Marline Francois Madden is the owner and Clinical Director of Hearts Empowerment Counseling Center, phenomenal public speaker, best-selling author of The State of Black Girls, and entrepreneur. With over 17 years of clinical experience, she has become a sought-after expert in mental health, trauma, self-care, and girls leadership. Marline has shared her expertise at dozens of universities, colleges, community organizations, churches and conferencesā including the Congressional Black Caucus for Women and Girls. She was named by the White House as a Nominated Changemaker at the State of the Women summit during the Obama administration and the 2020 FORBES Next 1000 List. Marline has a BA in Psychology from Penn State University and MSW from Rutgers University. She is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at Montclair State University. Her research interest focuses on mental health disparities among Black girls. Marline was recently named by the NASW as 2020 "Social Worker of the Year."