MY STORY...

Long before the degrees, credentials, organizations, and professional titles, I was learning about people, family, resilience, and community simply by living.

My brother and I were raised by a single mother. A woman whose strength, love, and determination became an early example of what it means to keep moving forward even when life doesn't unfold neatly.

At 17 years old, I became a mother myself. Becoming a teenage mother changed the course of my life, but it did not determine the limits of it. I grew into adulthood while learning to parent, continuing my education, building a career, and discovering who I was and who I wanted to become. My path to family and partnership wasn't a straight one either. I found my life partner in my early thirties, after years of learning about love, relationships, independence, and myself; experiences that helped shape the woman I was becoming.

Those experiences shaped the way I see women today. I understand what it means to be growing yourself while simultaneously being responsible for the growth and well-being of others. I also know that where a woman begins does not have to determine where she ends.

That understanding has followed me throughout more than two decades of professional work. My behavioral health career has taken me into residential treatment centers, group homes, schools, family homes, professional offices, healthcare, and community spaces. I have served in direct care, counseling, supervision, program leadership, maternal health, education, and community-based roles, supporting children, adolescents, women, and families through many different seasons of life.

Every setting has reinforced one important lesson: before we can effectively support a person, we have to be willing to see the person, not simply the diagnosis, circumstance, or paperwork.

Over the years, I also learned that sometimes serving people means building what is missing. That belief led me to establish Tomaro's C.H.A.N.G.E., a nonprofit created to expand access to behavioral, emotional, and community-based support for children and families. Through that work, I have developed programs, led teams, supported families and emerging professionals, built community relationships, and continued looking for better ways to bring meaningful support closer to the people who need it.

My journey eventually expanded more intentionally into women's and maternal wellness through maternal health, holistic emotional wellness coaching, education, and birth and postpartum support. I hold particular care for women of African descent and for creating safe spaces where culture, lived experience, voice, and self-determination are recognized as essential parts of well-being.

My education includes bachelor's-level study in Psychology and Social Work, master's-level study in Counseling, and advanced graduate studies in Human Services. I am a Licensed Master Social Worker, board-certified Human Services Practitioner, and certified as a birth and postpartum doula.

But experience has been another teacher.

So has motherhood, family, community, leadership, entrepreneurship, disappointment, change, reinvention, and the people who have trusted me enough to allow me into important moments of their lives.

Today, I bring all of it with me, the professional and the personal, the education and the lived experience, the woman, mother, grandmother, wife, leader, advocate, entrepreneur, teacher, and lifelong learner.

At the center of it all is a simple belief: when people have knowledge, support, opportunity, and someone willing to truly see them, lives can change. And when women are strengthened, that change can travel through families, communities, and generations.

Being a resource, an advocate, and a consistent presence within the community is not simply what I do; it is who I am.

MY PHILOSOPHY...

My philosophy is grounded in empowerment, education, cultural awareness, and whole-person care.

I believe people deserve to feel seen, heard, respected, and supported, especially during moments of transition, uncertainty, and change. I also believe knowledge changes what becomes possible. When people understand their choices, recognize their strengths, and have access to meaningful support, they are better equipped to advocate for themselves and make decisions with confidence.

This belief is especially important in my work with women. Women so often carry the care, knowledge, traditions, and emotional weight of families and communities. Supporting a woman, therefore, has the potential to reach far beyond her.

Culture and lived experience matter. I remain mindful of the historical and systemic realities that shape people's experiences, particularly within communities of color. To me, culturally responsive support means listening, honoring voice and autonomy, building trust, and recognizing culture and community as sources of strength.

I also view well-being through an integrated lens. Emotional health, physical well-being, relationships, environment, identity, family, community, and our internal sense of self are interconnected. Whether I am leading a program, supporting a family, educating a mother, coaching a woman, or collaborating with other professionals, I believe we must consider the whole person rather than reducing someone to a diagnosis, circumstance, or moment in time.

Across every part of my work, my intention remains the same:

Create safe spaces. Reduce fear. Increase knowledge. Strengthen self-trust. Expand access. And leave people, families, and communities stronger than I found them.

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© 2026 Tomaro Monique

Tomaro Monique
Behavioral Health • Maternal Health • Family Development • Community Impact