{"id":2,"date":"2011-11-08T11:15:09","date_gmt":"2011-11-08T15:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T17:38:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:38:03","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Counselors"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #008080;\">There are four experienced Community Counselors supporting Host Families and Au Pairs in Washington, DC.\u00a0 <\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1981\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"231\" height=\"324\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM.png 564w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM-214x300.png 214w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 231px) 100vw, 231px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>Melli Bennett<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>For the past 20 years, Melli has been helping her host families and au pairs in the Washington, DC area have successful matches together. She is originally from Estonia and is a mom of two adolescent children.\u00a0 After earning a journalism and public relations degree from the University of Tartu, Melli worked for different newspapers and magazines in Estonia as a writer, editor, and editor-in-chief. Coming from a small country, Melli loves to meet new cultures and have first-hand experience with them. In addition to traveling, she likes to spend her free time reading, gardening, and hiking.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008080;\">\u00a0 \u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1873 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2025\/08\/Natalie-Skidmore.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"239\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2025\/08\/Natalie-Skidmore.jpg 960w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2025\/08\/Natalie-Skidmore-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2025\/08\/Natalie-Skidmore-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2025\/08\/Natalie-Skidmore-624x832.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 239px) 100vw, 239px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\">Natalie Skidmore<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Natalie has a degree in Mass Communications from the University of California, Berkeley. She worked in television news and public relations before coming to Au Pair in America. In her free time, Natalie enjoys time outdoors with her family as well as trapeze and Italian language and culture.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/09\/IMG_6149-scaled.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1336 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/09\/IMG_6149-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"244\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/09\/IMG_6149-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/09\/IMG_6149-769x1024.jpeg 769w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/09\/IMG_6149-768x1022.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/09\/IMG_6149-1154x1536.jpeg 1154w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/09\/IMG_6149-1539x2048.jpeg 1539w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/09\/IMG_6149-624x831.jpeg 624w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/09\/IMG_6149-scaled.jpeg 1923w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 244px) 100vw, 244px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #008080;\">Maria G. Clements<\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Maria is originally from Ohio and holds a bachelor&#8217;s degree in Nursing. She has lived all over the US as well as in Europe and Asia. \u00a0Maria provided social work services through several DC area nonprofits before joining Au Pair in America. \u00a0The cultural exchange process is of great interest to Maria, who is studying Italian and dreams to one day own a home in Northern Italy.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-21-at-9.15.15-AM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1384 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-21-at-9.15.15-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"233\" height=\"331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-21-at-9.15.15-AM.png 536w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-21-at-9.15.15-AM-212x300.png 212w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 233px) 100vw, 233px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #008080;\">Ariel Rubin<\/span><\/h3>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Ariel Rubin has been a community counselor since 2017. Ariel has a degree in history and lived abroad in both Europe and North Africa before settling down in Washington, DC. \u00a0She loves working with families who need childcare and support Au Pairs from around the world as they embark on the adventure of moving to Washington, DC. \u00a0Ariel has had four incredible Au Pairs for her own four children.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are four experienced Community Counselors supporting Host Families and Au Pairs in Washington, DC.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM.png\"><\/a> Melli Bennett For the past 20 years, Melli has been helping her host families and au pairs in the Washington, DC area have successful matches together. She is originally from Estonia and is a mom of two adolescent  <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Meet the Counselors - Capital City Au Pairs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet the Counselors - Capital City Au Pairs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are four experienced Community Counselors supporting Host Families and Au Pairs in Washington, DC.\u00a0 Melli Bennett For the past 20 years, Melli has been helping her host families and au pairs in the Washington, DC area have successful matches together. She is originally from Estonia and is a mom of two adolescent Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Capital City Au Pairs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-05T21:38:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"564\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"792\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/about\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/about\\\/\",\"name\":\"Meet the Counselors - Capital City Au Pairs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/about\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/about\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/82\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-08T15:15:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-05T21:38:03+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/about\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/about\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/about\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/82\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/82\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM.png\",\"width\":564,\"height\":792},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/about\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Meet the Counselors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/\",\"name\":\"Capital City Au Pairs\",\"description\":\"Your Resource for Au Pair in America While Living in Washington, DC\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Au Pair in America\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/82\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/APIA.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/82\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/APIA.jpg\",\"width\":165,\"height\":165,\"caption\":\"Au Pair in America\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\\\/dcc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meet the Counselors - Capital City Au Pairs","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meet the Counselors - Capital City Au Pairs","og_description":"There are four experienced Community Counselors supporting Host Families and Au Pairs in Washington, DC.\u00a0 Melli Bennett For the past 20 years, Melli has been helping her host families and au pairs in the Washington, DC area have successful matches together. She is originally from Estonia and is a mom of two adolescent Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/","og_site_name":"Capital City Au Pairs","article_modified_time":"2026-10-05T21:38:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":564,"height":792,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/","name":"Meet the Counselors - Capital City Au Pairs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM.png","datePublished":"2011-11-08T15:15:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-05T21:38:03+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.17.16-PM.png","width":564,"height":792},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/about\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Meet the Counselors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/","name":"Capital City Au Pairs","description":"Your Resource for Au Pair in America While Living in Washington, DC","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/#organization","name":"Au Pair in America","url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2019\/01\/APIA.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2019\/01\/APIA.jpg","width":165,"height":165,"caption":"Au Pair in America"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1986,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/1986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/dcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}