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Creating Growth Strategies To Maximize Revenue & Scale: The OPEN MINDS 2023 Best Practice Marketing Seminar
Marketing is an invaluable tool for success and sustainability. Our essential and proprietary marketing planning process gives you the strategy and tools needed to compete. Having your sales and marketing team aligned with your marketing plan and your strategy for growth amidst a shift into value-based reimbursement is essential. This “can’t miss” half day opportunity provides your executive team with the skills to create a marketing plan that is solid, but flexible enough to grow your best practice competencies and position your organization with a competitive advantage in an ever-shifting marketplace. This is the only marketing seminar of its kind and is designed specifically for specialty provider organizations in the health and human services field. In this session you will:
• Learn the components to developing a marketing budget, including revenue forecasting, expense budgets, and return on investment
• Step by step process for creating a successful marketing plan and how to implement it
• Gain insights and access to signature marketing planning processes and tools
Emily Del Vecchio

Emily Del Vecchio brings over 14 years of experience in strategic, customer-focused, and results-driven marketing in retail and the behavioral health field. Ms. Del Vecchio is the Executive Vice President of Partnerships for OPEN MINDS.
Previously, Ms. Del Vecchio was the Marketing and Communications Manager II for Cleveland Clinic. As Cleveland Clinic’s global interests grew, Ms. Del Vecchio was promoted to manage international marketing and support for International Operations, Global Patient Services, international business development, and global expansion efforts. She was instrumental in setting up the London Marketing and Communications function ensuring the UK-based team was connected to US resources and providing corporate oversight for all foundational marketing elements including recruitment advertising campaigns, grand opening promotional strategy and events, and the creation of a localized website and online tools for patients and referring doctors. She also served as a senior member of the cross-departmental “Digital Optimization Team” that was responsible for strategic oversight of all digital lead generation campaigns, designing, executing, and analyzing testing strategies to roll out scalable programs; and managed day-to-day relationship with digital agency and marketing automation partners.
Prior to Cleveland Clinic, Ms. Del Vecchio was Senior Manager, Affiliate Marketing for Gen3 Marketing. Ms. Del Vecchio led the day-to-day management and strategic development of affiliate marketing programs for some of Gen3’s highest-profile clients ranging from financial services to high-end, luxury retail. She operated as an extension of the client’s internal marketing team to support key initiatives, drive increased sales and maintain set budgets. Ms. Del Vecchio established strong relationships with publishers and network teams on behalf of clients to effectively structure and negotiate terms, secure paid placements, and ensure overall brand presence across affiliate sites. She tracked campaign performance, identified trends and growth opportunities, and analyzed key metrics.
Before Gen3, Ms. Del Vecchio advanced to Online Marketing Specialist, Affiliate Marketing for QVC, Inc. Here she managed QVC’s affiliate marketing program, which had 1K+ publisher partners and generated over $200M in annual revenue. She oversaw daily program activities, implemented strategic plans and offer strategies, managed a multi-million dollar budget, and exceeded aggressive revenue goals. Ms. Del Vecchio ran QVC’s most successful publisher optimization campaign at the time, which generated $300K+ in incremental sales among mid-tier publishers in one month. Ms. Del Vecchio and her team provided creative briefs for print and television, attended photo and video shoots, and oversaw projects from concept to execution.
Ms. Del Vecchio received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration for Marketing at Elon University, Elon, NC.
Allegra Landers

Allegra Landers brings over 18 years of experience in strategic health care marketing to OPEN MINDS. Ms. Landers is a team builder and revenue-oriented marketer recognized in Becker’s Hospitals Women in Health IT to Watch in 2022. Ms. Landers currently serves as a Senior Associate for OPEN MINDS.
Before joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Landers was the Chief Marketing Officer for Concord Technologies. She served as a member of the executive team, responsible for a $5 million budget, strategy development, and execution to deliver engagement and pipeline creation necessary to deliver desired revenue at a targeted EBITDA.
Previously, Ms. Landers served as Director of Marketing for Qualifacts Systems, Inc., a technology and services company serving the behavioral health and human services market. In this position, Ms. Landers led a marketing organization responsible for brand and marketing strategy, go-to-market planning, sales enablement, and multi-channel demand generation programming that consistently delivered year-over-year growth.
Prior to joining Qualifacts, Ms. Landers served as Marketing Director for HealthTeacher, Inc, a leading interactive provider of healthy activities that improve children’s lives. As the marketing director, Ms. Landers led the complete life-cycle of the national marketing strategy for all customer acquisition and retention initiatives. In addition, she was responsible for strategic planning, budget creation, market analysis, product positioning, branding, sales tool creation, campaign development, execution, and measurement.
Previously, Ms. Landers served as Senior Marketing Managerfor Quorum Health Resources, hospital management and consulting company, responsible for strategic planning, coordination, and execution of all marketing for the QHR Learning Institute.
Ms. Landers served as Marketing Director to Connective Health, a healthcare technology startup serving physicians, hospitals and health systems, and educators, and as Interim Marketing Director for Stinger Medical, a point-of-care technology company.
Ms. Landers received her Bachelor of Science with Double Major in Cognitive Studies and Music and is currently pursuing her MBA at Middle Tennessee State University.
Building A Stronger Brand & Reputation – Best Practice Brand Management: The OPEN MINDS 2023 Seminar
Your brand name is how the public views your organization. Whether your focus is on consumers seeking services, payers, and funders, standing out from the competition, or recruiting top talent, a key question for executive teams pursuing a growth strategy is how to improve the perception of their brand. Building your brand’s muscle can transform your business in a powerful way—and sustaining a positive brand perception is essential. For success, the key is to place your brand’s purpose at the heart of your organization and its service to create meaning and value among your employees, stakeholders, and consumers. Join us for this in-depth seminar on branding strategy and best practices on:
- Using market research, brand alignment, to grow and sustain a positive perception
- Measuring and examining your competitive brand advantage
- Reflecting the brand experience in your services and communications
Allegra Landers

Allegra Landers brings over 18 years of experience in strategic health care marketing to OPEN MINDS. Ms. Landers is a team builder and revenue-oriented marketer recognized in Becker’s Hospitals Women in Health IT to Watch in 2022. Ms. Landers currently serves as a Senior Associate for OPEN MINDS.
Before joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Landers was the Chief Marketing Officer for Concord Technologies. She served as a member of the executive team, responsible for a $5 million budget, strategy development, and execution to deliver engagement and pipeline creation necessary to deliver desired revenue at a targeted EBITDA.
Previously, Ms. Landers served as Director of Marketing for Qualifacts Systems, Inc., a technology and services company serving the behavioral health and human services market. In this position, Ms. Landers led a marketing organization responsible for brand and marketing strategy, go-to-market planning, sales enablement, and multi-channel demand generation programming that consistently delivered year-over-year growth.
Prior to joining Qualifacts, Ms. Landers served as Marketing Director for HealthTeacher, Inc, a leading interactive provider of healthy activities that improve children’s lives. As the marketing director, Ms. Landers led the complete life-cycle of the national marketing strategy for all customer acquisition and retention initiatives. In addition, she was responsible for strategic planning, budget creation, market analysis, product positioning, branding, sales tool creation, campaign development, execution, and measurement.
Previously, Ms. Landers served as Senior Marketing Managerfor Quorum Health Resources, hospital management and consulting company, responsible for strategic planning, coordination, and execution of all marketing for the QHR Learning Institute.
Ms. Landers served as Marketing Director to Connective Health, a healthcare technology startup serving physicians, hospitals and health systems, and educators, and as Interim Marketing Director for Stinger Medical, a point-of-care technology company.
Ms. Landers received her Bachelor of Science with Double Major in Cognitive Studies and Music and is currently pursuing her MBA at Middle Tennessee State University.
Emily Del Vecchio

Emily Del Vecchio brings over 14 years of experience in strategic, customer-focused, and results-driven marketing in retail and the behavioral health field. Ms. Del Vecchio is the Executive Vice President of Partnerships for OPEN MINDS.
Previously, Ms. Del Vecchio was the Marketing and Communications Manager II for Cleveland Clinic. As Cleveland Clinic’s global interests grew, Ms. Del Vecchio was promoted to manage international marketing and support for International Operations, Global Patient Services, international business development, and global expansion efforts. She was instrumental in setting up the London Marketing and Communications function ensuring the UK-based team was connected to US resources and providing corporate oversight for all foundational marketing elements including recruitment advertising campaigns, grand opening promotional strategy and events, and the creation of a localized website and online tools for patients and referring doctors. She also served as a senior member of the cross-departmental “Digital Optimization Team” that was responsible for strategic oversight of all digital lead generation campaigns, designing, executing, and analyzing testing strategies to roll out scalable programs; and managed day-to-day relationship with digital agency and marketing automation partners.
Prior to Cleveland Clinic, Ms. Del Vecchio was Senior Manager, Affiliate Marketing for Gen3 Marketing. Ms. Del Vecchio led the day-to-day management and strategic development of affiliate marketing programs for some of Gen3’s highest-profile clients ranging from financial services to high-end, luxury retail. She operated as an extension of the client’s internal marketing team to support key initiatives, drive increased sales and maintain set budgets. Ms. Del Vecchio established strong relationships with publishers and network teams on behalf of clients to effectively structure and negotiate terms, secure paid placements, and ensure overall brand presence across affiliate sites. She tracked campaign performance, identified trends and growth opportunities, and analyzed key metrics.
Before Gen3, Ms. Del Vecchio advanced to Online Marketing Specialist, Affiliate Marketing for QVC, Inc. Here she managed QVC’s affiliate marketing program, which had 1K+ publisher partners and generated over $200M in annual revenue. She oversaw daily program activities, implemented strategic plans and offer strategies, managed a multi-million dollar budget, and exceeded aggressive revenue goals. Ms. Del Vecchio ran QVC’s most successful publisher optimization campaign at the time, which generated $300K+ in incremental sales among mid-tier publishers in one month. Ms. Del Vecchio and her team provided creative briefs for print and television, attended photo and video shoots, and oversaw projects from concept to execution.
Ms. Del Vecchio received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration for Marketing at Elon University, Elon, NC.
Exhibit Hall Grand Opening
Join us for an unveiling of all of our great exhibitors!
Breakfast & Registration
If you haven’t registered yet, check in with us at the registration desk and then enjoy breakfast in the exhibit hall!
Kaiser’s Human Centered Approach To Strategic Care Innovation
Clinical innovation requires a fresh perspective and a deeper understanding of people to design meaningful health care solutions. At Kaiser Permanente, a human-centered approach to care transformation is helping their system strategically innovate and evolve to meet the demands of a changing landscape for its physician partners, workforce and patients. By working to better understand the challenges facing people, including systemic barriers to receiving care, Kaiser is continually improving its care delivery and member experience. In this keynote presentation, learn how Kaiser’s approach is achieving improved outcomes through strategic innovations that reverberate at the local, regional, and national level.
Thought Leader Discussion
Join our keynote and take this time to ask your own questions and continue the conversation.

