Meet Malora

Malora owns and operates Collective Concepts, LLC. This organization was developed out of her lifelong personal passion to support and advocate for youth and their families, as well as her professional experiences through which she has developed expertise in supporting students in vulnerable situations.

Malora currently serves as the coordinator of the McKinney-Vento program for a public school division. Her responsibilities in that role include overseeing all daily operations of the program, program development, supervising staff members, communicating directly with families, educators, and community partners, and writing grant applications for funding. Her tenure as a McKinney-Vento liaison spans twenty years.

Prior to her current position, her professional background includes providing mental health services to at-risk youth. She spent many years as a mental health clinician and case manager for the local community services board. Additionally, she established a group home to support adolescent males’ transition back into the community following incarceration and served as the director, implementing programming for the youth.  

Throughout her career, Malora has learned how to have difficult conversations with students and their caregivers about traumatic and devastating life experiences, which have often resulted in years of cycling in and out of homelessness. As difficult as it can be to hear the layers of trauma they have endured, Malora believes their willingness to share has enabled her to become a better advocate, a better support, and most importantly a better person. She has not only had the privilege of walking alongside many individuals through their hardships, but also has celebrated and experienced the joy they have felt when moving into permanent housing.

Malora holds a Psychology B.S. from Virginia Tech, where she focused on child and family development. Additionally, she earned a Criminal Justice M.S. specializing in supporting those experiencing domestic violence from Radford University.