Our Team

Learn about our vision & people

Our Values

IMPACT

COLLABORATION

EMPATHY

INITIATIVE

How Our ABA Therapists Stay Clinically Focused

The first thing we did: create a clinical board. We created a clinical board comprised of clinicians from fields related to ours (e.g., speech-language pathology) so that we are constantly learning, collaborating, and are always up to date with the newest strategies being published in academia.

Additionally, Teamwork has an extremely very rigorous hiring process. Our team members need to go past technical knowledge screens, mock sessions with supervisors, a final round with leadership, two reference checks, and a background check. We do this because we know it matters to the quality of services that we provide to you and so we prioritize making sure our clinicians are experienced and have honed their skills. In addition, we provide free bi-weekly training and supervision of staff. By supplementing our practice with integrated professional development, our aim is to provide your family with the most knowledgeable and current clinicians possible.

How We Keep Our Team of ABA Therapists Happy

Employee turnover can have the single greatest negative impact on your loved one’s progress. If your loved one becomes attached to one of our clinicians and the therapist ends up leaving out of frustration with us (and at no fault to you), then it may take a while for the child to become engaged with a new clinician, regardless of how amazing the new clinician is. Frustrated employees tend to quit when they can’t find satisfaction or meaning in what they’re doing. That’s why Teamwork is so focused on keeping our team happy. Not only that, but happy employees care more and do better work.

So how do we try to make our people happy? First, our compensation is highly competitive and our team members are given the freedom to select the clients they work with. We want our relationships between our team and clients to be sustainable and intentionally chosen. Furthermore, team members are given all the support needed to grow and have a rewarding career within our organization. To be more specific, support isn’t something we just threw in there like many people throw in the word “etc.” when they run out of ideas. We view support as developing a career trajectory within our platform, or giving them the proper communication channels to share novel best practices easily with the whole organization, or providing the proper training to do a very complex job. We strive to make our therapists feel like we’re looking out for them, so they can do the same for you.

LEADERSHIP

ERIKA BYERS

CO-FOUNDER/CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER

Learn More About Erika

Erika began her career working with adults with intellectual disabilities when she was enrolled in undergraduate studies at Hampton University in Hampton Virginia. She worked as a direct care worker and worked 1:1 with adults in a residential placement. During the two years in this role, Erika knew there had to be more she could do to serve these individuals. She met with a behavior analyst who guided Erika to pursue a career in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). In the fall of 2010, she enrolled in the master’s degree program in ABA at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City.

During her matriculation, she worked in Early Intervention and Preschool classrooms as both teacher assistant and head classroom teacher. She worked with children ranging from pre-listener/pre-speaker to reader/writer levels of verbal behavior. She implemented various tactics from the science to induce the first instances of speech, as well as improve the existing communication repertoires of her students. After a successful two years in the master’s program, Erika enrolled in the doctoral program, with the goal to add to the existing research on ABA, learning, communication and verbal behavior development.

While working on her doctoral degree, Erika mentored master’s students at Columbia University, taught in the classroom, supervised special education and general education classrooms and worked in home program settings as both a 1:1 ABA provider, as well as a supervisor. In her tenure, Erika has worked with toddlers, pre-school and school-aged children, adolescents, and adults across all levels of verbal behavior and functionality. She brings expertise, rigor, and a client-centered research focus to Teamwork’s clinical model. Erika is a Licensed Behavior Analyst in New York State and also holds four NYS teacher certifications (Birth-Grade 2, Grade 1-6 for General Education and Students with Disabilities).

MEGHA AGGARWAL

CLINICAL DIRECTOR

Learn More About Megha

Megha Aggarwal is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and a Licensed Behavior Analyst in New York State. She began her career in 2005 as a special education teacher for the NYC Department of Education, where she worked with school-aged children and adolescents with learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities.

Megha received her undergraduate degree from Boston College, with a BS in Business Administration and a minor in General Education. In 2007, she graduated with a Master of Education in Special Education from The City College of NY, CUNY through the New York City Teaching Fellows. She holds two New York State professional teaching certifications- Teacher of Students with Disabilities (grades 5-9) and General Education Specialist in Middle School Education (grades 5-9). In 2009, Megha enrolled in the post masters certification program in Applied Behavior Analysis at Rutgers University. During that time she worked at the McCarton Center for Developmental Pediatrics, where she gained the experience working with toddlers, pre-school, and school aged children with autism and other developmental disabilities. She became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2013.

