Melissa is a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP); she completed her Master’s Degree at Idaho State University. Originally, Melissa joined us as a Speech-Language Pathologist Assistant after completing her Bachelor’s Degree at Sacramento State University. She is a native of Northern California but has enjoyed calling Clovis home!

Melissa has experienced a variety of settings and populations that included both adults and pediatric disorders. Melissa is driven to empower her clients and their families with their communication needs. She is passionate about advocating for her patients and providing them with resources they need to feel empowered.

Melissa enjoys working with children with a variety of communication profiles and disorders, as this is where her initial spark came from for the field of speech-language pathology. What really makes Melissa's day is when she can see it "click" with a child and how quickly communication is enhanced with their communication partners. Additionally, she is absolutely inspired by seeing the growth in communication between her client and their care-givers. It's truly amazing.

Melissa also discovered a new love for the adult population during her clinical experience at Idaho State. She enjoyed working with patients suffering from traumatic brain injuries, strokes, and more and advocating for services to assist in regaining swallowing function, cognitive deficits, and expressive and receptive language.

Melissa is excited to rejoin the Empower team as she knows the supportive environment with the staff creates a positive environment for clients to make growth, develop new skills, and/or regain skills that may have been lost. She is happy to be able to support the Central Valley community!

Christina Yin is a Speech-Language Pathologist from Texas. She grew up singing in church, choir, and musical events, and studied choral music education and music therapy before switching majors to pursue a career in Speech-Language Pathology, using her voice in a different way—to help others learn and connect.

She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at The University of Texas at Dallas, and began working as a Speech-Language Pathologist for the Garland Independent School District, and also the Round Rock Independent School District upon moving to Austin, TX. She worked with preschool through high school-aged students with a wide range of disabilities during her time in the public schools. She has experience with interventions based on the SCERTS model, the DIR/Floortime model, and the ABA model. She loves working with toddler, preschool, and elementary-aged children—making connections with them, facilitating growth in their speech and language skills, and helping them make connections with their family and friends.

During her free time she enjoys spending time with her friends, her two dogs, and her family. She and her husband relocated to Fresno in spring of 2020. She is grateful for the opportunity to connect with the families and staff at Empower, and seeks to make speech and language learning a worthwhile and enjoyable experience!

Emily Martinez-Figueroa returns to Empower after completing her graduate internship with us. She is a Central Valley native and a Spanish-English bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist Clinical Fellow (CF-SLP) who recently graduated from Emerson College.

Emily now looks forward to serving diverse and dynamic populations within her community and prioritizes personal connections, collaboration, and transparency.  She believes that patient and family centered care are critical for engagement of patients. Emily has found that she loves working with toddler, preschool, and elementary-aged students in providing intervention and assessment.

During her free time, Emily enjoys hiking and looks forward to spending time with family and friends.

Idsel's brother is autistic, and she developed an interest for the field of Speech Pathology from joining her brother's speech therapy sessions, and seeing the importance of communication. She chose this field with the excitement and knowledge that speech-language therapy can be incredibly impactful, as it was for her family.

Prior to receiving her SLPA license, Idsel previously worked as a behavioral therapist in ABA with Autistic children, further solidifying her passion for this population. She saw the power of working *with* her clients versus doing therapy "to", as well as the importance of ongoing collaboration and open communication with caregivers. Idsel also had experience as a Certified Nurse Assistant, where she enjoyed providing care to a variety of cultural and SES background patients.  Idsel is passionate about working with children and always finds a way to make every session fun and exciting, while working toward goals. Her favorite aspects of therapy is seeing the excitement and joy in children when coming to session, and the joy in caregivers when seeing their children make progress and demonstrate skills that was previously challenging.

After earning my Bachelor's degree in Communicative Disorders from Fresno State, I went on to obtain my SLPA license from California State University, East Bay (CSUEB). My journey in the field of speech-language pathology began with an internship here at Empower where I gained hands-on experience that solidified my desire to contribute to a team focused on personalized and client-focused care.

Before becoming an SLPA, I worked as an Early Intervention Specialist, where I strengthened my ability to observe, assess, and adjust therapy techniques to meet the unique needs of each child. These are skills that have seamlessly carried over with me as I grow my career and knowledge at Empower.

I am deeply committed to making a meaningful difference in the lives of my clients and their families, and I am always excited to continue learning and growing professionally. Every day brings new opportunities to advocate for those I work with, and I’m proud to be part of a team that values compassion, collaboration, and progress.

In my free time, I enjoy finding and exploring local trails to walk and traveling to new places where I find inspiration and relaxation.

Jessica is a Spanish-speaking SLPA who has worked with Empower since 2015. Jessica prioritizes understanding each family's unique situation in order to provide individualized and functional support and intervention for each family. She is passionate about AAC and working with individuals with complex communication needs, of all ages.