Terry Olivas-De La O C.O.T.A./C
Founder
terrydelao@familysuccessbydesign.org
Terry Olivas-De La O, C.O.T.A., has been an Occupational Therapy Practitioner for over 29 years. She has dedicated her work and advocacy for those with physical and mental health needs at the community, state and national levels. She continues to volunteer numerous hours toward cultural competency issues and awareness, and has received several awards and recognition for her work in many areas.
Ms. Olivas-De La O was the first Latina Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant to be voted by the national membership of the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc., to hold voice and vote as a Board Member, which she did for over four years. She actively participated in policy-making decisions, advocating on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., for the rights of those who need Occupational Therapy services. She was also the first Latina to hold the Chairmanship for the AOTA Cultural Competence and Diversity Committee, where she assisted the association and its members in raising cultural competency for those served by Occupational Therapy Practitioners.
In 2003, Ms. Olivas-De La O envisioned and founded the first Young Latino Boys’ Conference in the state of California. This unique conference aimed to foster self-esteem and awareness in young Latino males, through education and mentorship. Nationally recognized, it continues annually under the direction of Ms. Olivas-De La O’s founded nonprofit, Family Success By Design, Inc.
A domestic-violence survivor herself, Ms. Olivas-De La O sees the need for community involvement in addressing social change. She has turned her own sympathy into action, volunteering countless hours to safe homes and shelters, where she has linked her professional and private passions to develop and design life changes for many women and youth, whose lives have flourished with her help.
Mentoring is a huge part of Ms. Olivas-De La O’s life and implementation into her work and volunteerism. She addresses issues of those in foster care by providing her occupational therapy knowledge to address not only life skills, but life long goals of daily successful skills through her sessions and mentoring projects.
As the CEO and founder of Family Success by Design, Inc and a successful business owner of three other small companies Ms. Olivas-De La O strives further to serve the communities most in need with her expertise in Occupational Therapy and community advocacy. She brings to the business her passion to assist families and children in need, so that they may strive further themselves, toward higher education, healthier lifestyles and more productive and successful futures.