Andrea founded the Embark Center in 2017 after years of searching for an effective way of working with youth. Having been a therapist and a Montessori teacher, it was her work as a mom that led her to find a way to help young people create meaningful lives for themselves as she searched for alternatives for her own children.

Andrea lives in Hamilton, VA with her husband, children, dog, cats, and chickens. She enjoys gardening, knitting, and reading.

Catina Franklin Sweedy has over twenty years experience working in education as a private and classroom clarinet teacher, nature educator, and homeschooler.  

Catina's vast experience has helped her merge her nature-based education, clarinet teaching philosophy (that the role of the teacher is a guide for the students) and her unschooling philosophy (that children can and want to learn, that they should never be forced to learn what someone else believes that they should know, and that they are capable of being trusted with their own education) to guide her in her life.

Leslie Sarapu is the mom of two kids, one of whom became a member of Embark in 2023. Leslie started her career in college admissions, and later spent ten years conducting research for the U.S. Congress as a policy analyst at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. She found her favorite work as a primary parent for a decade and counting, and a homeschooler for the last two. Leslie loves meditation, art, native plants, organizing closets, and most desserts. A Michigan native, she loves hiking Lake Michigan dunes, swimming, and hunting for fossils. She lives with her husband, two kids, and a labradoodle in Vienna.