Richie Grantham

Monica E. Oss

Monica E. Oss, M.S., Chief Executive Officer and Senior Associate, is the founder of OPEN MINDS. For the past three decades, Ms. Oss has led the OPEN MINDS team and its research on health and human service market trends and its national consulting practice. Ms. Oss is well known for her numerous books and articles focused on the strategic and marketing implications of the evolving health and human service field. She has unique expertise in payer financing models, provider rate setting, and service pricing. She has led numerous engagements with state Medicaid plans, county governments, private insurers, managed care programs, service provider organizations, technology vendors, neurotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations, and investment banking firms – with a focus on the implications of financing changes on delivery system design.
Strategy For Turbulent Markets: Keeping Your Plan On Top Of Market Changes
Strategy during turbulent times requires the ability to make quick decisions and tough choices. What may have worked in the past will not necessarily meet the current and future needs. Strategic planning in this type of environment means considering a realignment of service portfolios, care coordination strategies, payment structures, and negotiating a path around rates and costs. Hear from organizations that are working through these issues and their planning strategies on:
- Having conversations with payers on different program and funding strategies
- Updating strategic plans, redeploying resources, and investing in sustainability
- Increasing revenue, reducing costs, and reexamining programs and service lines
Elizabeth Carey

Elizabeth Carey has three decades of experience in the field of social and human services. As President and CEO of Starr Commonwealth, Elizabeth provides leadership and direction, and serves as one of Starr’s most passionate advocates for systems-level change for childhood whole health. In her previous role of chief strategy officer, she helped shape the future of this century-old organization, modernizing our approach to providing positive experiences so all children can flourish.
Prior to joining Starr Commonwealth in 2010, she served as Director of Government Relations for the Council on Accreditation, as Executive Director of the Michigan Federation for Children and Families, and as Senior Vice President and COO for the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities.
She holds Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Social Work from Michigan State University.
Elizabeth will be speaking during Strategy For Turbulent Markets: Keeping Your Plan On Top Of Market Changes.
Jim Huben

Jim will be speaking during Strategy For Turbulent Markets: Keeping Your Plan On Top Of Market Changes.
Kimberly Bond, MS

Kimberly Bond, MS, LMFT, brings more than 30 years of experience providing behavioral health treatment in the public and community settings to the OPEN MINDS team. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Business Development. In this role, Ms. Bond focuses on growing the OPEN MINDS client portfolio across all nine verticals of OPEN MINDS business.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Bond served concurrently as a Program Coordinator III and Clinical Manager of Adult Services and a Program Coordinator II and Clinical Manager of Recovery Services for the Ozark Guidance Center. In these roles, Ms. Bond was responsible for the administrative and clinical oversight of the adult outpatient and adult intensive mental health services on the Springdale Campus as well as the adult recovery/co-occurring services, including domestic violence and anger management treatment.
Prior to joining the Ozark Guidance Center, Ms. Bond served as the Executive Vice President of Center Point, Inc, a large substance abuse provider agency in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the clinical and administrative supervision of all community-based programs as well as the women and children residential programs. In addition, Ms. Bond also managed budgets, interacted with funding agencies, and built positive relationships with all stakeholders. Ms. Bond was also in charge of proposal and grant writing, staff management, and training, facilities’ licensing and certifications renewals. Additionally, she prepared and submitted monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports to various funders.
Previously, Ms. Bond served as the President and CEO of Mental Health Systems, Inc. Ms. Bond was very instrumental in growing the agency from $12 million in annual revenue to more than $100 million and becoming one of the largest providers of behavioral health services in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the strategic, clinical, financial, and administrative health of the agency, including direct supervision of Senior Executive Staff. In addition, Bond ensured contract compliance of the agency’s 125 different contracts across federal and state agencies and eight counties.
Ms. Bond received her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with honors, and her master’s degree in counseling education from San Diego State University. She is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in both California and Arkansas.
The Due Diligence Process For Mergers, Acquisitions & Affiliations – How To Navigate The Hurdles To Success Without Undue Exposure
There is no playbook when it comes to mergers, acquisitions, or affiliations―every engagement is unique and has its own set of challenges and opportunities. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t develop your own approach to drive your decision-making process. In this session, our presenters will not only touch on the due diligence check list and best practices during the due diligence process, but will also discuss some of the red flags to be aware of before you file the final paperwork.
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M.

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M., Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Ken Carr

Ken Carr brings over 20 years of finance, technology, data analysis and reporting experience in the health and human service field to OPEN MINDS. He currently ia a Senior Associate with the OPEN MINDS consulting practice. In this role, he served as a subject matter expert in the OPEN MINDS consulting practice where he has led numerous engagements in strategic planning, merger and acquisition prospecting, business process improvement, financial analysis of service lines, and technology selection.
Before joining the OPEN MINDS team, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Centers, a community mental health center in Ocala, Florida. In this position, Mr. Carr led a realignment of the organization’s financial management functions. This included revenue cycle management, EHR bill implementation and reporting, cash management enhancement, and strategic financial analysis.
Prior to his role at The Centers, Mr. Carr served as Chief Financial Officer of Guild Incorporated, an organization providing residential and community based mental health services in St. Paul, Minnesota. As CFO, Mr. Carr led the financial, billing, IT, quality, informatics, compliance, and facilities activities. During his tenure at Guild Incorporated, Mr. Carr used his expertise in change management and business process improvement to lead the EHR implementation team, align service data reporting and financial performance, and lead the financial and data capture activities for new service initiatives.
Mr. Carr has also held the positions of Administrative Director and Finance Director at the St. Paul National Testing Laboratory, a biomedical testing facility of the American Red Cross. In those positions he oversaw activities to enhance inventory management, align financial results to industry standards, and improve financial and facilities performance through problem analysis and quality management initiatives. He also was involved in directing human resource functions during laboratory closing near the end of his tenure.
Mr. Carr earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota, and a Master of Divinity Degree from Sioux Falls Seminary. He maintains an active CPA license with the State of South Dakota.
Knowledge Partner Session
Sponsored by Alera Health
Emily Del Vecchio

Emily Del Vecchio brings over 14 years of experience in strategic, customer-focused, and results-driven marketing in retail and the behavioral health field. Ms. Del Vecchio is the Executive Vice President of Partnerships for OPEN MINDS.
Previously, Ms. Del Vecchio was the Marketing and Communications Manager II for Cleveland Clinic. As Cleveland Clinic’s global interests grew, Ms. Del Vecchio was promoted to manage international marketing and support for International Operations, Global Patient Services, international business development, and global expansion efforts. She was instrumental in setting up the London Marketing and Communications function ensuring the UK-based team was connected to US resources and providing corporate oversight for all foundational marketing elements including recruitment advertising campaigns, grand opening promotional strategy and events, and the creation of a localized website and online tools for patients and referring doctors. She also served as a senior member of the cross-departmental “Digital Optimization Team” that was responsible for strategic oversight of all digital lead generation campaigns, designing, executing, and analyzing testing strategies to roll out scalable programs; and managed day-to-day relationship with digital agency and marketing automation partners.
Prior to Cleveland Clinic, Ms. Del Vecchio was Senior Manager, Affiliate Marketing for Gen3 Marketing. Ms. Del Vecchio led the day-to-day management and strategic development of affiliate marketing programs for some of Gen3’s highest-profile clients ranging from financial services to high-end, luxury retail. She operated as an extension of the client’s internal marketing team to support key initiatives, drive increased sales and maintain set budgets. Ms. Del Vecchio established strong relationships with publishers and network teams on behalf of clients to effectively structure and negotiate terms, secure paid placements, and ensure overall brand presence across affiliate sites. She tracked campaign performance, identified trends and growth opportunities, and analyzed key metrics.
Before Gen3, Ms. Del Vecchio advanced to Online Marketing Specialist, Affiliate Marketing for QVC, Inc. Here she managed QVC’s affiliate marketing program, which had 1K+ publisher partners and generated over $200M in annual revenue. She oversaw daily program activities, implemented strategic plans and offer strategies, managed a multi-million dollar budget, and exceeded aggressive revenue goals. Ms. Del Vecchio ran QVC’s most successful publisher optimization campaign at the time, which generated $300K+ in incremental sales among mid-tier publishers in one month. Ms. Del Vecchio and her team provided creative briefs for print and television, attended photo and video shoots, and oversaw projects from concept to execution.
Ms. Del Vecchio received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration for Marketing at Elon University, Elon, NC.
Creating A Value-Based Center Of Excellence Proposal For Health Plans
As provider organization executive teams seek to remain competitive and position themselves as partners with health plans, one strategy involves becoming a center of excellence in serving a particular consumer population or need. To do so, involves demonstrating results on both quality and cost measures. Of course, specialty provider organizations first need to have the analytics and platforms in place to report performance measures to health plans and manage care coordination. But just how does one articulate data to show value as a center of excellence? This is what our subject matter experts will get to as we consider:
- Designing and implementing a center of excellence
- Reimbursement models and selection criteria for establishing a center of excellence
- Assessing and operationalizing quality outcomes and data metrics for payers
Jennifer Duncan-Sanford

