Keisha Varnell serves as Director of Program Operations at Methodist Children’s Home in Jackson MS. As an advocate for children in the child welfare system Keisha is passionate about empowering foster youth to become change-makers in the child welfare system because she believes they are the experts whose voices should be at the center of trauma informed care and services.
As an administrator and advocate, she has been able to successfully create bridges between victims of various social injustices and policymakers through training that is victim centered and trauma focused.
In addition to her role at MCH, Keisha is a certified forensic interviewer and has served as a training and technical assistance consultant with the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) for the past 12 years. Her areas of expertise are trauma informed training and services, interpersonal violence and human trafficking. Keisha sits on the Jackson Field Office FBI Civil Rights Taskforce and is a member of the Mississippi Council on Human Trafficking Taskforce training committee. Keisha serves on the Board of Directors for Attachment & Trauma Network, a national organization focused on providing support, education and advocacy to families and professionals and MACCA – Mississippi Association of Congregate Care Agencies.
Keisha’s work is informed by her unique experience of the child welfare system from multiple vantage points, including as an adoptive parent, experienced trainer, administrator, and advocate.
Keisha is a native of Jackson MS.
