Directors
Founder, CEO, and Director of Educational Services
Andrew Bailey is an experienced clinician and highly skilled educational consultant who has devoted the past twenty-five years of his life to working with children. Mr. Bailey earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 1985 and his Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from John F. Kennedy University in 1991.
Mr. Bailey is one of the founding directors of Anova and is currently the Director of Educational Services and the Principal of the ACE School. Mr. Bailey originally designed the concept of "Multidisciplinary Treatment of Neurodevelopmental Impairments in a Private Educational Setting" that has been pioneered at the Anova Center for Education over the past eight years. Read more>>
Founder, COO, and Director of Financial Services
Mary Beth Ludwig is a highly skilled accountant with an astute business mind, a drive to build successful and unique projects, and a deep commitment to helping families in need. Ms. Ludwig has firsthand knowledge of the challenges faced by parents of disabled children, being the mother of a severely handicapped son herself. Ms. Ludwig graduated from the University of San Diego in 1991 and began her professional career in the tax department with KPMG Pete Marwick in San Diego, California.
Ms. Ludwig is one of the founding directors of Anova and serves as the Chief Operating Officer and Director of Financial Services. Ms. Ludwig oversees the ongoing development and implementation of the business strategies and practices that have allowed Anova to grow from an inspired dream to an agency that now serves hundreds of children and families throughout the Bay Area each year. Mary Beth lives in Healdsburg with her two children, Kyle and Natalie. Read more>>
Founder and Director of Behavior Analysis Services
William Henkel’s career has focused on the use of applied behavior analysis to develop creative strategies to reduce problem behaviors and teach adaptive skills. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in 1982 from San Jose State University and went on to complete his Master’s Degree in 1989 and his Ph.D in Developmental Psychology in 2006.
Dr. Henkel is one of the founding directors of Anova and is currently the Director of Behavior Analysis Services. He is also an experienced presenter, having provided hundreds of hours of in-service presentations and workshops on behavior management techniques. Read more>>
ACE School and Clinic Director, Sonoma Campus
Heidi Adler is a Licensed Educational Psychologist who has worked in both the public and private sector, with students with learning disabilities and educational challenges for the past 15 years. Ms. Adler received her training from Kent State University, which is accredited by both the National Association of School Psychologists as well as by the American Psychological Association. She received both a Master of Arts degree in Education, as well as an Educational Specialist degree while attending Kent State. Ms. Adler completed her school psychology internship in a rural school district in Ohio, began her career in a private school setting in inner-city Cleveland, then moved on to a district in a suburb of Cleveland. In 1999, Ms. Adler relocated to Sonoma County and served as a School Psychologist and Program Manager in a local school district. Additionally, Ms. Adler has experience in a private practice setting evaluating students with learning disabilities.
ACE School Director, Marin Campus
Before joining the Anova administrative team as the ACE School Director in 2006, Mr. Sousa was our high school teacher and was instrumental in starting ACE’s high school program. Mr. Sousa has been involved with Special Education at a number of non-public schools serving special needs children ages 5 - 18. He also has extensive experience in youth recreation where he has led wilderness group outings for both developmentally disabled and at-risk, inner-city adolescents. Throughout Mr. Sousa’s career in youth development, he has regularly received continuing education and training in creating and implementing behavioral programs for children with special needs.
Mr. Sousa played collegiate baseball at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico before transferring to California State University at Long Beach, where he completed his degree in Sociology. In addition, he has completed graduate level coursework in Special Education. As the School Director, Mr. Sousa’s primary duty is to provide a safe learning environment that addresses the specialized needs of both ACE’s students and families.
ACE Clinic Director, Marin County, Professional Development Manager
Kim Starke has been a practicing Speech and Language Pathologist for almost 20 years, working primarily with children at all levels on the autism spectrum. Ms. Starke earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Language Pathology and Audiology from California State University, Chico, and continued there to complete her Master of Arts degree in 1992. She began working as a Speech and Language Pathologist, primarily with nonverbal autistic children, in a non-public school setting. It was during this time that she first began working alongside Anova Co-Founder, Andrew Bailey. Ms. Starke opened a private Speech and Language Pathology practice in San Francisco, work she continued to do for several years before her first daughter was born. Upon returning to the workforce, Ms. Starke accepted a Speech and Language Pathologist position with the Petaluma Unified School District, working with Kindergarten through 6th grade students and specializing in fully included autistic and severely handicapped children. Ms. Starke discovered her enthusiasm for working with higher functioning students with autism, reached out to Mr. Bailey, and started working with Anova in 2008. Her role as Speech and Language Pathologist at Anova has since expanded to include employee recruitment and professional development for Anova professional staff.
Master Teacher
Alicia Honn has been working with children with Developmental Disabilities since she was 15 years old. After answering an advertisement in a local newspaper she began working as a paraprofessional in San Diego with the Association for Retarded Citizens.
Ms. Honn continued working with ARC while living in Chico and earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Rehabilitation Therapy from Chico State University in 1986. Ms. Honn went on to work as a Rehabilitation Therapist at the Sonoma Developmental Center for nine years, during which time she realized that her true love was in special education of children. After completing her Masters Degree at Sonoma State University, Ms. Honn earned several teaching credentials which she currently maintains in her role as Master Teacher at the ACE School. Ms. Honn has worked in a number of capacities in education over the past ten years, including SDC teacher at Children’s Day Treatment Center, Behavior Analyst for a local agency, and full-inclusion case manager for a public school district. Ms. Honn has emerged from these experiences as a highly skilled and extremely effective educator and mentor of children. As the first teacher at the ACE School, Ms. Honn was instrumental in developing the curriculum and classroom management models being implemented and has played a large role in the success of our program.