MEET THE STAFF

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Founder of Divine Youth Services

Julissa Rowe is the Founder and Executive Director of Divine Youth Services Residential Treatment Center (RTC), a program born from her own lived experience in the foster care system. Having grown up in foster care alongside her siblings, Julissa understands firsthand the challenges, uncertainty, and emotional pain that many youth in care face every day.

Her journey from foster youth to founder has fueled a lifelong passion for advocacy, healing, and hope. Julissa created Divine Youth Services with a simple but powerful mission — to provide a safe, nurturing, and empowering environment where youth can rebuild their confidence, learn life skills, and experience the stability every child deserves.

Through Divine Youth Services RTC, Julissa leads with empathy and purpose, ensuring that every young person who walks through the doors is seen, heard, and supported. Her trauma-informed approach focuses on healing through compassion, consistency, and connection — principles she believes are essential to helping youth overcome adversity and thrive.

Julissa’s vision is to break generational cycles by equipping youth with the tools and emotional resilience to build bright, independent futures. Her story is one of perseverance, faith, and the unwavering belief that with the right support, every young person can rise above their past and step into their purpose.

Co-Founder and Managing Director of Divine Youth Services

Vanessa Munoz serves as Co-Founder and Managing Director of Divine Youth Services and as Director of Facilities, Marketing, and Strategic Growth. She brings extensive experience in residential care management, having overseen assisted living operations across multiple regions with a strong focus on compliance, program administration, and quality outcomes.

In her leadership role, Vanessa provides oversight of property management, environmental safety, and facility logistics, ensuring readiness, maintenance coordination, procurement, and adherence to licensing standards across all locations. She plays a key role in operational planning, systems development, and continuous improvement.

Vanessa also leads organizational marketing and communications, community partnerships, and donor engagement, aligning strategic growth with the mission and values of Divine Youth Services. As an active ministry director and faith-based leader, she integrates ethical leadership, compassion, and collaboration into daily operations.

Her ability to translate complex regulatory and operational requirements into sustainable, effective systems strengthens organizational accountability, supports long-term growth, and advances meaningful, measurable impact.

Treatment Director for Divine Youth Services

Akiya is originally from Topeka, Kansas, and brings over five years of experience in the mental health and case management field. 

Her professional background includes supporting individuals and families through a variety of behavioral health challenges, providing advocacy, resource coordination, and goal-oriented care. She believes in creating a supportive, compassionate environment where clients feel empowered to make meaningful changes in their lives.

She is currently pursuing her Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (LPC-A) licensure in Texas to further expand her ability to provide therapeutic services. Akiya's approach integrates evidence-based practices with a person-centered perspective, emphasizing respect, empathy, and collaboration.

Outside of her professional work, she is a proud parent of two and values time spent with family, learning, and personal growth.

Facility Manager for Divine Youth Services

Miguel Gonzalez is an Industrial-Organizational Psychologist and MBA with extensive experience managing multiple operations across the Post-Acute Care Continuum (PACC), including skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation centers, and managed hospital systems. He has a proven track record in operational excellence, workforce optimization, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance, enabling high-performance care across complex, multi-site environments.

Miguel applies his expertise to behavior-first, resilience-driven residential care for system-placed youth. He oversees the implementation of case management deliverables, including individualized care planning, progress tracking, discharge coordination, and collaboration with referral agencies. By integrating operational efficiency with trauma-informed practices, he ensures that licensed clinicians and trained non-licensed staff can deliver proactive behavioral interventions, incident prevention, skill-building programs, and measurable outcomes, positioning the RTC as an innovative, scalable, and results-focused model for youth residential care. He will also ensure to promote I/O principles for youth workforce development.

Licensed Child Care Administrator  for Divine Youth Services 

Felicia Armstrong is a seasoned mental health and youth services professional with over 25 years of experience supporting children, adolescents, and vulnerable populations in residential, outpatient, and community-based settings. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and is licensed as a Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCCA), bringing a strong clinical and administrative foundation to behavioral health and program operations.

Throughout her career, Felicia has served in leadership roles including Program Administrator, Program Manager, and Supervisor within group homes and treatment facilities. She has extensive experience in crisis intervention, staff supervision, compliance with licensing and minimum standards, and coordination of medical, psychological, and therapeutic services. Her work reflects a deep commitment to trauma-informed care, safety, and quality outcomes for youth ages 10–18.

In addition to her professional roles, Felicia is the founder and former CEO of a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving homeless youth and underserved communities, a position she held for over 17 years. In this role, she led fundraising initiatives, secured grants and corporate sponsorships, and organized large-scale community outreach events. Known for her collaborative leadership style and hands-on approach, Felicia remains dedicated to strengthening programs that promote stability, healing, and long-term success for children and families.