Leigh Kokenes is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist in Raleigh, North Carolina and works at an elementary and middle school in an urban school district. Her early career included work on a birth to age 3 early intervention team and later working with adults who are developmentally disabled. She then found her way to the field of School Psychology. Ms. Kokenes serves on her professional association's board (North Carolina School Psychology Association) to support advocacy for increased mental health services in schools, recruitment, and retention. In 2019 Ms. Kokenes was awarded the National School Psychologist of the Year award by NASP. She is a member of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) and is currently a state liaison for the Government Professional Relations committee. Her goal is to provide comprehensive school psychological services within teams through social emotional learning, consultation to teachers and parents, assessment/evaluations, intervention teams, advocacy for students, and data analysis. Taking risks to support fragile humans in the world is important to Ms. Kokenes. In 2017 she was awarded the Practitioner of the Year by NC School Psychology Association and was awarded the School Psychologist of the Year for 2015-2016 by Wake County Public School System.