About Us

who we are

A Path to Hope came about on the encouragement of my dear friend, Carol. It had been a long 18-months of navigating the mental healthcare puzzle in search of help for a member of our family who was suffering in silence with anxiety and depression. As a nurse and a mother, I could not believe how difficult it was to find the help we needed. We did the best we could through trial and error and eventually formed an aggressive treatment plan to start the healing process. Our path was rough and bumpy and had finally smoothed out and the healing that we prayed for finally started to take place. It was then that I decided to do something to make the path of others a little easier to navigate.

Our mission is to offer support and guidance to jump start the process for parents who have a child who is suffering. In the past several years, the occurrence of suicide in our community has been staggering; our children are facing challenges that we cannot comprehend. They are reminded of their insecurities 24/7 by social media. I am not suggesting that these tragedies could have been prevented, I am simply offering to share what I have learned (the good, the bad, and the ugly).

If you know of someone who may not know where to turn, please share this page. I pray that I can help ease the stress of the process for someone.

Holly O’Connell

Founder, Holly O'Connell

Holly O’Connell is the Founder of A Path To Hope nonprofit organization. Founded in 2018, the mission of A Path To Hope is to offer guidance and support to those navigating the mental health system. Holly recognized the need for improved access to information, increased knowledge of available resources, and a better understanding of mental health therapies and services. APTH accomplishes this through community presentations, support groups, and an annual resource fair bringing together the providers with the community. “Every family has a story; we chose to share ours to help others learn from our experience”.

Holly graduated from Salve Regina University in Newport, RI where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing.

Holly has spent most of her career focused on cardiology working in all aspects from ICU to outpatient. She recently started working in primary care. Holly, her husband and their 3 children have been residents of Uwchlan Township since 2004. They enjoy the outdoors, hiking and paddle boarding on March Creek, and spending time at the beach.

Executive Director, Dana Emery

Dana is the Executive Director of A Path to Hope. She brings with her an extensive background in supporting children with special needs in the home and educational setting. With over 15 years of experience as a special and regular education teacher and leader, Dana has assisted families in understanding their children’s diagnoses. She helped school teams develop and implement educational plans for students that enhanced confidence and maximized learning. Dana has navigated the mental health system for a family member and understands the complexities and struggles of finding the most effective support. Her goal is to help family members find the right help for their loved ones and provide them with the empathy and solidarity they need to continue fighting.

Dana graduated with a certification in Regular and Special Education and completed her master’s in Educational Leadership and Administration at Immaculata University.

When Dana is not supporting and advocating for families, she can be found taking long walks with her two boxer mix pups, getting lost in a historical fiction novel, or spending quality time with her three children and husband.

Chief Financial Officer, Suzy Koleseike

Suzy Koloseike earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Widener University. She began her career as a tax accountant at KPMG, LLP in Philadelphia. She worked on tax returns for high net worth individuals, trusts and large corporations. After 3 ½ years, she left KPMG to work with some former co-workers at Fairman Group Family Office in Berwyn, PA. She served as a manager/senior manager for 7 years. She concentrated on various tax returns and tax planning for high net worth individuals, foundations, trusts and estates.

In 2013, she started a family and left the professional world to be home with her children and step-children. Although her favorite job is being a mom, she misses some aspects of her professional career. She is very happy to be able to use her accounting skills to help A Path To Hope accomplish all of their financial goals. Mental health is such an important issue, especially in our local community today. She looks forward to being a part of a non-profit organization who is so passionate about this subject.

Suzy, her husband Kurt, and 7 total children live in Exton, PA. When they are not busy attending a sporting event, school activity or social event, they love spending time at the beach with their family.