Jennifer is speaking during Creating A Value-Based Center Of Excellence Proposal For Health Plans.
Tim Daley

Tim is speaking during Creating A Value-Based Center Of Excellence Proposal For Health Plans.
Dee DeWitt

Roundtable Discussion: Results Of The 2023 OPEN MINDS National Innovation Survey: Innovation Adoption Among Specialty Provider Organizations
An innovation is defined as a new idea that can be translated into service that creates value (either by improving consumer outcomes or lowering costs). For executives of provider organizations, choosing from the long list of innovations available can be daunting. As a result, OPEN MINDS surveyed executives of provider organizations to understand what program and treatment innovations are gaining the most traction in the field and what innovations can help organizations gain competitive advantage.
The survey looks at program innovations—telehealth, colocation, hospital or ER diversion programs, etc.—and treatment innovations—medication assisted treatment for addiction, peer support specialists, and eCBT, etc. It explores trends in adoption compared to 2022, by market. Join us for this roundtable discussion as we explore the results of this year’s innovation survey.
Paul Duck

Paul M. Duck brings over 25 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.
Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.
Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.
Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.
Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.
Sharon Hicks

Sharon Hicks has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Build Or Merge? How To Expand Your Service Line Portfolio Or Merge To Get It
Organically building your service line portfolio can take years and require resources you may not have. Sometimes, a merger can be a direct path to organizational sustainability while retaining independence and mission integrity. A merger can also offer an opportunity to become attractive for value-based contracts opportunities, secure talent that you may not have been able to hire, reduce unit costs, become more competitive as you negotiate with payers, be more efficient operationally, expand services or geographic reach, increase opportunities for innovation and upgrade your infrastructure & technology. During this session, learn how to decide whether it’s right for your organization to build or merge.
C.J. Davis

C.J. Davis is the CEO of Brightli, Inc., the parent company of Burrell Behavioral Health, where he serves as President and CEO, and Preferred Family Healthcare. Brightli was formed through joint partnership of Burrell and Preferred in 2022; together the companies employ nearly 5,000 individuals in more than 200 locations across the four-state system.
At Burrell, C.J. has made mission expansion through strategic mergers and acquisitions a top priority. Earlier this year, Burrell merged with Comprehensive Mental Health Services, an Independence-based Community Mental Health Center, establishing Burrell/Brightli’s presence in the metro-Kansas City mental heath market. This, coupled with the PFH partnership, have made Brightli one of the largest nonprofit mental health providers in the Midwest.
With more than 25 years of experience in the mental health industry as both an executive and a clinical psychologist, Dr. Davis has managed and practiced at nearly every level of behavioral health care, including community treatment settings, residential treatment, primary care behavioral health, inpatient hospital services and criminal justice. C.J. previously held executive leadership positions in Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, focusing on improving accessibility to care at each stop in his career. After being hired as President and CEO of Burrell Behavioral Health in 2017, he has remained committed to accessibility, mission expansion, and promoting community conversations related to behavioral health issues.
With a passion for community service, C.J. serves on the boards of the Missouri Behavioral Health Council, the National Psychology Training Consortium, and the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. In 2019 C.J. was named one of Biz 417 Magazine’s “10 for the Next 10” as well as one of the Springfield Business Journal’s Men of the Year. In 2021 he was chosen as the SBJ’s CEO of the Year at their annual Dynamic Dozen awards.
C.J. will be speaking during Build Or Merge? How To Expand Your Service Line Portfolio Or Merge To Get It.
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M.

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M., Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Ken Carr

Ken Carr brings over 20 years of finance, technology, data analysis and reporting experience in the health and human service field to OPEN MINDS. He currently ia a Senior Associate with the OPEN MINDS consulting practice. In this role, he served as a subject matter expert in the OPEN MINDS consulting practice where he has led numerous engagements in strategic planning, merger and acquisition prospecting, business process improvement, financial analysis of service lines, and technology selection.
Before joining the OPEN MINDS team, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Centers, a community mental health center in Ocala, Florida. In this position, Mr. Carr led a realignment of the organization’s financial management functions. This included revenue cycle management, EHR bill implementation and reporting, cash management enhancement, and strategic financial analysis.
Prior to his role at The Centers, Mr. Carr served as Chief Financial Officer of Guild Incorporated, an organization providing residential and community based mental health services in St. Paul, Minnesota. As CFO, Mr. Carr led the financial, billing, IT, quality, informatics, compliance, and facilities activities. During his tenure at Guild Incorporated, Mr. Carr used his expertise in change management and business process improvement to lead the EHR implementation team, align service data reporting and financial performance, and lead the financial and data capture activities for new service initiatives.
Mr. Carr has also held the positions of Administrative Director and Finance Director at the St. Paul National Testing Laboratory, a biomedical testing facility of the American Red Cross. In those positions he oversaw activities to enhance inventory management, align financial results to industry standards, and improve financial and facilities performance through problem analysis and quality management initiatives. He also was involved in directing human resource functions during laboratory closing near the end of his tenure.
Mr. Carr earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota, and a Master of Divinity Degree from Sioux Falls Seminary. He maintains an active CPA license with the State of South Dakota.
Lunch On Your Own
Post Lunch Pick Me Up
Don’t miss this after lunch break in the exhibit hall for a special treat!
Planning A Digital Consumer Experience
Consumers satisfaction with their health care experience is linked to continuity of care and improved outcomes. To improve consumer engagement and satisfaction, executive leaders are looking to digital solutions to create more customized experiences, by providing convenient access to physical, behavioral, and social services, with quicker wait times, more transparency, and assurances of data privacy and security. Find out more from provider organizations that are planning and implementing a range of digital services to improve consumer experience, including:
- Developing effective technology innovations around consumer needs
- Incorporating digital tools to improve consumer experience and consumer engagement
- Delivering greater value to consumers by reshaping how technology is deployed
Vincent Bemmel, Ph.D.

Vincent is speaking during the Planning A Digital Consumer Experience.
Lindsey Sneed, Ph.D, BCBA-D

Lindsey is speaking during the Planning A Digital Consumer Experience.
Lauren Evangelist

Lauren Evangelist brings more than 15 years of experience in marketing and business strategy, brand development, product launch and digital marketing to OPEN MINDS. Ms. Evangelist currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Partnerships
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Evangelist was the Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations for Tridiuum, where she developed and implemented the company’s new go-to-market sales and marketing strategy. Ms. Evangelist also developed and launched Tridiuum’s provider recruitment program in partnership with New Directions Behavioral Health (NDBH). She created the program’s acquisition strategy, marketing collateral and recruited behavioral health providers to accelerate access to care for 4M NDBH members. NDBH acquired Tridiuum based on program’s immediate impact and success.
Previously, Ms Evangelist, served as Vice President of Partnership & Loyalty Marketing with OneMain Financial in Wilmington, DE. In this role, she launched OneMain’s strategic partnerships and customer loyalty programs to generate demand for loan products, provide financial literacy, create customer engagement and enhance the OneMain customer experience.
Prior to her role at OneMain Financial, Ms. Evangelist was Senior Manager of Strategic Partnership Marketing for ShopRunner in Conshohocken, PA. In this role, she developed and executed strategic marketing programs with corporate partners like American Express, Mastercard and PayPal to acquire new ShopRunner members and drive member activation within the ShopRunner network.
Previously, Ms. Evangelist was at QVC (Qurate Retail Group) in West Chester, PA for 12 years, where she held several instrumental roles within Marketing and eCommerce. In her last role as Manager of Partner Marketing, she piloted and launched QVC’s first Co-Op Marketing program, which accounted for over $2M in incremental marketing contributions from national retailer partners like Dell, Dooney & Bourke and Vera Bradley.
Ms. Evangelist received her Bachelor of Arts in Commercial Design from Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA. She has also been a member of the Lycoming College Athletics Advisory Board since 2018.
Preparing For CalAIM – Developing A Strategy For New & Innovative Service Line Development
California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) is a long-term commitment to transform and strengthen CA Medicaid (Medi-Cal), offering 14M+ beneficiaries a more equitable, coordinated, and person-centered approach to maximizing their health. The CA Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is transforming the Medi-Cal delivery system moving Medi-Cal towards a population health approach that prioritizes prevention and whole person care. CalAIM will offer Medi-Cal enrollees coordinated and equitable access to services that address physical, behavioral, developmental, dental, and long-term care needs. In the multi-year implementation, some of the provisions went live in 2022 including new managed care plan contracts with specialty provider organizations/CBOs to deliver Enhanced Care Management and Community Support services for adults with severe mental illness. Similar contracts will begin in 2023 for youth (SED) and the final provisions of CalAIM are projected to go live by 2027.
As CalAIM unfolds, the fundamentals of sustainability will change for most provider organizations – including the services delivered and reimbursement models. The question for executives of specialty care and primary care organizations is how to approach developing a sustainable strategy within the current climate of payment reform. Executive teams need to monitor service line(s) performance and financial strength – and create plans for adopting and developing new services for changing Medicaid, managed care and health plans evolving service needs and expectations. The session will cover:
- New service line opportunities for specialty provider organizations and primary care organizations.
- Best practice approaches for service line development and integrated models of care
- Best practice strategies for sustainability in a changing Medicaid landscape.
- Innovative service delivery of mental health services in whole person care environment.

