Elizabeth Occhipinti

Co-Founder & Executive Director

Elizabeth Occhipinti Co-Founder & President of Miriam’s Heart, Miriam's Heart is a NJ based non-profit that provides support to adopted and foster children and families. Elizabeth and her husband Jim first developed Miriam’s Heart in 2009. Elizabeth is a TBRI practitioner trained at Texas Christian University, holds a BS in Human Services and is currently pursuing her MS in Child and Adolescent Psychology. As a trained TRBI practitioner, Elizabeth studied and maintains working relationships with the renowned team at the Texas Christian University’s Karyn Purvis' Institute of Child Development, where she studied the effects of trauma and loss. Elizabeth can often be heard calling herself a ‘student of life’ and she continues to pursue her education and training at various colleges and institutions to best guide her work. A NYC Leadership Fellow in the 2016-2017 class, Elizabeth also serves on the international Orphan Sunday leadership team for the Christian Alliance for Orphans. Instrumental in the development of the Stand Sunday initiative, Elizabeth works alongside the National Foster Care Initiative as a liaison from the Orphan Sunday leadership team. Recently completing Transformational Leadership, Elizabeth is also a member of the NJ non-profit roundtable. Seeing the church and the family as the two groups tasked with looking after vulnerable children, Elizabeth tirelessly reaches out, networks to bring children into families who are supported and prepared. The heart of our organization, Elizabeth’s passion and commitment to a world where children grasp their preciousness and families are restored is matched only by her determination to support adopted and foster children. Adoptive and licensed foster parents themselves, Jim & Elizabeth have 5 children who keep their New Jersey home appropriately busy and can often be seen dancing and singing in their kitchen as they clear the dinner table.