Keisha Varnell , MPH

Meet Keisha Varnell-Coleman

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.

Meet More ATN Team Members

William Zee, JD, MSEd
ATN News
Attachment & Trauma Network

Meet Bill Zee

Bill is the Chair of the Education Law Group at Appel, Yost & Zee, LLP in Lancaster, PA. He has over 15 years of experience

Read More »
Tracy Leonard, MFA, MA
ATN News
Attachment & Trauma Network

Meet Tracy Leonard

Tracy Leonard is the Content and Partnerships Manager at Darkness to Light. She has been a Stewards of Children® Authorized Facilitator since 2014, a Certified

Read More »