Stuart Buttlaire, PhD, MBA

Richard Louis III

Richard Louis, III has extensive experience as a behavioral healthcare administrator, business development specialist, and innovator of new service lines for behavioral healthcare organizations and currently serves the Vice President – Western Region at OPEN MINDS.
Previously, Mr. Louis was the Director of Development – Behavior & Addiction Medicine at Southern California Healthcare Systems Inc. / Prospect Medical. There, he was involved in many consulting projects focused on health care integration, developing new service lines, and health plan contract development. Most recently, he pioneered the development of a series of innovative and profitable integrated behavioral health treatment and population health management solutions that target high cost and complex behavioral health populations. These solutions have shown to reduce payer spend while improving client outcomes for acute care hospital systems, health plans, managed care organizations (MCO), managed service organizations (MSO), managed behavioral healthcare organizations (MBHO), medical groups (IPA) and social service agencies.
Mr. Louis was also the Executive Director of Strategic Development and Planning at Pathways – Molina Healthcare, a national for-profit behavioral healthcare company operating in 23 states. In this role, Mr. Louis developed and launched population health management program strategies that included in-community care management and in-home coordinated care services to reduce hospital readmissions, emergency department (ED) visits, and improve HEDIS scores for national health plans and Managed Care Organizations.
Mr. Louis is also a former Psychiatric Hospital Administrator and Assistant Director of Mental Health for San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health in CA, where he was responsible for behavioral health program management, clinical operations, strategic alliances, and outcome-based service delivery models for complex adult and youth populations.
Mr. Louis also served in various positions at College Health Enterprises (CHE), a Los Angeles based for-profit hospital system, most notably serving as Vice President of Government Operations. While in this role, he created the first public sector division for CHE by establishing new service lines, contracts, and new profit/revenue streams. His responsibilities included business and program development as well as administration of inpatient, outpatient, and residential continuums of care for public payers (i.e. county mental health systems, state department of developmental disabilities, county jail, state prison, and federal government agencies).
Mr. Louis is in his 32nd year as an active duty reserve police officer (volunteer) currently holding the rank of Captain, City of Monterey Park Police Department in Los Angeles County. He has worked closely with police, county sheriff’s departments, and healthcare systems to educate and craft “treatment versus incarceration” collaborations promoting treatment and cost-effective crisis triage interventions for persons with mental illness.
Mr. Louis graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Whittier College and is a Police Academy Graduate from Rio Hondo College in Whittier, California.
Reflections: The State Of Health & Human Service Organizations After A Merger – What They’ve Learned & Where They’re Headed
The right merger can lead to two organizations earning more revenue while reducing expenses. This win-win synergy often has a compounding effect that leads to organizational transformation and creates deep impacts in the lives of the people served. Hear the lessons learned from executives who have made mergers, acquisitions, or affiliations work and where it is taking them.
Kathleen Jordan, DHA

Dr. Kathleen Jordan is the Executive Vice President/Chief Executive Officer at Seven Hills Foundation, an integrated health and human services company with an annual operating budget of $400 million and 4800 employees. In this role, Kathleen oversees the programmatic and clinical aspects of the Affiliate companies in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. In addition, Kathleen is responsible for quality assurance and program improvement, risk management, Medicaid Demonstration Projects, the Seven Hills Research Center, and the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Dr. Jordan has been with Seven Hills Foundation for the past 19 years. She speaks frequently on issues related to HIV/AIDS, Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS) and Data Analytics. In addition to her role at Seven Hills, Dr. Jordan is an adjunct professor at Clark University teaching Global Health, Research Strategies and Nonprofit Management and at Central Michigan University where she teaches Strategic Philanthropy, Health Informatics and Communication and Substance Abuse Services. Dr. Jordan holds a Doctor of Health Administration degree from Central Michigan University; a Masters in Education Administration from Boston College; and a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from West Virginia University. She is also a Fellow in the American College of Health Executives.
Kathleen is speaking during Reflections: The State Of Health & Human Service Organizations After A Merger – What They’ve Learned & Where They’re Headed.
Diane Gould, LICSW

Diane Gould joined Advocates in 1985 and was appointed President and CEO in 2013. In a career at Advocates spanning over forty years, she has held many clinical and leadership roles and directed a range of clinical, residential, and support services promoting empowerment, inclusion, and health equity. Diane is also the President and CEO of Family Continuity Program, as of January 1, 2023.
Central to Diane’s approach to leadership is a commitment to collaboration. At Advocates, Diane emphasizes partnership with employees, funders, and individuals who receive services as an essential way to advance the agency’s mission.
In the broader community Diane is an active board member of the Massachusetts Providers Council, Association of Behavioral Healthcare, and several other industry advocacy organizations. Throughout her career, Diane has worked to build diverse, inclusive community coalitions that address behavioral health and social service needs. Diane’s several community recognitions include the 2011 Deborah Blumer Community Health Leader Award from the MetroWest Health Foundation, the 2015 MassPRA Public Advocacy Award, and The Providers’ Council’s 2020 CEO Award and 2022 Chair’s Award. Diane’s leadership has resulted in Advocates being selected one of the Top 100 Women Led Businesses, and Top 100 Places to Work in Massachusetts by the Boston Globe.
Diane holds a Master of Social Work degree from Simmons College, and the values of the social work profession continue to inform her vision and leadership. Previously, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts with a concentration in English and Women’s Studies.
Diane is speaking during Reflections: The State Of Health & Human Service Organizations After A Merger – What They’ve Learned & Where They’re Headed.
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M.

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M., Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Ken Carr

Ken Carr brings over 20 years of finance, technology, data analysis and reporting experience in the health and human service field to OPEN MINDS. He currently ia a Senior Associate with the OPEN MINDS consulting practice. In this role, he served as a subject matter expert in the OPEN MINDS consulting practice where he has led numerous engagements in strategic planning, merger and acquisition prospecting, business process improvement, financial analysis of service lines, and technology selection.
Before joining the OPEN MINDS team, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Centers, a community mental health center in Ocala, Florida. In this position, Mr. Carr led a realignment of the organization’s financial management functions. This included revenue cycle management, EHR bill implementation and reporting, cash management enhancement, and strategic financial analysis.
Prior to his role at The Centers, Mr. Carr served as Chief Financial Officer of Guild Incorporated, an organization providing residential and community based mental health services in St. Paul, Minnesota. As CFO, Mr. Carr led the financial, billing, IT, quality, informatics, compliance, and facilities activities. During his tenure at Guild Incorporated, Mr. Carr used his expertise in change management and business process improvement to lead the EHR implementation team, align service data reporting and financial performance, and lead the financial and data capture activities for new service initiatives.
Mr. Carr has also held the positions of Administrative Director and Finance Director at the St. Paul National Testing Laboratory, a biomedical testing facility of the American Red Cross. In those positions he oversaw activities to enhance inventory management, align financial results to industry standards, and improve financial and facilities performance through problem analysis and quality management initiatives. He also was involved in directing human resource functions during laboratory closing near the end of his tenure.
Mr. Carr earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota, and a Master of Divinity Degree from Sioux Falls Seminary. He maintains an active CPA license with the State of South Dakota.
An Expert Panel Discussion On Trends In Behavioral Health & Human Services
Be part of the discussion on the most up-to-date information impacting health plan management trends for consumers with behavioral health and intellectual and developmental disabilities. In this session, we will look at the latest industry trends as well as survey data from the top health plan executives. Our experts will offer additional insights into how these trends have and will be impacting organizations across the health care landscape. The implications of the dynamic shifts in the market are having a profound effect on how payers and providers are contracting, interacting, and ultimately partnering. In this session we will be revealing many of the potential opportunities in these trends and how payers are evolving in their relationships with provider organizations. In this session, we will be:
- Discussing several of the major trends in the behavioral health and intellectual and developmental disabilities markets
- Discovering what is top-of-mind for payers and discussing some of the best practices organizations are undertaking to prepare
- Learning about possible positioning options for your organization in light of new out-of-market competition and technology-driven therapeutics
Paul Duck

Paul M. Duck brings over 25 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.
Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.
Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.
Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.
Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.
Leslie Groves

The Tech & Human Infrastructure For Hybrid Care: Coordinating Virtual, In-Clinic & In-Home Services
Provider organization leaders are developing hybrid care models with a focus on whole person needs. This involves identifying which services are most appropriate for each consumer population. To pull this off, hybrid systems need better data integration among various stakeholders, from provider organizations in the ecosystem, and integration of the virtual health-related activities into day-to-day workflows of clinical professionals, particularly to enable hybrid care models that combine online, in-person, and in-home care delivery. In this session, executives from provider organizations developing these types of models will talk about:
- Building hybrid service delivery systems, policies and procedures
- Training and development of staff members to be hybrid proficient
- Using technology to optimize hybrid delivery systems
Dr. Doug Wright

Dr. Doug Wright will be speaking during The Tech & Human Infrastructure For Hybrid Care: Coordinating Virtual, In-Clinic & In-Home Services.

