Executive Director
Community Wellness at the Boys & Girls Club
With over 12 years of service working with children and families with mental health challenges, Dr. Gardan Speights, LCSW, is a passionate mental health and youth advocate, consultant, and educator. As the executive director of Community Wellness at the Boys & Girls Club of Newark, Gardan ensures that children and families of all intersectional identities have equitable access to trauma-informed mental and health services in the afterschool program. She is a national trainer in trauma-informed organizational practices and centers her approach on creating anti-racist and diverse organizational spaces. Gardan is passionate about the well-being of people and communities and is especially inspired to help young people see the value in their voices and lives.
Gardan is also an adjunct professor teaching Baccalaureate and Master of Social Work classes. Gardan serves as a clinical supervisor. She enjoys mentoring students and social workers along their journey toward clinical licensure and discovering their life and professional gifts. After graduating from SUNY New Paltz in 2005 with a double major in black studies and psychology, Gardan earned her Master of Social Work from Columbia University and a Doctorate in Social Work from Simmons University. Gardan is a mother of two who enjoys reading and recently discovered a passion for nurturing house plants. Gardan is a servant and transformational leader who leads her life and seeks to inspire the diverse communities she serves with the Nelson Mandela quote, “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”