Megha has provided ABA services in homes, center-based facilities, and special education classrooms as well as general education classrooms and has worked in the capacity as both a direct service provider and a supervisor in all settings. She has provided supervision for BCBA applicants, registered behavior technicians, teachers, teaching assistants, and paraprofessionals. She has conducted trainings on the science of applied behavior analysis to parents, school staff, and related service providers. During her career, she has also worked with children with varying exceptionalities and typically developing children with behavioral problems.

During her free time, Megha enjoys running, spending time with her friends and family, and traveling.

LIZ THOMPSON

CLINICAL DIRECTOR

Learn More About Liz

Liz is a NYS Licensed Behavior Analyst. She began her career in 2007, working in a special needs preschool. Liz received her Masters in Social Work from the University of Oklahoma in 2011. While completing a social work internship with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Liz attended a meeting led by a BCBA, which inspired her journey into her profession of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). She completed her advanced degree in Behavior Analysis through the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

In 2011, Liz began working in ABA as a therapist where she gained experience working a clinic and children’s homes using natural environment teaching and discrete trials while receiving BCBA supervision that included training on conducting assessments, data collection and behavior interventions.

She has also worked with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities with severe behaviors, training staff to support the client with behavior supports and adaptive daily living skills so they could participate in their community activities.
Liz has worked at applied behavior analysis schools and clinics to oversee ABA therapists, train implementation of programs and behavior intervention procedures, as well as train parents to use the same interventions at home.

She has many years of experience of working with children and adults with autism, down syndrome, and intellectual disabilities, specifically supporting their behavioral, social and daily living skills. Liz has expertise in conducting functional behavior assessments and writing behavior intervention plans and training staff and parents to implement the plans.In her free time, Liz enjoys going to the gym, going for walks and bike rides in the park, eating delicious food and spending time with her friends and family!

ANIRUDH SATHYA

CO-FOUNDER/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Learn More About Anirudh

Anirudh supports all efforts at Teamwork. He helps families coordinate funding and schedule care. He helps therapists by providing them with the technological tools needed so they can spend more time with families and less time on administration. On an organizational level, Anirudh helps with culture building, recruiting, human resources, billing, marketing, accounting, and finance.

Prior to Teamwork, Anirudh worked in healthcare private equity and investment banking. He graduated college early from NYU Stern with majors in Finance and Economics and a minor in Psychology.

Anirudh became passionate about applied behavior analysis after volunteering and spending time with children, parents, and practitioners at various autism-focused schools. Through the numerous conversations he’d had, it became evident that families needed far better care that was also affordable, and that clinicians, while incredibly devoted and great, needed more support to reach their potential as well.

Anirudh loves playing sports such as basketball, football, volleyball, or spikeball but also spends his spare time reading, cooking, and struggling on the piano.

Our Comprehensive Team of ABA Therapists

LICENSED BEHAVIOR ANALYSTS (LBAS)

Our highly qualified LBAs, sometimes called BCBAs, received graduate degree education and training in applied behavior analysis and maintain a license to practice in the state of New York.

An LBA will be assigned to your child’s team and will be responsible for assessing your child based on his or her current needs, developing a comprehensive treatment plan based on the assessment results, providing ongoing Behavior Technician supervision and parent training, and ensuring that your child is progressing through data-driven analysis. Our LBAs will even attend Committees on Special Education (CSE) reviews, sit in on Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings, visit schools, and even help you find the right lawyers, if needed.

BEHAVIOR TECHNICIANS

Our Behavior Technicians receive significant training in order to provide ABA services for your child. Each Behavior Technician is required to meet the Certified Behavior Analyst Assistant (CBAA) requirements as well as complete a 40-hour training through the Behavior Analyst Certification Board and receives a specially designed training package upon joining our team. Along with daily and rigorous tracking of your child’s progress, Behavior Technicians also provide the compassion to fulfill your child’s needs.