Shawna Wright, Ph.D., LP

Shawna Wright will be speaking during The Tech & Human Infrastructure For Hybrid Care: Coordinating Virtual, In-Clinic & In-Home Services.
Sharon Hicks

Sharon Hicks has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Too Small To Survive – How Do I Find An Acquisition Or Affiliation Partner?
In these turbulent times, post pandemic, provider organizations cannot wait until their situation is dire before exploring potential solutions. Affiliations can allow organizations to tap into a bigger support, operate efficiently and still conduct business as usual. And when affiliations are successful, organizations can explore the possibility of being acquired. During this session, hear from organizations who have been through the process and how to find the right acquisition or affiliation partner.
Jeff Holsinger

Jeffrey M. Holsinger has served as CEO of Volunteers of America Northern Rockies for the last 22 years, serving tens of thousands of people in need. Jeff is a visionary leader who values each person’s unique abilities and contributions. He understands that success happens when alliances are forged in a way that strengthens those around him. Under his leadership, the organization has expanded services from a small revenue base of under one million dollars a year to over $55 million today, supported by over 450 professional staff and several hundred volunteers.
Volunteers of America Northern Rockies operates innovative human service programs in eight core areas of service including community corrections, youth services, veteran’s services, low-income housing, healthcare services, homeless services, ministry, & community outreach. It operates under the governance of a board of directors that is represented throughout region of Montana, Wyoming, & Western South Dakota. The organization is one of 30 independent faith-based affiliates within Volunteers of America, Inc. through a federated model. Volunteers of America Northern Rockies has successfully fostered growth and innovation through entrepreneurial thinking, radical hospitality, and organizational citizenship. The organization has been intentional with growth strategies to prioritize the replication of successful programs and the acquisition of new service lines that enhance mission impact. Mergers and acquisitions have contributed to over 50% of the organization’s growth through ten separate engagements. Investing time in the leadership development of team members, fostering an organizational culture centered around Servant Leadership, and creating transformational change in those served are all passions of Jeff. He encourages his team to challenge institutional thinking while preparing for the certainty of change.
Jeff currently serves on the Wyoming Department of Family Services Advisory Council through appointment by Governor Gordon. He previously served on the Wyoming Workforce Development Committee. Jeff is also an avid outdoorsman who enjoys fishing, bird hunting and woodworking when time permits. He is married to Beth who also shares his outdoor passions and deep faith. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia with continuing education in facilitation, executive development, and social entrepreneurship. Jeff’s organizational practices and leadership vision related to social entrepreneurship was profiled in the 2011 college text Moral Courage in Organizations.
Jeff is speaking during Too Small To Survive – How Do I Find An Acquisition Or Affiliation Partner?
Anne Tyree, MPA, CFRE

Anne Tyree, MPA, CFRE, is Regional Chief Operating Officer for Centerstone operations in Illinois. She joined Centerstone through a merger with her former organization in 2014. Centerstone is a nonprofit health system providing mental health and substance use disorder treatments. Services are available nationally through the operation of outpatient clinics, residential programs, and the use of telehealth and an inpatient hospital. As Regional COO, Tyree oversees Illinois operations, administrative and support systems for 600 staff members serving over 10,000 clients annually in Southern Illinois. Previously Tyree served as the organization’s Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Before joining Centerstone, she worked for a number of nonprofit human services organizations in Chicago, Illinois and as a nonprofit consultant. In these roles she planned and implemented significant strategic growth initiatives, revenue enhancement projects, public policy and marketing initiatives, and the development and funding of services to better serve children, adults and families experiencing behavioral health challenges. Tyree retired from the Illinois Air National Guard after serving as an enlisted member and becoming an officer; at her retirement she held the rank of Major (0-4).
She has more than 20 years expertise in strategic business planning, marketing, financial reporting and budgeting, and program and business development. Tyree received her B.A. from the University of Illinois-Chicago and her MPA with an emphasis on health care from American Public University.
Tyree has led a number of state and local boards and commissions, and remains involved with state, local and national organizations that support improving the funding and provision of behavioral health services.
Anne is speaking during Too Small To Survive – How Do I Find An Acquisition Or Affiliation Partner?
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M.

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M., Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Ken Carr

Ken Carr brings over 20 years of finance, technology, data analysis and reporting experience in the health and human service field to OPEN MINDS. He currently ia a Senior Associate with the OPEN MINDS consulting practice. In this role, he served as a subject matter expert in the OPEN MINDS consulting practice where he has led numerous engagements in strategic planning, merger and acquisition prospecting, business process improvement, financial analysis of service lines, and technology selection.
Before joining the OPEN MINDS team, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Centers, a community mental health center in Ocala, Florida. In this position, Mr. Carr led a realignment of the organization’s financial management functions. This included revenue cycle management, EHR bill implementation and reporting, cash management enhancement, and strategic financial analysis.
Prior to his role at The Centers, Mr. Carr served as Chief Financial Officer of Guild Incorporated, an organization providing residential and community based mental health services in St. Paul, Minnesota. As CFO, Mr. Carr led the financial, billing, IT, quality, informatics, compliance, and facilities activities. During his tenure at Guild Incorporated, Mr. Carr used his expertise in change management and business process improvement to lead the EHR implementation team, align service data reporting and financial performance, and lead the financial and data capture activities for new service initiatives.
Mr. Carr has also held the positions of Administrative Director and Finance Director at the St. Paul National Testing Laboratory, a biomedical testing facility of the American Red Cross. In those positions he oversaw activities to enhance inventory management, align financial results to industry standards, and improve financial and facilities performance through problem analysis and quality management initiatives. He also was involved in directing human resource functions during laboratory closing near the end of his tenure.
Mr. Carr earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota, and a Master of Divinity Degree from Sioux Falls Seminary. He maintains an active CPA license with the State of South Dakota.
From Paper To Action – How To Successfully Implement Your Strategic Plan
Many organizations go through the process of strategic planning, and few succeed with implementation, let alone achieving desired results. How to succeed with strategy implementation and overcome the impediments to success start with goal setting, building the plan, being able to start with small initiatives, measuring the results, and adjusting accordingly. For this panel, we assembled a group of executives to share their stories with strategic planning and implementation, covering:
- Executing on strategic plans and overcoming the common challenges to implementation
- Balancing day-to-day operations with achieving the aims from the overall big picture
- Having the right workforce to implement strategic change
Karyn Pratt, MBA

Karyn began her career at Adelphoi in 1990 and has held various roles in marketing, public relations and grant writing. She currently oversees the organization’s marketing and fundraising efforts, and leads the facilitation and execution of Adelphoi’s Strategic Plan. Karyn earned a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Vincent College and an MBA from Clarion University. She received her certification in Strategic Planning from George Washington University. She is a member of the Board of Directors of FirstMatch and the Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Sexual Abuse Prevention and Education Network Committee, PCCYFS Data and Research Committee, PCCYFS Membership Committee, Rotary International, Association of Strategic Planning and a Volunteer Therapeutic Riding Assistant at Stoneybrook Foundation.
Karyn is speaking during From Paper To Action – How To Successfully Implement Your Strategic Plan.
Ashley Sandoval, MBA, SHRM-SCP

Ashley Sandoval will be speaking in From Paper To Action – How To Successfully Implement Your Strategic Plan.
Chrystal L. Davis

Chrystal L. Davis will be speaking in From Paper To Action – How To Successfully Implement Your Strategic Plan.
Kimberly Bond, MS

