Hale Kipa is pleased to announce the hiring of Ellen Wright as chief program officer and clinical supervisor. In her new role, she will oversee Hale Kipa’s Child & Adolescent Mental Health Division (CAMHD) programs.

Wright previously served as a program coordinator for Hale Kipa’s Intensive In-Home and Therapeutic Foster Care services from 2017-2018. Most recently she was the program director at ‘Ohana Support Services, a program within Child & Family Service, where she worked with CAHMHD to ensure that program goals and standards were met for parent support services.

Wright also worked as a community-based counselor with the National Counseling Group in Virginia, where she coordinated services for students within special education and provided in school and community counseling services. She previously served as an Adjunct professor of Social Sciences and Teacher Education at Howard Community College in Maryland, where she led course instruction for psychology and adolescent psychology.

Her professional experience also includes work as an on-call therapist for Catholic Charities Hawaii and a Practice Development Specialist for Project Kealahou (now Kealahou Services) under CAMHD, serving youth in the community and the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility. She focused on a gender responsive and cultural approach to working with trauma utilizing Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Wright holds a Master’s degree from Argosy University in Honolulu in Marriage and Family Therapy and a Bachelor’s degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She completed coursework in the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education at Johns Hopkins University, and holds a Marriage and Family Therapy License in the State of Hawaii.

“I am looking forward to supporting Hale Kipa’s outstanding programs and services for Hawaii’s at-risk youth,” Wright said. “With families facing heightened challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession, it is more important than ever that we reach out to those in Hawaii who need us most.”