Dan Ohler

Dan Ohler currently serves as Vice President of Business Development at Optum.   Dan’s works focuses specifically on public sector behavioral health, working with state and local government partners.  He has a strong background working with programs for people with intellectual and/or other developmental disabilities and has been an integral part of Optum’s efforts to strengthen their person-centered services model.   Dan has worked extensively with state and local government leaders, national associations, provider agencies and advocacy groups in an effort to ensure that programs and supports are structured in a manner that enhances the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities.  He spearheaded Optum’s ‘Spark! Initiative’ in 2017 that OPEN MINDS CEO Monica Oss participated in and collaborated with the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities to create ‘The Art of Impact’, an eBook for self-advocates, for which he authored a Foreword. Prior to joining OPTUM, Dan worked for nearly two decades in various leadership positions in Ohio’s Developmental Disabilities service system.  As the Executive Director of the Association of County Boards of Developmental Disabilities, he worked with state officials to ensure the passage of legislation that led to the largest increase in home and community based services in the state’s history.  During that same time period, he served as President of the National Association of County Behavioral Health & Developmental Disability Directors in Washington, DC where he helped to advance policy at the national level.  Dan also worked at the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities, where he was responsible for Community Medicaid Services; and, just prior to joining OPTUM he was the CEO of a non-profit agency focused on integrated community employment for people with developmental disabilities. Mr. Ohler earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from West Liberty State College in West Virginia.  In addition to his duties with OPTUM, Dan serves on the Boards of two non-profit entities in his home state of Ohio.