Seeds for Growth
February 2026 Employee Spotlight Rosianna Alexander
We are so grateful for our Phenomenal Team, and are excited to shine the spotlight on one of our incredible team members: Rosianna Alexander!
We are always looking for compassionate and reliable individuals to join our growing team, and would love to hear from you if you feel drawn to our mission.
Nurture & Nature ABA Opens the 2025 LABA Conference: “Seguimos—Moving Forward, Together”
This past Friday, our very own Denice had the wonderful opportunity to open the 2025 annual Latino Association for Behavior Analysis (LABA) Conference with an inspiring speech that set the tone for the weekend.
We’re also proud to share that Nurture & Nature ABA was one of this year’s conference sponsors, helping to support an event that celebrates cultural connection, professional growth, and community strength.
About This Year’s Theme: “Seguimos! Moving Forward, Together.”
The theme of this year’s conference, “Seguimos: Moving Forward, Together,” beautifully captures the spirit of resilience and unity that defines both LABA and the broader ABA community. As Denice noted in her remarks, progress is never a solo journey, it’s something we build through compassion, humility, and collective support.
Her words reminded us that behavior analysis isn’t just about science, it’s about people. About holding each other up, sharing knowledge, and celebrating our shared humanity.
Denice’s Opening Speech
Buenos días.
What a joy it is to be here with you at the 2025 Latino Association of Behavior Analysts Conference. On behalf of Nurture & Nature, I want to thank you for creating this space where our community can come together, share, and grow.
At Nurture & Nature, our values are deeply aligned with LABA’s, we believe in compassion, in cultural humility, and in building up not just individuals, but whole families and communities. Like all of you, we know that real progress happens when we hold each other up and move forward together.
That’s why this year’s theme, “Seguimos: Moving Forward, Together,” feels so meaningful. These are times that call for unity, a reminder that none of us are ever alone in this work. When we come together as a community, our strength is multiplied, and our hope becomes unshakable.
I also want to take a moment to recognize the incredible leadership we’ve seen from Isaac, José, and Ruth. Watching them grow and advance LABA has been a privilege, and a reminder of how powerful it is when our community invests in its own people.
So as we begin this conference, let’s celebrate not just the science of behavior analysis, but the heart that drives it. At Nurture & Nature, we are proud to walk alongside you.
Muchas gracias, and may today fill us with inspiration, courage, and the joy of community.
Celebrating Community and Connection
Denice’s words embody everything we strive for at Nurture & Nature ABA: a commitment to empathy, cultural understanding, and meaningful collaboration.
We’re deeply honored to have played a part in this year’s conference and grateful to the LABA organizers for creating such a powerful space for learning, connection, and shared growth.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jose Rios
Planting Seeds
In looking at improving collaboration across all levels and empowering employees to express their ideas, I took baseline measures across the following actions:
— How often do I seek out feedback about our clinical programs and my performance? Baseline: 0 occurrences per week
— How often do I seek out ideas from others when engaging in clinical programming? Baseline: 0 occurrences per week
Although I have a strong clinical vision for most cases that the practice takes on, I was a little shocked at the 0.
This is step two of our experiment in using OBM and the principles of the book The 5 Scientific Laws of Life & Leadership to heighten Nurture & Nature’s profile and further develop my leadership skills.
View the previous post in this series, “Checking In with the Stakeholders.”
In looking at improving collaboration across all levels and empowering employees to express their ideas, I took baseline measures across the following actions:
— How often do I seek out feedback about our clinical programs and my performance?
Baseline: 0 occurrences per week
— How often do I seek out ideas from others when engaging in clinical programming?
Baseline: 0 occurrences per week
Although I have a strong clinical vision for most cases that the practice takes on, I was a little shocked at the 0. Was I really not seeking out valuable information that may be useful in improving clinical performance and clinical outcomes? I found myself too wrapped up in taking data, making observations, directing protocols, and making sure the clinical documentation was on point. There was an immediate realization that these are the goals I want to focus on:
1) Increase the number of occurrences over the course of a week that I seek out feedback about our clinical programs and my performance from the therapists.
2) Increase the number of occurrences over the course of a week that I seek out ideas about clinical programing from the therapists.
