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Join the HABA Community! Whether you are a BCBA, BCaBA, RBT, student, parent, affiliate, or allied professional, there is a place for you here. Connect, collaborate, and grow with a community rooted in support, education, and the advancement of behavioral services across Hawaiʻi. |
ʻOhana Means Family
Families are at the heart of everything we do. It is through the trust, collaboration, and dedication of families that behavior analysts, technicians, and supervisors are able to make a meaningful impact in the lives of those they serve. This page is dedicated to the families who place their confidence in our field and partner with us each day. Our goal is to foster a supportive community where families can connect, access resources, and continue learning about Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and the important role it plays in supporting their loved ones. Together, we can build understanding, strengthen partnerships, and create opportunities for growth and success. |
Parent Representative 2026
Parent Representative Jessica McCullum Jessica is a Hawaiʻi-based systems advocate, legislative leader, and nonprofit executive advancing structural change for individuals with autism and complex disabilities across the state and beyond. A Kailua-Kona native and mother of three children on the autism spectrum, ages 12, 10, and 3. Her advocacy is grounded in lived experience and driven by long-term policy impact. Her eldest child, Ava, for whom the Ava Sofia Foundation is named, is profoundly autistic, nonverbal, and has a lifelong disability, shaping Jessica’s unwavering focus on equity, access, and accountability across education, healthcare, and social service systems. She is the founder and executive leader of the Ava Sofia Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that began as a grassroots parent-to-parent network and has grown into a recognized community and systems-level force serving hundreds of families. Through strategic partnerships, cross-sector collaboration, and policy-informed program design, her work has supported more than 300 families with respite access, therapeutic programming, and inclusive community engagement, while also identifying and addressing systemic gaps that affect families statewide. Beyond direct service, Jessica operates at the intersection of legislation, education systems, and disability rights. She serves on the Hawaiʻi State Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC) and is the Hawaiʻi State Advocacy Leader for the Profound Autism Alliance, where she contributes to statewide and national efforts focused on policy reform, data-driven decision-making, and long-term systems transformation for individuals with profound autism and intellectual disabilities. Jessica’s work extends beyond Kona, influencing policy conversations and advocacy frameworks that prioritize lifespan supports, family sustainability, and meaningful inclusion. She is widely recognized for translating family experience into actionable policy insight, bridging community voice with institutional change to ensure individuals with autism are seen, supported, and protected at every level of the system. |
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