The People Behind the Care

For more than 20 years, Nicole’s career has centered around working with people with disabilities and a wide range of needs, from young children through adults and across homes, schools, residential programs, clinics, and community settings. Her experience includes severe and complex behavior, giving her a unique perspective on behavior and the whole person and family behind it.

As a BCBA for 8 years, Nicole brings a compassionate, trauma-informed, strengths-based, and creative approach to ABA. She believes therapy should go beyond reducing challenging behavior to build communication, independence, confidence, relationships, life skills, and meaningful participation in everyday life.

Nicole’s clinical strengths include assessment, severe and complex behavior, functional communication, sensory needs, life and independence skills, naturalistic learning, and social and community skills. She especially enjoys working with teens and individuals with complex needs. Nicole loves looking beyond what is happening to understand why and developing individualized approaches that make sense in real life. And while building skills matters, kids still need to be kids. Therapy should leave room for play, movement, exploration, laughter, and messy experiences. Sometimes learning means mastering a new skill, and sometimes it means going outside and playing in the dirt.

Nicole is passionate about supporting the whole family and creating strong, collaborative teams. Families should feel heard, valued, and confident, while staff should have the training, resources, guidance, and encouragement needed for optimal success. She believes in leading with compassion and collaborating with families, schools, therapists, physicians, and other professionals so skills carry into everyday life.

Teaching, problem-solving, and connecting people with resources are also at the heart of Nicole’s work. She enjoys mentoring clinicians, guiding families, speaking and training in the community, and making complicated concepts practical, relatable, and useful.

Nicole believes we should always be learning and growing right alongside the people we serve. Grounded & Growing has a big vision, with nearly endless possibilities for new skills, experiences, programs, resources, partnerships, and creative ways to help children, families, staff, and the community grow.

Evelyn Haddad is a United States Army military veteran, former Military Police Officer, and graduate of Airborne School who brings a unique blend of discipline, compassion, and business acumen to her work at Grounded & Growing.

She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis, graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Evelyn was named to the President’s List and was inducted into the International Honor Society for Psychology in recognition of her academic excellence. She is a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) and is currently pursuing her Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) certification, anticipating receiving her license in early 2027.

Evelyn’s journey into ABA is deeply personal. Her daughter was born with developmental delays, and it was through navigating that experience that Evelyn discovered her true calling. What began as a search for answers for her own child became a mission to support other families walking similar paths.

Prior to entering the ABA field, Evelyn built a diverse career, from serving her country in the military to working as an investor and in the restaurant and catering industry. These experiences gave her a strong foundation in leadership, financial acumen, and operational excellence.

At Grounded & Growing, Evelyn serves as Clinic Manager, overseeing daily operations, client intake, scheduling, staff coordination, and facility management. She is also working under the supervision of Nicole Decker, BCBA, building her clinical skills while managing the clinic’s growth and ensuring every family feels welcomed, supported, and heard.