For each goal, my target is to reach 7 occurrences or more per week.
I started taking data and made myself a visual that I put on my desk as a reminder. This week I was able to ask for feedback for 4 occurrences and ask for ideas for 3 occurrences.
So, not tremendous growth, but seeds were planted… now I need to nurture the seeds by attending to them, and, most importantly, enjoying the intrinsic rewards of incremental growth and success for the company. My long term and ultimate goal is to boost the score of the staff survey by at least by .5 on average.
A simple, but doable process: Measure where I am at, set the bar where I envisioned myself to be, use a visual reminder, measure and take data, and try to improve upon my performance from one day to the next. I am asking of myself the same thing I ask of my clients: Try your very best every day!
More importantly, I realize that my truly favorite thing in the entire world is watching things grow… and grow as quickly as possible. That is why I love being a behavior analyst... and sneaking off into the garden tor inspiration.
Checking in with the Stakeholders
Step one of our experiment in using OBM and the principles of the book The 5 Scientific Laws of Life & Leadership to heighten Nurture & Nature’s profile and further develop my leadership skills.
This is step one of our experiment in using OBM and the principles of the book The 5 Scientific Laws of Life & Leadership to heighten Nurture & Nature’s profile and further develop my leadership skills.
View the first post in this series, “A New Mission.”
Who in a company is effected by company culture? Everyone, of course, from clients/customers to staff.
As our client relations are strong, we decided to focus primarily on our team. We sent out an anonymous survey asking all staff members to rate their current experiences with various aspects of Nurture & Nature’s culture and leadership on a scale of 1-5 (with “5” equaling “Strongly Agree” and “1” equaling “Strongly Disagree”).
The survey yielded some interesting results, results that will serve as our baseline measures and help us further pinpoint where we are and how we can improve.
After calculating the average rating we received for each question, Denice (Nurture & Nature’s co-owner), conducted an IOA to validate the data. Here are the results:
“The Company is dedicated to diversity and inclusion.” Average Score: 4.6
“I feel safe in my work environment.” Average Score: 4.3
“At my Company, we treat each other with respect.” Average Score: 4.3
“I feel respected by my team.” Average Score: 4.2
“I receive regular kind and constructive feedback from management.” Average Score: 4.1
“I would like to work here as long as possible.” Average Score: 4.1
“The Company leaders are approachable and engaged.” Average Score: 4.1
“I often feel recognized for my work performance.” Average Score: 4.0
“I feel like my voice is heard at this company.” Average Score: 4.0
“I would highly recommend the Company to a friend/family member.” Average Score: 4.0
“I have the resources and training I need to succeed.” Average Score: 3.8
“I feel listened to and am able to contribute ideas to the company.” Average Score: 3.6
So, we have room for improvement, for sure.
What was most informative for me was that there was only one “Strong Disagree” in the survey results, and that was in the category, “I feel listened to and am able to contribute ideas to the company.” This truly made me stop in my tracks and reflect upon what this employee may be feeling, and what we can do to better support, and, more importantly, to hear him or her. It also made me realize that we could be thwarting innovation, and that these ideas that may be revolutionary and unheard.
Next, we are on to Goal Setting and taking action for improvement.
A New Mission
Anyone who knows me knows I am passionate and can be fiery about things that I care about deeply. This fire both fuels and burns, and I admit giving and getting feedback is hard. When employees are careless with things that I care about — the impact our actions have on our clients, lawful compliance, honesty, safety, ethics, to name a few — I can tend to express my feedback to them quite passionately, never name calling or discriminatory, but impassioned, consumed and intense.
With feedback, hopefully comes change, and I am on a mission to improve our company’s culture by utilizing the science of Applied Behavior Analysis, specifically OBM (Organizational Business Management), in which I received my certification in 2020 from FIT.
