Penny Russell is the Campus Director at Wayside Youth & Family Support Network in Framingham, Massachusetts. She oversees seven adolescent residential programs, a special education school and a psychiatric day partial hospital program. Penny oversees risk, compliance and worker safety for all the adolescent and young adult programs within Wayside. Penny has over 15 years of experience as a Therapeutic Crisis Intervention trainer teaching trauma informed de-escalation skills to mental health professionals.. In addition to being a Therapeutic Crisis Intervention trainer, Penny also provides training and consultation for behavioral health agencies, schools, police departments and other human services organizations around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion through the Wayside Equity Training Center. These trainings focus on the role and impact of bias, microaggressions, and how to have difficult and authentic conversations in the workplace. Penny’s registered therapy dog, Maximus also often visits the residential programs where he brings comfort to youth who reside there.
Penny Russell
