Lifestyle
Inside L.A.'s invite-only mom group that’s better than Google
At first, Cathlene Pineda was reluctant to join the Atwater Village Moms’ Facebook group.
The jazz pianist and composer doesn’t particularly like Facebook, and she’s wary of online communities. But she acquiesced because, as she put it, “Some other moms were like, ‘You have to be part of this group.’”
After joining in 2021, she realized it had benefits. When she needed a trustworthy mechanic, the Atwater Moms told her who to call. When she was ready to sleep train her baby, they recommended books like “The Happy Sleeper” and “The No-Cry Sleep Solution.” When she went to Vegas, they told her to stay at the Cosmopolitan.
Then, a few months into her membership, she was diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer. She had a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old at home and couldn’t imagine how she would get through the long, involved treatment her doctors prescribed. Not sure what else to do, she turned to the Atwater Moms for help.
“I was expecting what I usually got, which is a few responses,” she said. Instead, more than 90 women commented on her post. They shared lists of specialists and free resources, including how to sign up for meal services and get a one-time cash grant. But for Pineda, their validation helped the most.
“Some of the women who commented had gone through this when their kids were the same age as my children and they said, ‘You can do this,’” she said. “I didn’t even really need the advice. I just needed to feel real.”
Founded in 2011 as a way for new mothers in Atwater Village to meet each other, the Atwater Village Mom’s Group has evolved over time to become a crowdsourcing powerhouse with more than 6,000 members scattered across L.A. and around the world. One member in a recent post called it the best advice group on the Internet. Another described it in an interview as “Yelp times 100.”
“Obviously I still Google things, but before I do, I ask myself: ‘Can I ask Atwater Village Moms?’” said Swati Kapila, an actress and mother of a 2-year-old. “People jokingly call it Moogle all the time — Mom Google. It’s mama mutual aid.”
If you have questions about summer camps, the going rate for nannies, the best local preschools or where to go for date night — the Atwater Moms have answers. They’ve helped one another find gifts for their partners, swapped recommendations for the best birthday party parks and compared experiences with pediatricians, dentists and kid barbers. At the same time, they’ve supported each other through life’s biggest challenges, many of which extend far beyond birthing and caring for a child.
Daryl Dickerson, a mother of two who teaches gardening at a charter school, bought a car from a mom in the group. It was the first step in her divorce. When Sharon Sognalian’s apartment rental fell through, the legal staffer and mother of a 12-year-old moved into another member’s back house.
Tanya Reyes, a mother of three who teaches at a school for pregnant and parenting teens in Echo Park, said members of Atwater Moms have donated strollers, car seats and used clothes to her students. Any time she posts her Amazon wishlist to the group, packages soon appear at the school.
“This community has allowed me to serve my community of students,” she said. “It’s moms supporting moms.”
“People jokingly call it Moogle all the time — Mom Google. It’s mama mutual aid.”
— Swati Kapila, Atwater Village Moms member
Reyes has received other types of support from the group as well. When she recently posted about the challenges of getting her “neurospicy” kid out of the house each morning, she got 87 responses. Like Pineda, she said her fellow moms’ solidarity was even more valuable than their advice. “It’s nice to know I’m not crazy, this is really happening.”
Brandi Jordan, a parenting specialist who has worked as a doula for celebrities like Julia Stiles, Mandy Moore and Megan Fox, never expected this kind of communal support when she started Atwater Village Moms back in 2011, soon after Facebook first introduced its groups feature. At the time she was running a boutique called the Cradle Company that catered to Atwater’s moms and babies. Her oldest son, now 16, was just 3.
She and another mom, Leonora Pitts, started the group to connect with other women with babies in the area and to coordinate occasional meet-ups at the park. She’d heard of similar groups on the Westside but didn’t think they would be her vibe. “I’m not trying to figure out how to get my baby’s eyebrows waxed,” she said. “But good on you if that’s your thing.”
Initially Jordan and her co-founder aimed for 25 women to join Atwater Village Moms, but word spread and interest soared. Then they thought the group might top out at 200, but it quickly surpassed that number too. The criteria for joining then were the same as they are now: You must be a parent, identify as female or nonbinary and — though you’re not required to live in Atwater Village, or even L.A. — you must be invited by another member to join. (A discussion about whether men can join the group is ongoing, but for now they remain excluded.)
“This community has allowed me to serve my community of students. It’s moms supporting moms.”
