as an executive coach and consultant helping leaders to prioritize competing demands in their business and life while also building strategy across their organizations. She is passionate about human development and watching individuals and organizations achieve their goals and priorities.
Amy is pursuing a Master’s in Counseling at St. Mary’s College of California. She lives in Moraga, CA with her husband and two young adults. She enjoys travel, reading, volunteering in her community, and spending time with her family and friends. She’s thrilled to be part of the ARM of CARE Family.
Katie Lechner
Advisor
“If I were compelled to decide what the most important thing humans can do, it would be to listen.”
This notion of listening first has been the foundation of Katie’s Lechner’s 25+ year career. Katie’s career has been predominantly as an insight’s strategist in the business world within Retail Apparel and most recently technology. Prior to that Katie was a change management consultant, interned in a 4th grade ESL class at Seeds Elementary and was an event planner. Katie’s passion is to help and that has been the thread that links all of her careers and efforts in the not-for-profit space. Katie lives in Walnut Creek with her husband of 20+ years and has two awesome boys (okay young men). If she is not on Global Value Chain for work, you can find her working out, golfing, sailing, playing board games, or honestly napping! She is honored to be part of the ARM of CARE army.
