Bea Mah Holland, EdD, MSW

Bea Mah Holland, EdD, has had a lifelong commitment to fostering people’s well-being and capacity building. Beginning professionally as a social worker with inner-city high-needs families, she has served as a therapist, educator, coach, consultant, and leader in social agencies, hospitals, universities, and businesses. For the past two years Bea has been Co-President of LYFS, Inc., a youth-centered organization in Lexington, where 37% of public school students are of Asian ancestry. LYFS is committed to providing 1) free, short term counseling, 2) community education including working with a diverse Multicultural Sponsoring Board that bridges Lexington’s cultures and generations through speakers and dialogic events, and 3) prevention including Lexington High School’s chapter of Sources of Strength, a best practice youth suicide prevention program that annually trains 50 diverse Peer Leaders to identify and expand their own sources of strength, support their peers to do so, and encourage help-seeking when needed. Bea’s work is grounded in solid researched approaches including appreciative inquiry, systems thinking, positive psychology, emotional intelligence, and family therapy. She previously served as an editor for the Harvard Educational Review and has contributed to several books and articles focused on strength-building theories and strategies, including recent publications in Colonial Times Magazine advocating an upstream approach to teen suicide prevention. She holds a doctorate from Harvard University and a master’s degree in social work from McGill University. A fourth generation Chinese-Canadian-American, Bea and her husband—a former school superintendent—have two daughters.