Anyone who knows me knows I am passionate and can be fiery about things that I care about deeply. This fire both fuels and burns, and I admit giving and getting feedback is hard. When employees are careless with things that I care about — the impact our actions have on our clients, lawful compliance, honesty, safety, ethics, to name a few — I can tend to express my feedback to them quite passionately, never name calling or discriminatory, but impassioned, consumed and intense. These are some of the same qualities that have led to Nurture & Nature’s success. Regardless, I’m writing this blog to document my journey as I test whether, by using OBM and the principles of the book The 5 Scientific Laws of Life & Leadership, I can both heighten my company’s profile and further develop my leadership skills. Step 1 is called “Pinpointing,” which, in short, means asking yourself, “What is it I want to change?”
Instead of relying solely on my own ideas of what I may need to change, today I am sending out an anonymous survey to see what our teams think of Nurture & Nature's leadership. Being CEO is rewarding, yet challenging. I am proud of everything Team Phenomenal has achieved over the last seven years, but there are still new heights to reach, new refinements to make, new systems, and new perspectives that can help us all grow.
I always enjoy rising to face challenges, but I’m not always so good at sharing my innermost thoughts and experiences. So, for this one, I’ve decided to face my fears and share this journey publicly. It is my greatest hope that, as I learn to improve myself and Nurture & Nature, my journey will inspire you to strive to reach your own greatest self.
View step one in our our experiment, Checking in with the Stakeholders.
Spectrum Laboratory at Nurture & Nature
Classes begin
Wednesday, March 6th | 3:30pm to 5:30pm
For more information please contact us at 818.423.2215.
Your Brain on Improv
Using complex jazz improv, professional musicians, functional MRI technology, a 35-note keyboard, Limb sets out to examine the neurological process of musical improvisation.
Charles Limb and Allen Braun
Charles Limb, a hearing specialist and surgeon at Johns Hopkins, has been working with Allen Braun to investigate music and the act of improvisation. He did a series of experiments utilizing functional MRI technology to see what happens in the brain when we create.
The Science of Creativity
As Limb states, “The science of innovation is at its infancy. . . truly we know very little about how we are able to be creative”. When you think about how every part of our modern civilization has been created by man, and the fact that we, according to Limb, are just now beginning to attempt to study the act of creation, one can only think that behavioral science needs to stop being bias towards the arts and begin seeing creativity as an innate need of our species. However, Limb’s philosophy and experiments with improv/creation are another step forward towards understanding the neurological processes that humans undergo when engaging in the act of creating music. As he states, “You can study creativity by using science. Artistic creativity is a neurologic product that can be examined using rigorous scientific methods.”
Charles Limb and Allen Braun’s Jazz Paradigm
Using complex jazz improv, professional musicians, functional MRI technology, a 35-note keyboard, Limb sets out to examine the neurological process of musical improvisation. The featured experiment essentially examined what would happen in the brain when professional jazz musicians played a memorized and overly learnt jazz solo, and then what would happen when the musicians spontaneously improvised in a way that is matched in terms of lower level sensory motor features.
Limb and Braun first examined the amount of notes played to see if the musicians were just playing more notes during the improvisation. However, that was not the case. Limb and Braun’s findings, through the use of MRI technology and contrast mapping, actually found that brain activity was noticeable different during the two conditions. For instance, when the musicians were playing the memorized solo, the prefrontal cortex was activated; however, when the musicians were improvising, Limb and Braun saw the medial prefrontal cortex – the part of the brain thought to be self-expression and the autobiographical area – become intensified and activated, and the lateral prefrontal cortex (known to be a part of self-monitoring) become deactivated. Utilizing this data, Limb and Braun hypothesized that to be creative you need to have a disassociation in your frontal lobe, so that you’re not inhibited to the new creative nerve impulses.
Music as Language
In another experiment, Limb and Braun recorded the contrast mapping through MRI technology of a jazz duet, in which two musicians were improvising back and forth through musical interplay. The subject’s Broca area lit up, which is thought to be associated through self-expression and language. Limb and Brown make the correlation between jazz improv interplay and freestyle rap. The experiment is phenomenal in that Brown and Limb make a fascinating comparison using MRI technology. They reported that language areas again lit up, and a noted level of heightened brain activity, during improv in comparison to rote memorization.
This makes perfect sense, because language is our main source of self-expression. When you add music to spontaneous language it seems logically that you would see a heightened level of activity in the brain. Adding the element of unknown word cues or demands to this task would further increase the difficulty level causing more neurons to fire.