Dave Herz

Dave (he/him) passion has always been to help teens and young adults. After getting my Masters in Education I became a high school teacher at September School in Boulder, CO, a small alternative school where teens and staff were on a first name basis. I loved connecting with the kids and went back to grad school to become a psychotherapist.

In 1998 I went to work for Aim House in Boulder. Aim House was one of the 1st residential transition programs and it was for young men 18-25. I was the first hire and Aim was only 4 months old. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to discover how much I loved mentoring. I have always been grateful for this opportunity.

In 2000, I started Confident Living which turned into Vive Family Support Program some years later. It was and still is a non-residential community based transition program. At the time this really wasn’t happening in our industry and it was a wonderful opportunity to create a support system for teens and young adults returning from residential. When I left in 2017 Vive was in 9 cities across the country.  

I then joined Key Transitions out of Los Angeles where I was on the Leadership Team and helped them grow. But the pull to start my own program was too strong.

I have reconnected with two of my colleagues from Vive to start Wonder.  It has been a fantastic journey thus far. I have made some great friends in this industry and am grateful for this opportunity. Looking forward to helping many more families.

I grew up in Highland Park, IL outside of Chicago. I am a HUGE Cubs fan. I have been happily married for 31 years and have twin boys and a daughter. I am a foodie and love to walk. I can often be seen walking from my house into town which is about seven miles.