— Tanya Reyes, Atwater Village Moms
Jordan doesn’t have demographic data on the group, but she said that, historically, members tend to be white and affluent and live on the Eastside. But in recent years, there’s been a shift. “We’ve had more women of color joining,” said Jordan, who is Black. “As people have seen it is a safe space, they are sharing with more women of color.”
Atwater Village Moms has gone through different phases over the years. In the early days, discussions centered around places to go with small kids and member meet-ups. As time went on, it grew into a general resource for any question about L.A. and beyond. The posts became more political after the 2016 election and again after what Jordan describes as “the George Floyd era,” when the moms in the group began more openly discussing race.
“It was difficult, but as a group we didn’t give up,” she said. “We have this idea that this place is not safe — it’s brave. We’re going to make mistakes, we’re going to get over it, we’re going to talk about it and we’re going to hear different sides. And we started making rules to support that.”
Before joining, the group members have to agree to a set of rules that includes respecting everyone’s privacy (no screenshotting posts), refraining from hate speech or bullying and abstaining from deleting a post because it’s drawing unwanted comments (this is grounds for removal).
“Anything that affects women and mothers, you can talk about in the group and we don’t limit that conversation,” Jordan said. “But we also tell people you have to understand that people are going to voice opposite opinions and you have to be OK with that.”
Lauren Amaro, a professor of communication at Pepperdine University who has studied online mom groups (and who recently found a general practitioner on a moms Facebook group in Camarillo), said it’s rare for a group the size of Atwater Moms to be seen in such a positive light by its members. These communities can devolve into mom-shaming that is especially painful for new parents.
“The fact that women are willing to trust other women on the internet is both a beautiful and necessary thing and sometimes, depending on the topic and context, unwise,” she said. “There is a really wide range of how these mom groups function.”
Careful moderation, along with clear, consistent rules, can help groups like Atwater Moms thrive, she said.
Liza Sacilioc, a communications specialist who has been a member of the group for more than a decade, said Jordan is a skilled moderator. “Brandi does a really good job seeing people and setting the ground rules without it feeling like a slap on the hand,” she said. “We’re a very respectful group.”
“We have this idea that this place is not safe — it’s brave. We’re going to make mistakes, we’re going to get over it, we’re going to talk about it and we’re going to hear different sides.”
— Brandi Jordan, co-founder and moderator of Atwater Village Moms
Three years after she joined Atwater Moms, Pineda is grateful for all she’s gained as a member. A self-described introvert, she said it wasn’t like her to post about her cancer diagnosis to a group of 6,000 people. But somehow, doing it on Atwater Village Moms felt safe.
“For me to share that, I had to feel that they would respond appropriately and helpfully, and in so many Facebook groups that’s not the case,” she said. “Looking back at some of those comments, they were like: ‘I have no advice, I’m just sending you love and holding you close in my heart.’ That’s it. Everyone was so respectful.”
And today, with her cancer in remission, she often finds herself responding to other women’s questions, whether they’re about cancer, child-rearing or just life in general.
“You want to help someone if you can,” she said. “It takes five minutes to say, ‘This worked for me, I don’t know if it will work for you.’ And also: You’re doing a great job.’”
Maxim Naumov performs in exhibition after being named to the 2026 U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis on Jan. 11.
Brian Munoz/St. Louis Public Radio
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Brian Munoz/St. Louis Public Radio
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At the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January, almost exactly a year after he lost his parents — who were also his coaches — Max Naumov won a bronze medal and a spot on the Olympic team.
“Fulfilling the dream that we collectively had as a family since I first was on the ice at five years old … It means absolutely everything,” Naumov, now 24, said from nationals in St. Louis. “And I know they’re looking down, smiling, and proud.”
Last January, when Naumov placed fourth at nationals for the third year in a row, he joined his parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, for a heart-to-heart in their hotel room in Wichita, Kan. to talk strategy. He remembers not being able to hug his mom. She was sick and did not want him to fall ill so close to his next competition.
“It was a very productive, emotional and just inspiring conversation,” said Naumov. “My dad said that we have to change our mindset, we have to get more consistent in the areas that we talked about and just overall have a resilient attitude to the entire approach of the season.”
That was one of the last times they spoke.
Naumov flew home to Massachusetts after the event ended. His parents — renowned Russian-born pairs skaters who coached at the Skating Club of Boston — stayed a few extra days in Wichita for an invitation-only development camp for promising young skaters and their support systems.
