SHEILA SHIDNIA BC-MT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR-THERAPEUTIC RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Known for her passion and creativity, Sheila has had a multifaceted career leading teams and guiding creative individuals. A board-certified music therapist, entrepreneur, and advocate for the arts, Sheila is the Founder and Co-Founder of three unique arts-based companies, different in nature but with the same underlying mission - to unlock creative potential. She has worked with Grammy and Tony Award winning producers and artists as well as guided arts-based non-profits to help them reach a broader market. Currently focused in helping individuals through conducting clinical research and therapeutic interaction as a music therapist and marriage and family therapist, her focus has moved from external to internal, though her mission remains the same.

Sheila was a founding board member of Linden Tree Preschool in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. She has also served on the PTA at PS321 in Park Slope Brooklyn, on the board of the SPPC (Society of Promotion of Persian Culture), and is currently an advisor for MAASHA, a non-profit dedicated to eradicating preventable maternal deaths and birth-related complications in low-resource settings. Through her work as a music therapist, she has created arts-based, therapeutic programming for a number of non-profits including Isaiah House, V2V (Village to Village United), and the Elizabeth Library. She is the Founder of SOMA Music Therapy, a private music therapy practice in upstate New York.

Sheila studied piano at Indiana University and University of North Carolina at Asheville, where she majored in classical piano performance and recording technology, with Dr. Robert Moog, a pioneer in electronic music. She is a board-certified music therapist with a Master of Arts in music therapy and is currently receiving a Master of Arts in marriage and family therapy at Syracuse University.

Sheila is a mom to two teenage daughters that remind her that laughter is the key to life. She is honored to apply her knowledge and support to the THREAD team.