NEW BEGINNINGS® was founded by Carol Randolph in 1979 with a three-line ad in Washingtonian Magazine. Nine people attended our first meeting on October 3, 1979. We incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1980 and received tax-exempt status in 1981.

Carol has served as Executive Director since our inception, building on her own experience through separation and divorce to offer to others what she needed but could not find anywhere else. She has received several awards in recognition of her work as Founder and Executive Director and is a contributor to Chicken Soup for the Soul: Divorce and Recovery. Carol is now remarried with two children.

NEW BEGINNINGS® was featured in a divorce documentary on Channel 9 in August 1981 and on numerous TV and radio programs since then. In 1990 it was named the Self-Help Group of the Year by the Mental Health Association of Northern Virginia.