Kimberly Bond, MS, LMFT, brings more than 30 years of experience providing behavioral health treatment in the public and community settings to the OPEN MINDS team. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Business Development. In this role, Ms. Bond focuses on growing the OPEN MINDS client portfolio across all nine verticals of OPEN MINDS business.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Bond served concurrently as a Program Coordinator III and Clinical Manager of Adult Services and a Program Coordinator II and Clinical Manager of Recovery Services for the Ozark Guidance Center. In these roles, Ms. Bond was responsible for the administrative and clinical oversight of the adult outpatient and adult intensive mental health services on the Springdale Campus as well as the adult recovery/co-occurring services, including domestic violence and anger management treatment.
Prior to joining the Ozark Guidance Center, Ms. Bond served as the Executive Vice President of Center Point, Inc, a large substance abuse provider agency in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the clinical and administrative supervision of all community-based programs as well as the women and children residential programs. In addition, Ms. Bond also managed budgets, interacted with funding agencies, and built positive relationships with all stakeholders. Ms. Bond was also in charge of proposal and grant writing, staff management, and training, facilities’ licensing and certifications renewals. Additionally, she prepared and submitted monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports to various funders.
Previously, Ms. Bond served as the President and CEO of Mental Health Systems, Inc. Ms. Bond was very instrumental in growing the agency from $12 million in annual revenue to more than $100 million and becoming one of the largest providers of behavioral health services in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the strategic, clinical, financial, and administrative health of the agency, including direct supervision of Senior Executive Staff. In addition, Bond ensured contract compliance of the agency’s 125 different contracts across federal and state agencies and eight counties.
Ms. Bond received her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with honors, and her master’s degree in counseling education from San Diego State University. She is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in both California and Arkansas.
Executive Networking Reception
End your day by unwinding with your peers, colleagues, thought leaders and vendors. Join us in the exhibit hall and enjoy a cocktail and hors d’oeurvres!
Breakfast
Join us for a hot breakfast and coffee in the exhibit hall to start your day!
Behavioral Health Advantage – The Elevance Health Approach To Innovations In Substance Use, Suicide Prevention
With the increase in demand for behavioral health services from the pandemic and legacy issues around access, Elevance Health sought to design a system with the overarching goal of providing person-centered whole health care. Their approach started with engaging all stakeholders to assess the issues on the ground, designing products that match the needs of populations with complex health conditions, and connecting them to the right provider organizations. In this keynote presentation, hear how Elevance Health launched their Behavioral Health Advantage (BHA) program. Through BHA, Elevance Health is seeing significant reductions in suicide, alcohol, and opioid use. By leveraging prevention efforts, they are addressing access issues, providing mental health and substance use navigation support, creating comprehensive care plans, increasing use of digital tools, and helping to eliminate stigma in the workplace.
David Lederman

Thought Leader Discussion
David Lederman

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M.

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M., Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Integrating Digital Tools Into Service Delivery
Digital transformation and the integration of technological tools into service delivery is reshaping health and human services. To remain competitive, executive leaders are contemplating where to invest in technology to provide a digital front door and meet new consumer and payer expectations. In addition to looking into where technology can improve access, treatment services, and interoperability with other provider organizations, some organizations are using consumer apps, self-help, and other digital tools and health monitoring devices. Find out more as we discuss:
- Providing digitally enabled services to consumers
- Cultivating a digital mindset and culture among staff and leadership
- Tools and techniques for reaching out to consumer digitally
Stephen Smith

Stephen is speaking during Integrating Digital Tools Into Service Delivery.
Brandon Ward

Brandon is speaking during Integrating Digital Tools Into Service Delivery.
Jessica Dunbar

Jessica Dunbar currently works at Jefferson Center for Mental Health as their Chief Business Development Officer. In this role, she leads the communications and philanthropy department and the Jefferson Center’s strategic business development efforts to ensure the community mental health center is responsive to the behavioral health needs in the community. She is currently focused on a project to offer permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness, expand wellness and therapy services for the business community in the region, expand integrated behavioral health services with community partners, and advance the community mental health center’s partnerships with commercial payors through value-based contracts.
Prior to joining Jefferson Center, she ran Colorado’s largest independent pediatric practice, Every Child Pediatrics, for 6 years. Earlier in her career she worked on state reform efforts that led to the establishment of Colorado’s health information exchange, now called Contexture, and health insurance exchange, Connect for Health Colorado.
She holds a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Colorado and a BA in Religious Studies and BS in Psychology from Westmont College.
Jessica is speaking during Integrating Digital Tools Into Service Delivery.
Allegra Landers

Allegra Landers brings over 18 years of experience in strategic health care marketing to OPEN MINDS. Ms. Landers is a team builder and revenue-oriented marketer recognized in Becker’s Hospitals Women in Health IT to Watch in 2022. Ms. Landers currently serves as a Senior Associate for OPEN MINDS.
Before joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Landers was the Chief Marketing Officer for Concord Technologies. She served as a member of the executive team, responsible for a $5 million budget, strategy development, and execution to deliver engagement and pipeline creation necessary to deliver desired revenue at a targeted EBITDA.
Previously, Ms. Landers served as Director of Marketing for Qualifacts Systems, Inc., a technology and services company serving the behavioral health and human services market. In this position, Ms. Landers led a marketing organization responsible for brand and marketing strategy, go-to-market planning, sales enablement, and multi-channel demand generation programming that consistently delivered year-over-year growth.
Prior to joining Qualifacts, Ms. Landers served as Marketing Director for HealthTeacher, Inc, a leading interactive provider of healthy activities that improve children’s lives. As the marketing director, Ms. Landers led the complete life-cycle of the national marketing strategy for all customer acquisition and retention initiatives. In addition, she was responsible for strategic planning, budget creation, market analysis, product positioning, branding, sales tool creation, campaign development, execution, and measurement.
Previously, Ms. Landers served as Senior Marketing Managerfor Quorum Health Resources, hospital management and consulting company, responsible for strategic planning, coordination, and execution of all marketing for the QHR Learning Institute.
Ms. Landers served as Marketing Director to Connective Health, a healthcare technology startup serving physicians, hospitals and health systems, and educators, and as Interim Marketing Director for Stinger Medical, a point-of-care technology company.
Ms. Landers received her Bachelor of Science with Double Major in Cognitive Studies and Music and is currently pursuing her MBA at Middle Tennessee State University.
Best Practices In Working With Payers For Children With Complex Needs
The challenges of working with a population as vulnerable as children and youth with complex needs creates the necessity for payers and providers to work together to improve processes. This session will discuss how one payer created successful partnerships with providers, and with school districts, to agree on a set of quality, efficiency, and/or patient satisfaction metrics by which they were able to measure performance.
Tamra Williams

Dr. Tamra Williams is a Clinical Psychologist and a results-driven public service and behavioral healthcare executive with. Her areas of expertise include managed care operations, large-scale clinical program design and implementation, and children’s mental health.
Dr. Williams oversees the Montgomery County, PA Department of Health and Human Services where she engages in short and long term strategic planning blending health, social services and managed care solutions. She brings over 15 years leadership experience in managed care, county government, and non-profit settings to the department. Prior to that, Dr. Williams was the Chief Clinical Officer for a behavioral health managed care organization representing over 700,000 lives. In this role, she oversaw a number of initiatives related to children’s behavioral health including development of Medicaid funded school-based treatment programs, value-based contracting, integrated care, and development of a quality and accessible continuum of care.
Dr. Williams obtained her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Florida with a minor in public health policy & management and completed her pre-doctoral training at Yale University’s School of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry and post-doctoral training in the Division of Law & Psychiatry.
Tamra is speaking during Best Practices In Working With Payers For Children With Complex Needs.
Kimberly Bond, MS

Kimberly Bond, MS, LMFT, brings more than 30 years of experience providing behavioral health treatment in the public and community settings to the OPEN MINDS team. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Business Development. In this role, Ms. Bond focuses on growing the OPEN MINDS client portfolio across all nine verticals of OPEN MINDS business.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Bond served concurrently as a Program Coordinator III and Clinical Manager of Adult Services and a Program Coordinator II and Clinical Manager of Recovery Services for the Ozark Guidance Center. In these roles, Ms. Bond was responsible for the administrative and clinical oversight of the adult outpatient and adult intensive mental health services on the Springdale Campus as well as the adult recovery/co-occurring services, including domestic violence and anger management treatment.
Prior to joining the Ozark Guidance Center, Ms. Bond served as the Executive Vice President of Center Point, Inc, a large substance abuse provider agency in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the clinical and administrative supervision of all community-based programs as well as the women and children residential programs. In addition, Ms. Bond also managed budgets, interacted with funding agencies, and built positive relationships with all stakeholders. Ms. Bond was also in charge of proposal and grant writing, staff management, and training, facilities’ licensing and certifications renewals. Additionally, she prepared and submitted monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports to various funders.
Previously, Ms. Bond served as the President and CEO of Mental Health Systems, Inc. Ms. Bond was very instrumental in growing the agency from $12 million in annual revenue to more than $100 million and becoming one of the largest providers of behavioral health services in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the strategic, clinical, financial, and administrative health of the agency, including direct supervision of Senior Executive Staff. In addition, Bond ensured contract compliance of the agency’s 125 different contracts across federal and state agencies and eight counties.
Ms. Bond received her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with honors, and her master’s degree in counseling education from San Diego State University. She is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in both California and Arkansas.
The Cigna/Evernorth Centers Of Excellence Model: A Briefing & Discussion Session
William M. Lopez, MD, CPE

As the National Medical Director for Virtual Care Dr. Will Lopez is the clinical leader in the implementation of Evernorth and Cigna Healthcare’s national virtual care strategy. In this role he is directly involved in coverage policy development, reimbursement, government affairs issues, and assessing new technologies coming to market. In addition he oversees a medical director’s team responsible for medical necessity reviews, case management, and claims activities. He provides clinical expertise to Cigna’s sales and marketing teams during client and stakeholder meetings.
Prior to joining Cigna in 2006, Dr. Lopez was a staff psychiatrist and Medical Director for psychiatric services at Snowden at Fredericksburg, a private behavioral health center in Virginia. Dr. Lopez was a captain in the U.S. Air Force where he practiced aerospace medicine. As a veteran of operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he is passionate about supporting and leading veteran related initiatives.
Dr. Lopez lives in Asheville, NC with his wife and youngest daughter who is a junior at NC State University. When not at work, he enjoys outdoor activities including hiking, bicycling, and whitewater rafting.
How Non-Profit Provider Organizations Can Create a For-Profit Subsidiary – & Leverage Private Investor Funds For Growth
Ken Carr

