Our Team
Our team is small but mighty!
Natalia Meehan
Co-Founder & Director Natalia Meehan is the Director and Co-Founder of Flowering Futures, bringing over a decade of deeply personal and professional dedication to nonspeaking and neurodivergent individuals. With a dual background in Environmental Science and Psychology from Tulane University, she approaches her work through an interdisciplinary lens that bridges neuroscience, somatic regulation, holistic health, and spelling-based communication. As a trained Communication and Regulation Partner, clinical herbalist, and integrative health coach, Natalia works directly with nonspeaking individuals to build purposeful motor skills through spelling. Her path is shaped by her own lived experience alongside her nonspeaking sister Nina, giving her advocacy, consulting, and program development a depth that came from their own healing together. She collaborates closely with families, educators, and caregivers to create personalized wellness and communication protocols, and holds a vision of nonspeaking individuals moving from surviving to thriving as leaders in our society. She is also passionate about scientific research and consulting with research teams. She is currently co-developing The Bridge, a curriculum, to bring this transformative work to people around the world.
Nina Meehan
Co-Founder & Advocate Nina Meehan is a 20-year-old autistic self-advocate and the inspiring founder of The Nina Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to spellers. Her lived experience with apraxia fuels her bold and unwavering message: nonspeaking does not mean nonthinking. Nina believes that most if not all nonspeakers have apraxia, a motor skill condition rather than a cognitive or intellectual disability, and that every nonspeaking individual deserves the dignity of presumed competence. She works tirelessly to shift societal narratives, educating families, professionals, and institutions about the power of communication given the right support, with the firm belief that everyone can do this. Featured in Psychology Today and serving as an advisor on The Telepathy Tapes documentary to ensure the nonspeaking experience is depicted with love and accuracy, Nina brings both personal truth and public presence to everything she does. She continues to advocate for deeper, more intentional research with nonspeaking subjects at the center. Through her foundation and her voice, Nina is expanding access, awareness, and possibility for millions globally, building a world where no one remains unheard like she was.
Caroline Mazza
PT & Education LeadCaroline Mazza brings over 25 years of dedication to children with disabilities, blending her roots in pediatric physical therapy with a deep commitment to functional neurology, sensory integration, and alternative communication. Trained by leaders in the field including Dr. Brandon Crawford and Dr. Robert Melillo, Caroline's work has always centered the whole child with their regulation, their dignity, and their capacity to thrive. After a meaningful career in public school settings, she transitioned into private practice and collaborative holistic care, while continuing to consult with school districts on inclusion strategies that open doors for nonspeaking students in general education environments. At Flowering Futures, Caroline weaves together her clinical expertise and her heart for advocacy. Her practice has deepened through her involvement with the Nina Foundation and her service on the Board of Directors for Team Woofgang to create movement-informed, communication-centered support that meets every child exactly where they are.
Raquel Garcia
Flowering Foundations Raquel Garcia is a passionate advocate, mother of Nina, and the founder of Flowering Foundations Private Care, now serving Fairfield County and beyond. With 30 years of experience in interior design creating spaces that feel safe, practical, and life-enhancing, Raquel brings a rare and deeply personal lens to her work with nonspeaking individuals and their families. Since Nina's spelling journey began, she has come to understand something profound: home is where the healing happens. That conviction now shapes everything she does, helping families discover spelling-based communication and establish the protocols, rhythms, and environments that allow both the nonspeaker and their loved ones to do the work themselves. Raquel focuses on the nuances that bring families together, the small but meaningful details that create order, safety, and possibility within daily life. She is a living example of what becomes available when hope meets the right tools, and she brings that belief into every home she enters. With the right support in place, anything is possible.