Many of those skaters, relatives and coaches, including Naumov’s parents, were among the 67 people who died on Jan. 29, 2025, when a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines regional jet on its landing at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The tragedy killed 28 members of the tight-knit figure skating community, many of them based in the Boston and D.C. areas.
The loss of the rising skating stars, beloved parent volunteers and longtime coaches is felt acutely at their home rinks and throughout the entire skating world, especially as the anniversary of the crash approaches. It comes just a week before the start of the Winter Olympics, when Naumov’s story — and the sport itself — will come under an even brighter spotlight.
Maxim Naumov holds a photo of his parents while he waits for his scores after competing in the men’s short program competition during the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis on Jan. 8. His parents were killed last year when an American Airlines regional jet collided with a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter over the Potomac River, near Washington, D.C.
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“They were truly just really good people that we respect, family of choice,” said Doug Zeghibe, the CEO of the Skating Club of Boston, which lost two teenage skaters and their moms, in addition to Naumov’s parents. “And I think we’re at the point now where missing them is turning into: what can we do to honor them and remember them and make sure we carry them forward.”
Many in the skating community told NPR that, a year on, there is a continued focus on honoring the victims’ legacies both on and off the ice. Tributes include makeshift memorials and poignant performances, as well as financial and mental health resources for other young skaters — many of whom have Olympic dreams of their own.
“We’re all feeling a greater sense of purpose,” Zeghibe said.
How skaters are channeling their grief
Those interviewed recalled the days after the crash as a painful blur.
“We were all just in shock and nobody knew what to do,” said Heather Nemier, president of the Washington Figure Skating Club, which has some 1,400 members at roughly half a dozen rinks across the D.C. area. “A lot of kids came to the rink and left because they just felt like they couldn’t skate.”
Heather Nemier, president of the Washington Figure Skating Club at the Ashburn Ice House in Ashburn, Va., where a number of the figure skaters trained who were victims in the air crash last January.
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Tyrone Turner for NPR
The Washington Figure Skating Club lost seven members: three skaters — Franco Aparicio and sisters Everly (Evy) and Alydia (Liddy) Livingston — their coach, and three of their parents. Nemier said the unofficial spots at the Virginia rink where those skaters usually left their stuff sat empty for weeks, since no one wanted to occupy them.
But over the course of the year, she said, their fellow skaters have found ways to process that grief, with help from mental health counselors, therapy dogs, friendship bracelets, letter writing, public memorials and quiet spaces for reflection.
And many have returned to the ice with a newfound motivation. (That was also the case for Naumov, who was unsure if he would skate again until he returned to competition in the summer.)
“I’ve heard a number of [D.C.-area skaters] say, ‘You know, Evy can’t skate anymore but I can, and I’m going to get out there and do my best,’” Nemier said.
At the Ashburn Ice House, a memorial was created with photos and information honoring a coach, three skaters and their parents who died in the crash.
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Tyrone Turner for NPR
Sofia Bezkorovainaya, now 15, did just that. The Virginia-based skater moved the crowd — and the internet — at January’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis with her “Over the Rainbow” short program, a tribute to Everly Livingston, her best friend of nearly a decade.
“If there were flies on the ice, she’d pick them up and bring them to the heater so that they could come back to life,” Bezkorovainaya told NPR after competing in St. Louis. “She always cared about everybody, and she was such an amazing skater.”
For months after the crash, Bezkorovainaya said she was “sad all the time” and feared she would never feel better. She even switched to another Virginia rink because of how empty her old one felt without the familiar faces.
Then she decided to learn Livingston’s choreography and compete with it in her memory.
In the opening and closing moments of the program, Bezkorovainaya said, “I look up to the bright lights up there and I hug myself and I imagine her hugging me.” Her long program is dedicated to her late longtime coach, Inna Volyanskaya, whose distinctive corrections she says she can still hear in her head while practicing.
“Doing these programs was like having them with me this season,” she said. “And before I got on the ice, I could always pray to Inna and Evy and everyone else who I was friends with on that plane … like, ‘Please help me do a clean program today.’”
Bezkorovainaya was one of three skaters at nationals whose program explicitly paid tribute to loved ones lost in the crash. Others, including Naumov, held up photos as they waited for their scores.
Sofia Bezkorovainaya skates during the “Legacy On Ice” U.S. Figure Skating Benefit at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on March 2, 2025. She one of three skaters at nationals whose program explicitly paid tribute to loved ones lost in the crash.