Ken Carr brings over 20 years of finance, technology, data analysis and reporting experience in the health and human service field to OPEN MINDS. He currently ia a Senior Associate with the OPEN MINDS consulting practice. In this role, he served as a subject matter expert in the OPEN MINDS consulting practice where he has led numerous engagements in strategic planning, merger and acquisition prospecting, business process improvement, financial analysis of service lines, and technology selection.
Before joining the OPEN MINDS team, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Centers, a community mental health center in Ocala, Florida. In this position, Mr. Carr led a realignment of the organization’s financial management functions. This included revenue cycle management, EHR bill implementation and reporting, cash management enhancement, and strategic financial analysis.
Prior to his role at The Centers, Mr. Carr served as Chief Financial Officer of Guild Incorporated, an organization providing residential and community based mental health services in St. Paul, Minnesota. As CFO, Mr. Carr led the financial, billing, IT, quality, informatics, compliance, and facilities activities. During his tenure at Guild Incorporated, Mr. Carr used his expertise in change management and business process improvement to lead the EHR implementation team, align service data reporting and financial performance, and lead the financial and data capture activities for new service initiatives.
Mr. Carr has also held the positions of Administrative Director and Finance Director at the St. Paul National Testing Laboratory, a biomedical testing facility of the American Red Cross. In those positions he oversaw activities to enhance inventory management, align financial results to industry standards, and improve financial and facilities performance through problem analysis and quality management initiatives. He also was involved in directing human resource functions during laboratory closing near the end of his tenure.
Mr. Carr earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota, and a Master of Divinity Degree from Sioux Falls Seminary. He maintains an active CPA license with the State of South Dakota.
Programs For Addressing The Needs Of Children & Teens With Physical & Mental Service Needs
Having a child with a serious medical condition is a stressor for families and caregivers, including siblings. Effective work on behalf of these families requires a true interdisciplinary approach that serves the needs of the family and caregivers in addition to the identified client. During this session, hear from organizations who are using this interdisciplinary approach and how they are making it work.
Juliana Harper

Juliana is speaking during Programs For Addressing The Needs Of Children & Teens With Physical & Mental Service Needs.
Sharon Hicks

Sharon Hicks has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
One Year Later: Where We Are With 988
Almost a year into the implementation of the 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline—the three-digit number to make help more accessible for people in crisis—states and provider organizations have used new federal resources to upgrade technology, hire staff, and help sure up the system of crisis care. However, implementation does not come without challenges—responding to the increase in mental health awareness and concurrent call center volume and coordinating subsequent referrals to care. To shed more light on where 988 stands a year later, we invited our keynote from last year back to provide an update on Carelon’s (formerly Beacon Health Options) strategy and crisis response model and what they see ahead on the road to year two. Join us and find out how your organization can identify new opportunities to strengthen its crisis responses services and build/expand new programs to help consumers on their recovery journeys.

Wendy Martinez Farmer, LPC, MBA

Wendy Martinez Farmer from Carelon Behavioral Health is Licensed Professional Counselor with over 23 years of crisis experience in the public and private sectors, Wendy holds a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology from Marquette University and a MBA from Georgia Southern University. Since 2020, she has served as a national crisis lead for Beacon helping to develop crisis capabilities, which include building and overseeing statewide and community crisis systems. She is currently the CEO of the Georgia Collaborative ASO program, which includes administration of the statewide Georgia Crisis and Access Line. Prior to joining the Beacon team, Wendy was the President and CEO of Behavioral Health Link in Atlanta, where she oversaw daily operations of the statewide line as well as 24/7 mobile crisis response services in 104 Georgia counties. She has played a foundational role in building electronic capacity to coordinate crisis care in real time and continues that work today.
A suicide prevention leader, she sat on the Standards Training and Practice Committee for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline from 2016 to 2019. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for NAMI Georgia and was elected to the Board of Directors for the International Council for Helplines (ICH) in January of this year.
A member of the 2015 Crisis Now work group, Wendy is passionate about ensuring individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis receive the same predictable care individuals with medical emergencies receive. As a heart attack survivor, she has become even more dedicated to building crisis systems that prevent individuals in crisis from falling through the cracks. After her health scare, she became more and more interested in what her experience may have been if instead of chest pain, she was in a behavioral health crisis. “The response to chest pain is predictable no matter where you live. We demand it. This is not the case for behavioral health emergencies which can also be fatal. Unlike the bystanders and first responders who knew exactly what to do for me, our family, friends coworkers and even medical professionals are much less likely to know what to do when the emergency is related to mental health or substance use.” She is very invested in the successful launch of 988 and believes that community collaboration and the connection between key crisis services are key to ensuring individuals receive life-saving behavioral health care in their moment of need.
Wendy is speaking during One Year Later: Where We Are With 988.
Dee DeWitt

The Kaiser Approach To Managing Behavioral Health Care
With growing demand for behavioral health care, Kaiser is innovating across the full spectrum of mental health and addiction care resources to connect adults, teenagers, and children to the right services. By offering complete support in one holistic ecosystem, including through the use of feedback informed care, measurement-based treatment, and collaborative care models, Kaiser is creating a team-based pathway to treat mental health and addiction needs. Hear more on how Kaiser is integrating and scaling up to reduce the burden on primary care and hospitals, while achieving cost savings in the behavioral health continuum of care.

Stuart Buttlaire, PhD, MBA

Richard Louis III

Richard Louis, III has extensive experience as a behavioral healthcare administrator, business development specialist, and innovator of new service lines for behavioral healthcare organizations and currently serves the Vice President – Western Region at OPEN MINDS.
Previously, Mr. Louis was the Director of Development – Behavior & Addiction Medicine at Southern California Healthcare Systems Inc. / Prospect Medical. There, he was involved in many consulting projects focused on health care integration, developing new service lines, and health plan contract development. Most recently, he pioneered the development of a series of innovative and profitable integrated behavioral health treatment and population health management solutions that target high cost and complex behavioral health populations. These solutions have shown to reduce payer spend while improving client outcomes for acute care hospital systems, health plans, managed care organizations (MCO), managed service organizations (MSO), managed behavioral healthcare organizations (MBHO), medical groups (IPA) and social service agencies.
Mr. Louis was also the Executive Director of Strategic Development and Planning at Pathways – Molina Healthcare, a national for-profit behavioral healthcare company operating in 23 states. In this role, Mr. Louis developed and launched population health management program strategies that included in-community care management and in-home coordinated care services to reduce hospital readmissions, emergency department (ED) visits, and improve HEDIS scores for national health plans and Managed Care Organizations.
Mr. Louis is also a former Psychiatric Hospital Administrator and Assistant Director of Mental Health for San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health in CA, where he was responsible for behavioral health program management, clinical operations, strategic alliances, and outcome-based service delivery models for complex adult and youth populations.
Mr. Louis also served in various positions at College Health Enterprises (CHE), a Los Angeles based for-profit hospital system, most notably serving as Vice President of Government Operations. While in this role, he created the first public sector division for CHE by establishing new service lines, contracts, and new profit/revenue streams. His responsibilities included business and program development as well as administration of inpatient, outpatient, and residential continuums of care for public payers (i.e. county mental health systems, state department of developmental disabilities, county jail, state prison, and federal government agencies).
Mr. Louis is in his 32nd year as an active duty reserve police officer (volunteer) currently holding the rank of Captain, City of Monterey Park Police Department in Los Angeles County. He has worked closely with police, county sheriff’s departments, and healthcare systems to educate and craft “treatment versus incarceration” collaborations promoting treatment and cost-effective crisis triage interventions for persons with mental illness.
Mr. Louis graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Whittier College and is a Police Academy Graduate from Rio Hondo College in Whittier, California.
A For-Profit Subsidiary Success In The Non-Profit World: The Safe Harbor Behaviroal Health, Innovatel, & Quartet Case Study
Paul Duck

Paul M. Duck brings over 25 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.
Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.
Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.
Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.
Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.
Lunch On Your Own
Post Lunch Pick Me Up
Need an after lunch break? Come pick up a snack in the exhibit hall!
Successful Models For Serving Children With Complex Needs
Complex care in the arena of child health is a growing area of clinical focus and expertise. This population is generally defined as a person, from birth to adulthood with physical, behavioral, and social care needs. Given the complexity and scope of the issues facing these children and families, it is unlikely that any one profession can provide the full scope of high-quality, competent care across all services lines. During this session, we will discuss how specific agencies have created the professional relationships needed to provide effective care to this vulnerable population.

