meet amber, the founder

In 2014 Amber founded a + b consulting in response to the growing need for cultural literacy training in both the public and private sectors - specifically from a mental health perspective. In addition to providing individual and relationship counseling, Amber also provides consulting services to organizations and businesses on a project basis. Amber is a bi-ligual licensed Social Worker (by trade), an entrepreneur and a cross cultural consultant. She has a wealth of experience as an individual business owner and as business partner and advisor in several businesses in areas including (but not limited to): Education, Mural Arts, Self Publishing, Food Service & Real Estate (both residential and commercial). She enjoys working with start-ups as well as established organizations looking for transformative change.

Amber has lived, worked and studied in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. She is fluent in Arabic and is well versed in dialects spoken across the Middle East. Born and raised in Cobble Hill Brooklyn as a second generation daughter to some of the first Yemeni immigrants to settle in the borough, Amber spent a decade in the Middle East exploring the often overlapping and sometimes clashing concepts of culture, feminism, community and identity. She has experience working in entry level, mid-level and senior employment positions.

She obtained her undergraduate degrees in Public Administration and International Relations, while minoring in Mass Communications at the American University of Sharjah in 2006. She graduated university with pragmatic optimism and a deep passion for social impact - undeniably influenced by a then newly minted international perspective and her immigrant upbringing in New York City circa the 1980s.

She began her career working at a property development company owned and operated by members of Dubai’s ruling family - her role: to work on charity initiatives that would be funded and implemented by the company. In 2006 Amber worked with a team with private funding provided by H.H. Sheikh Hasher bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum to provide three thousand iftar meals to laborers during the holy month of Ramadan. In addition to meals, the initiative provided medical care to financially disadvantaged and marginalized populations within Dubai. Though a corporate environment was not a place she felt aligned with her values at that time, helping others with funds available to do just that made her feel right at home. She went on to pursue further professional growth at the Dubai International Arbitration Center, part of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.

Upon returning to New York at the tail end of 2008, Amber continued to work with marginalized individuals and families across the city. She began by volunteering at an elderly homeless shelter. She was later employed by the Arab American Family Support Center (AAFSC) as a case worker the following year, where she worked primarily with the Middle Eastern and South Asian population across New York City. Shortly after receiving her graduate degree from New York University in 2012, she was recruited as a team leader in a poverty reduction study conducted by the New York University School of Social Work. The NYU team conducted a needs assessment of several poverty stricken districts on the Island of Siarago in the Philippines, delicately navigating issues like food security, drinking water shortages and intimate partner violence with local government officials and the communities they served. At the end of the study the findings were presented to the Mayor of Del Carmen with the intention of informing future public and social policies that advocated for community-driven solutions.

Amber returned to work at AAFSC at the tail end of 2012 and was tasked with supervising and mentoring the Preventive Services program team at the agency’s newly opened satellite office in Queens, where she would continue her work with immigrant families with varying cultural and ethnic identities from across the world. In her roles at AAFSC she worked diligently to protect the children under her care while assessing their physical and emotional needs. Amber was committed to assisting their families with mitigating the life stressors that at times led to their involvement with child welfare services. She advocated for each and every family under her watch and ensured each case was handled carefully and with a high degree of cultural literacy and acted as a bridge between these families and the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS).

Amber has a multifaceted employment history spanning across several different industries & countries, including foreign government. From working with clients in homeless shelters, to children struggling in schools, to individuals involved in the criminal justice system, to families struggling with child welfare issues, She has honed her ability to mindfully navigate across racial, cultural and socioeconomic lines. Whether she is having a conversation in a majlis in a small village in Yemen or sitting in a board room amongst trustees in Dubai, Amber is comfortable with it all and enthusiastically troubleshoots challenges when they arise. She has spent a majority of her career advocating for inclusivity in mental health service provision across the spectrum and takes on projects near and dear to her heart. She has partnered with Bank Street College of Education on several projects, which has included curriculum development and professional development facilitation for the New York Administration for Children’s Services around race and identity and the New York Department of Education around providing trauma informed care in New York City’s public school system. She is experienced in program development and working with individuals and families struggling to access services that are adequately equipped to understand their cultural complexities and racial identities, a critical component in inclusive treatment provision. You can read more about Amber’s approach to therapeutic work here.

With over a decade of hands on experience in the US and internationally, along with extensive post graduate training, Amber brings authenticity, creativity and passion to her work with both a native Brooklyn and international vibe. She is deeply committed to enhancing cross cultural communication and mental health awareness utilizing a trauma informed anti-racist approach in any setting. While honoring her multiple personal and professional roles, Amber consistently seeks out opportunities that continue to challenge her to grow both as a person and as a professional. In her free time she enjoys traveling, pilates, reading and exploring cultures through their native cuisines. She has a special interest in racial, ethnic and cultural identity formation in young children and how they conceptualize who they are in relation to the world they live in.

Education & Post Graduate Training

American University of Sharjah, Double Bachelors Degree International Relations & Public Administration with a Minor in Mass Communications, May 2006

New York University, Master of Social Work, May 2012

The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond: UNDOING RACISM via New York University graduate program, September 2011

Ackerman Institute for the Family - Dual Program in Foundations of Family Therapy & Live Clinical Supervision, June 2015

Ackerman Institute for the Family - Clinical Externship in Family Therapy, July 2016

The Gottman Institute - The Gottman Method: Level 1: Bridging the Couple Chasm with John & Judy Gottman: A Research Based Approach, July 2015

The Beck Institute - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with Aaron Beck, May 2016

New York University - Mindfulness Based Stressed Reduction (MBSR) 8 week course, March 2016

New York Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy (NYCEFT) 4-day Externship in Emotionally Focused Therapy, March 2017

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute: Level I: Affect Dysregulation, Survival Defenses, and Traumatic Memory with Janina Fisher & Amy Gladstone, June 2020