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“I think it’s admirable that they’ve come up with ways of coping with such a terrible loss that is meaningful to them and is meaningful to other people, too,” Nemier said. “And to be able to share that with the public and with the skating community, I think is really important.”
Boston-based Patrick Blackwell, 17, skated to honor his friend Spencer Lane, even including a clip of the music Lane had planned to compete with this season. Blackwell ultimately won gold at the junior level, which he said was “not just for me but the ones who passed a year ago.”
“It’s kind of my gift to Spencer, his dad and every other family member, being able to bring gold home to a place where a lot of lives were lost,” he said.
Clubs look to keep legacies alive
Local and national figure skating organizations are working on more permanent ways to honor the victims’ memories.
And in early March, the U.S. figure skating community came together in Washington, D.C. for “Legacy on Ice,” a benefit show that raised $1.2 million for first responders and victims’ loved ones. It featured moving performances by a huge roster of Olympians, past and present, as well as several young skaters directly affected by the crash, including Naumov.
More recently, the focus has shifted to the next generation of skaters: making sure they remember those who were lost, and making it easier for them to pursue the dreams they shared.
The Skating Club of Boston, for example, has created the “Always Champions Campaign” to fund two permanent scholarships, one in honor of each of the two skaters it lost, with criteria set by their families.
The campaign also aims to rename one of the rinks in Boston and create a memorial wall in honor of the six victims.
Flowers and remembrances are displayed for the six athletes, coaches and family members who perished in a plane crash, at The Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Mass., on March 25, 2025.
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Charles Krupa/AP
“They were all examples — the skaters, the parents, the coaches — of people who we saw, if not six, seven days out of the week,” said club director Mia Corsini Bailey. “Their commitment to the sport on multiple levels is something that we’re carrying forward.”
In the D.C. area, the Washington Figure Skating Club has endowed trophies in memory of the three skaters it lost, with plans to add the winners’ names to a ringside plaque updated every year.
The club is also using its existing foundation to support young figure skaters through the “Livingston Family Dream Fund,” which was set up by relatives of the family of four. The club used the money to give $1,000 grants to the skaters who participated in this year’s national development camp, according to Nemier. There were eight of them, she said, compared to about a dozen last year.
Another painful dimension of the tragedy, one increasingly top of mind in an Olympic year, is where the skaters returning from last year’s development camp were in their careers: right on the brink of making it to nationals, and beyond.
“Those were some of the kids that could have made it to the next Olympics or the Olympics after that,” said Bezkorovainaya, the junior skater.
Corsini Bailey, of Boston, recalls sitting down with 16-year-old Spencer Lane and his parents to talk about that very prospect just before the national development camp last year, and said she saw a similarly bright future for 13-year-old Jinna Han.
“The talent was there, the star power was there, and they truly were that next generation,” she said. “And now we look to: how are their legacies inspiring that next generation … whether they were their peers or they were the younger skaters who were looking up to them. Again, we carry them with us every single day.”
A recently installed sign at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as photographed on Jan. 10. The center’s name change has not been approved by Congress.
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Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Two senior staffers have departed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. — one of whom was officially on the job for less than two weeks.
Kevin Couch had been announced as the Kennedy Center’s new senior vice president of artistic planning on Jan. 16, at which point he was hailed as a “visionary entertainment leader” with “over two decades of experience in artist management, global booking and high-level brand partnerships,” including booking live events in San Antonio, Tulsa, Little Rock and Springfield, Mo.
Couch, who is a drummer, confirmed to NPR on Wednesday evening that he had resigned from the federally funded center, but declined to share any details.
Meanwhile, the Kennedy Center’s senior director of artistic operations, Sarah Kramer, confirmed to NPR on Wednesday evening that she had been fired after a decade working there.
The Kennedy Center did not respond to NPR’s multiple requests for comment.
Since President Trump became chair of the performing arts complex and later moved to change its name to the Trump Kennedy Center, several prominent artists have canceled their planned performances and presentations of their work. Cancellations announced this month include the composer Philip Glass, opera star Renée Fleming, the banjo player Bela Fleck and the Seattle Children’s Theatre. The Kennedy Center has told NPR in prior statements that the artists cancelling have been doing so under pressure from “leftist activists.”
The center’s name change did not receive the required approval from Congress. Last month, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board, filed a lawsuit against President Trump, the center’s president Richard Grenell, and others over the name change.
Jennifer Vanasco edited this story.
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