meet our founder

Born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area to a 19-year-old single mother, Tiahna Pantovich, LMSW was exposed to challenges and barrieres at the basic stages of Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs: food, shelter, and clothing. To solve the barreir of overcoming scarcity and poverty in the first stage of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Tiahna did what 1% of the U.S. population does - she joined the U.S. Army as an Arabic Cryptologic Linguist in the military intelligence wing of Active Duty. Tiahna loved languages and now can converse in four languages. While in the Army, she was an advocate for Sexual Assault survivors who faced difficulty in the second and third stages of Maslow’s Hierarch of Needs: safety and love. After experiencing her own MST and retalliation from command for reporting, Tiahna worked closely with the Inspector General headquarted at the Pentagon investigating conditions at Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, TX & Fort Cavazos (Hood) in Killeen, TX. Tiahna’s claims were substantiated, and thousands of other troops were vindicated in their ability to feel personal security, healthy intimacy, and the ability to report trasgressions of these needs without repercussions.
After the Army, she studied and conducted research at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to earn a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Community Action and Social Change, working hard to make the social space around her more equitable for everyone.
After graduating from Michigan, Tiahna enrolled at Howard University School of Social Work as a graduate student. While studying at The Mecca, the VA suspended new filings for VA educational benefits at the university. Tiahna navigated barriers at the fourth stage of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, where respect fo service, strength in advocacy, and secure status for service-connected individuals at higher institutions became priorities. Tiahna was a ferocious advocate in D.C. for student veterans and military-connected individuals from 2020-2024. So much so, she was nominated as a finalist for the National Student Veteran of the Year Award for 2022.
During this stage of growth, Tiahna was a veteran with The Washington Center, where she volunteered at The American Legion Legislative Division on K Street in Washington, D.C. As the Policy & Advocacy Strategist for the Black Veterans Empowerment Council, Tiahna lobbied Congress and the VA to pass laws intended to improve the lives of marginalized veterans. In September 2022, Tiahna launched VETSxHBCU - a comprehensive support system for the military-connected community on HBCU campuses across the nation. She has direct Capitol Hill experience via the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs (117th Congess) and local advocacy experience with The White House, meeting with the Presidentof the United States in 2023.
A part of the inaugural cohort of the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute Leadership Fellowship at The George Washington University's Institute of Public Health, she continued advocating for veterans through an Op-Ed in The Baltimore Sun regarding the recognition of state laws that apply to veterans’ health care and the freedom to participate in healthcare that best benefits the individual veteran themselves - another challenge in the fourth step of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
She has been a Howard-prepared Licensed Master Social Worker practicing in the DMV, specializing in anxiety, depression, grief, mood disorders, substance use, and trauma for years. Using eclectic approaches, she has coached over 150 clients, to date, towards healthy coping strategies, instilling robust psychology toolboxes to support clients long-term. Many clients will say that Tiahna is the best therapist or consultant they’ve ever had!

Upon entering the fifth, and final, step of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Tiahna spent years determining what it meant have a “desire to become the most that one can be.” It means putting forth a genuine effort every single day “to become the most complete and authentic version of ourselves.” Tiahna decided that the busy life in Washington, D.C. could not be forever, but the dark isolation of cold winters in Michigan takes a toll on one’s mental health. Upon self-actualizing, Tiahna decided that, true to the Pisces she is, one half of her soul loved the loud advocacy opportunities in D.C., and the other half loved the quiet of the Northern wilderness.
After buying a home in Historic East Baltimore with her lovely cats, Tiahna married a Coastie and bought a 5-acre farm for her littles, animals, and hobbies in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Tiahna enjoys spending her time on the East Coast advocating for veterans, providing mental health therapy to over 100 amazing Marylanders, and catching live music at the best venues. Tiahna and her husband spend time in the Midwest raising the next generation of America's leaders, nurturing food from the earth, and coaching incredible people to become their absolute best version of themselves.

Tiahna cares about people, and wants the people she works with every day to become their best version of themselves - whoever that may be!