Dr. Kara Dean-Assael is the Senior Director of Innovation and Education and the Leader of the Community Technical Assistance Center of New York State (CTAC) at NYU’s McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research and has been working with children and families since 1997. As an innovator, Dr. Dean-Assael develops, coordinates, manages, produces, and facilitates various programs, projects, and trainings, both locally and nationally. From 2006-2013, she was a collaborative member of the research team that developed, tested, and disseminated the nationally known evidence-based treatment, the “4 Rs and 2 Ss for Strengthening Families Program” and currently trains mental health practitioners on the model.
In 2012, she co-founded the 501c3 Fareground, Inc., an anti-hunger program focusing on food justice in Dutchess County, NY, and surrounding areas. Dr. Dean-Assael is passionate about collaboratively creating and disseminating programs and practices to improve family mental health and outcomes for youth, families, and adults and centering human rights. She served on the Commission on Human Rights in the City of Beacon, NY from 2020-2024.
Dr. Dean-Assael holds a BA in Psychology with Minors in both Sociology and Women’s Studies from West Virginia University (1996); an MSW degree from Columbia University School of Social Work (2001); and a Doctorate in Clinical Social Welfare from New York University (2020). As a West Virginian native, she’s attached to her roots of family and resilience.