Professional Life

Habeebah Rasheed Grimes has made serving Northeast Ohio’s most vulnerable children her life’s work. She is a sought-after public speaker, community leader, and creator of No Crystal Stair Podcast. As CEO of Positive Education Program (PEP), Habeebah leads a staff of nearly 400 professionals committed to supporting healing in children who have experienced significant adversity and mental health challenges. She is deeply committed to responding to trauma as a collective and embodied experience. Recognizing the harm that trauma and chronic stress cause in the lives of the young people PEP serves, Habeebah worked closely with The Neurosequential Network to certify the agency as a Phase 2 Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) site. In addition to being NMT trained through Phase II, she has completed training in Foundations in Somatic Abolitionism. Habeebah’s current focus is providing leadership in support of culturally affirming and healing-centered practices at PEP and in the broader community.

Training

Habeebah is extensively trained in trauma-informed practices and holds a master’s degree in clinical/counseling psychology and a specialist degree in school psychology from Cleveland State University.

Civic Engagement

Habeebah is a recent appointee to the board of Prevent Child Abuse America and is a trustee of The Woodruff Foundation, which provides philanthropic support to nonprofit organizations addressing behavioral health needs in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. She is chair of Cuyahoga County’s Advisory Council on Equity and chair of the Mental Health and Addiction Advocacy Coalition’s Northeast Ohio Steering Committee. She also serves on the OhioRISE (Resilience through Integrated Systems and Excellence) Advisory Council. Past engagement has included serving as a member of the State of Ohio’s Children’s Behavioral Health Prevention Stakeholder Group and Cleveland’s 19 News advisory council for its The Next 400 series.

Accomplishments

Habeebah is a graduate of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s distinguished Ladder to Leadership: Developing the Next Generation of Community Health Leaders program and an alum of Leadership Cleveland’s Class of 2020. In 2015, Crain’s Cleveland Business recognized Habeebah as a 40 under 40 honoree. was recognized with Cleveland State University’s 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2022, Habeebah was inducted into Cleveland Heights High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.

Personal Life

Habeebah grew up witnessing her brother, Hashim, struggle with severe childhood and adult mental health challenges. She sees her work and service as a tribute to his memory. She resides in Cleveland, Ohio with her husband, John, and their two young sons.

Speaking Events

Habeebah is a sought after presenter, trainer and panelist. She has been an invited speaker at numerous live and virtual events.

• Panelist, A Response from Cleveland: A Special Film Screening & Discussion on Mental Health, Peel Dem Layers Back, November 27, 2021

• Invited Guest, Our Constellation of Care, Education Suspended Podcast, October 25, 2021

• Invited Presenter, Creating A Culture of Healing, College Now Greater Cleveland, August 26, 2021

• Invited Presenter, Adolescent Brain Development & Developmental Trauma, College Now Greater Cleveland, August 19, 2021

• Invited Presenter, Lessons in Healing & Resilience: Reflections on Trauma-Informed Care and Organizational Change, Rising Tide Conference, June 17, 2021

• Invited Presenter, Reckoning with Racism in the Age of Trauma-Informed Care: Addressing Institutional and Structural Racism in Mental Health Care, Napa Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship, The University of California, Davis, June 12, 2021

• Invited Presenter, More Than Their Trauma: Moving Beyond the ACEs Study to Support Youth Healing, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, May 15, 2021

• Invited Presenter, The Urgency of Now: Why Anti-Racism is Essential to the Practice of Trauma-Informed Care, School Social Workers Conference, The University of Texas at Austin, February 25, 2021

• Invited Presenter, Pursuing Healing in the Absence of Justice, Virtual Montessori Experience, American Montessori International, February 14, 2021

• Keynote Speaker, The Urgency of Now: Why Anti-Racism is Essential to the Practice of Trauma-Informed Care, Ohio Department of Education, Trauma Informed Care Conference, November 7, 2020

• Panelist, Caring for Educators in the Trauma-Informed Environment, The City Club of Cleveland, Oct. 9, 2020

• Panelist, Racism, Inequity, and Public Health: Cuyahoga County's Response, Part II, The City Club of Cleveland, January 14, 2021

• Panelist, Racism: A Public Mental Health Crisis, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, December 2, 2020

• Panelist, Faith Friday: Ask the Experts, Ohio Governor’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, September 25, 2020

• Invited Guest, Aspire, WOVU 95.9, Aired on August 21, 2020

• Panelist, Freedom After Juneteenth: Policing and Trauma, Karamu House Inc., August 20, 2020

• Invited Presenter, Reckoning with Racism in the Age of Trauma Informed Care, University of California-Davis, Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellows, August 7, 2020

• Panelist, Caring for Children and Families through COVID-19, Shaker Heights City Schools, June 24, 2020

• Panelist, Black Mental Health Matters, The City Club of Cleveland, June 16, 2020

• Invited Presenter, Neurosequential Model Network Office Hours with Dr. Bruce Perry, June 10, 2020

• Panelist, YWCA Greater Cleveland Go LIVE for Equity: Separate and Not Equal: Education in the Face of COVID-19, May 15, 2020

• Invited Presenter, More Than Their Trauma: Moving Beyond the ACEs Study to Support Student Healing & Learning in School Settings, Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio, December 17, 2020