Lori Poston, LCSW, AADC, CS

Lori is the Vice President of Clinical Services for the Northeast region of Arisa Health, the largest provider of mental health services for the state, covering 41 counties in Arkansas. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, she leads all clinical programs and services for the 11 counties in the Northeast region of the state. She has 27 years of experience, serving our most vulnerable persons who struggle with mental health and substance use issues, both in direct service provision and administrative roles. Lori has served her agency in several roles: school-based therapist, consultant/trainer with schools in Positive Behavior Supports under a SAMHSA grant, collaborated with Craighead County to create a Juvenile Drug Court program, and now works to help grow Arisa’s outpatient and residential treatment programs. Additionally, she is certified as an Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (AADC) and Clinical Supervisor (CS) for Counselors in Training in Arisa’s substance use programs.
Lori is speaking during Successful Models For Serving Children With Complex Needs.
Walter Philips

Walter Philips has had a passion to work with troubled youth that stems from his own immigrant experience growing up in Los Angeles. This passion led him to receive his Master’s in Social Work from SDSU. Since first working on the streets of Southeast San Diego with gang kids in the 1980s, he made it his life goal to save one kid at a time. Walter was fortunate to become the CEO of San Diego Youth Services (SDYS) in July 2000. SDYS serves over 20,000 homeless, abused and at-risk youth and their families each year. Walter has worked for almost 40 years in San Diego as a social worker, including over 30 years in administrative leadership positions in community based non-profits. In addition, he has served on numerous local and statewide committees and boards. This includes serving as the immediate past Chair of the California Coalition for Youth, which is the main voice and advocate for homeless youth at the State level. Because of his leadership in the San Diego community, Walter has received numerous awards, including Social Worker of the Year (2002), Most Admired CEO for large Nonprofits (2011), and Behavioral Health Person of the Year (2018). In addition to raising their own two biological children, Walter and his wife have been foster parents to a son who experienced homelessness and incarceration in the juvenile and adult correctional system. Walter is an avid endurance athlete who has combined his passions by raising funds and awareness for at-risk youth through several running/biking endurance events.
Walter is speaking during Successful Models For Serving Children With Complex Needs.
Kimberly Bond, MS

Kimberly Bond, MS, LMFT, brings more than 30 years of experience providing behavioral health treatment in the public and community settings to the OPEN MINDS team. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Business Development. In this role, Ms. Bond focuses on growing the OPEN MINDS client portfolio across all nine verticals of OPEN MINDS business.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Bond served concurrently as a Program Coordinator III and Clinical Manager of Adult Services and a Program Coordinator II and Clinical Manager of Recovery Services for the Ozark Guidance Center. In these roles, Ms. Bond was responsible for the administrative and clinical oversight of the adult outpatient and adult intensive mental health services on the Springdale Campus as well as the adult recovery/co-occurring services, including domestic violence and anger management treatment.
Prior to joining the Ozark Guidance Center, Ms. Bond served as the Executive Vice President of Center Point, Inc, a large substance abuse provider agency in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the clinical and administrative supervision of all community-based programs as well as the women and children residential programs. In addition, Ms. Bond also managed budgets, interacted with funding agencies, and built positive relationships with all stakeholders. Ms. Bond was also in charge of proposal and grant writing, staff management, and training, facilities’ licensing and certifications renewals. Additionally, she prepared and submitted monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports to various funders.
Previously, Ms. Bond served as the President and CEO of Mental Health Systems, Inc. Ms. Bond was very instrumental in growing the agency from $12 million in annual revenue to more than $100 million and becoming one of the largest providers of behavioral health services in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the strategic, clinical, financial, and administrative health of the agency, including direct supervision of Senior Executive Staff. In addition, Bond ensured contract compliance of the agency’s 125 different contracts across federal and state agencies and eight counties.
Ms. Bond received her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with honors, and her master’s degree in counseling education from San Diego State University. She is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in both California and Arkansas.
Making Tough Decisions: When & How To Close Or Change Services
Decisionmaking on whether to keep or discontinue existing service lines is fraught with complexity. This is especially true in a health and human services market undergoing considerable changes, with new consumer expectations, provider needs, and payer requirements. As a result, executives of provider organizations are reexamining their service line portfolios. This includes analyzing if spending is in line with the organization’s mission and strategic priorities to determine which service lines operate at a profit margin, what services are no longer needed, and if new service lines should be added. Join us for an engaging conversation on how to:
- Achieve the right balance of organizational focus and investment of resources
- Analyze and present data to identify key strategic themes and priorities
- Evaluate service line portfolio profitability and sustainability
Sherrie Crabb

Sherrie began her career with Arrowleaf in 2008 and has been the Chief Executive Officer since 2014. Her previously held positions within agency included Youth Outpatient Therapist, Youth Programs Coordinator and Behavioral Health Assistant Director. She has a bachelor of Social Work and Master of Science in Human Development and Family Life degrees from Eastern Illinois University.
Sherrie is speaking during Making Tough Decisions: When & How To Close Or Change Services.
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M.

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M., Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Using Content Marketing To Build Your Brand & Drive Referrals
When it comes to branding, social media, and messaging strategies, executive teams are polishing up their marketing plans to reach consumers. An ever-increasing majority of consumers research provider organizations online before they decide on where, when, and how they receive treatment and services. To get on top of the search, provider organizations are polishing up their digital marketing plans and influence how they are represented online. In this session we will cover how to: recruitment strategy, outreach to other providers, and developing strategy by:
- Developing your organization’s online brand and digital marketing plan
- Use digital tools to reach consumers, other providers, and recruit top-notch staff
- Use data to analyze the success of a range of tactics to reach consumers
Jodi Bopp

Jodi is speaking during Using Content Marketing To Build Your Brand & Drive Referrals.
Emily Del Vecchio

Emily Del Vecchio brings over 14 years of experience in strategic, customer-focused, and results-driven marketing in retail and the behavioral health field. Ms. Del Vecchio is the Executive Vice President of Partnerships for OPEN MINDS.
Previously, Ms. Del Vecchio was the Marketing and Communications Manager II for Cleveland Clinic. As Cleveland Clinic’s global interests grew, Ms. Del Vecchio was promoted to manage international marketing and support for International Operations, Global Patient Services, international business development, and global expansion efforts. She was instrumental in setting up the London Marketing and Communications function ensuring the UK-based team was connected to US resources and providing corporate oversight for all foundational marketing elements including recruitment advertising campaigns, grand opening promotional strategy and events, and the creation of a localized website and online tools for patients and referring doctors. She also served as a senior member of the cross-departmental “Digital Optimization Team” that was responsible for strategic oversight of all digital lead generation campaigns, designing, executing, and analyzing testing strategies to roll out scalable programs; and managed day-to-day relationship with digital agency and marketing automation partners.
Prior to Cleveland Clinic, Ms. Del Vecchio was Senior Manager, Affiliate Marketing for Gen3 Marketing. Ms. Del Vecchio led the day-to-day management and strategic development of affiliate marketing programs for some of Gen3’s highest-profile clients ranging from financial services to high-end, luxury retail. She operated as an extension of the client’s internal marketing team to support key initiatives, drive increased sales and maintain set budgets. Ms. Del Vecchio established strong relationships with publishers and network teams on behalf of clients to effectively structure and negotiate terms, secure paid placements, and ensure overall brand presence across affiliate sites. She tracked campaign performance, identified trends and growth opportunities, and analyzed key metrics.
Before Gen3, Ms. Del Vecchio advanced to Online Marketing Specialist, Affiliate Marketing for QVC, Inc. Here she managed QVC’s affiliate marketing program, which had 1K+ publisher partners and generated over $200M in annual revenue. She oversaw daily program activities, implemented strategic plans and offer strategies, managed a multi-million dollar budget, and exceeded aggressive revenue goals. Ms. Del Vecchio ran QVC’s most successful publisher optimization campaign at the time, which generated $300K+ in incremental sales among mid-tier publishers in one month. Ms. Del Vecchio and her team provided creative briefs for print and television, attended photo and video shoots, and oversaw projects from concept to execution.
Ms. Del Vecchio received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration for Marketing at Elon University, Elon, NC.
Allegra Landers

Allegra Landers brings over 18 years of experience in strategic health care marketing to OPEN MINDS. Ms. Landers is a team builder and revenue-oriented marketer recognized in Becker’s Hospitals Women in Health IT to Watch in 2022. Ms. Landers currently serves as a Senior Associate for OPEN MINDS.
Before joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Landers was the Chief Marketing Officer for Concord Technologies. She served as a member of the executive team, responsible for a $5 million budget, strategy development, and execution to deliver engagement and pipeline creation necessary to deliver desired revenue at a targeted EBITDA.
Previously, Ms. Landers served as Director of Marketing for Qualifacts Systems, Inc., a technology and services company serving the behavioral health and human services market. In this position, Ms. Landers led a marketing organization responsible for brand and marketing strategy, go-to-market planning, sales enablement, and multi-channel demand generation programming that consistently delivered year-over-year growth.
Prior to joining Qualifacts, Ms. Landers served as Marketing Director for HealthTeacher, Inc, a leading interactive provider of healthy activities that improve children’s lives. As the marketing director, Ms. Landers led the complete life-cycle of the national marketing strategy for all customer acquisition and retention initiatives. In addition, she was responsible for strategic planning, budget creation, market analysis, product positioning, branding, sales tool creation, campaign development, execution, and measurement.
Previously, Ms. Landers served as Senior Marketing Managerfor Quorum Health Resources, hospital management and consulting company, responsible for strategic planning, coordination, and execution of all marketing for the QHR Learning Institute.
Ms. Landers served as Marketing Director to Connective Health, a healthcare technology startup serving physicians, hospitals and health systems, and educators, and as Interim Marketing Director for Stinger Medical, a point-of-care technology company.
Ms. Landers received her Bachelor of Science with Double Major in Cognitive Studies and Music and is currently pursuing her MBA at Middle Tennessee State University.
Raffle Prize Drawing
Held in the exhibit hall – join us to see if you’ve won any of the great prizes provided by our generous exhibitors!
Lauren Evangelist

Lauren Evangelist brings more than 15 years of experience in marketing and business strategy, brand development, product launch and digital marketing to OPEN MINDS. Ms. Evangelist currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Partnerships
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Evangelist was the Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations for Tridiuum, where she developed and implemented the company’s new go-to-market sales and marketing strategy. Ms. Evangelist also developed and launched Tridiuum’s provider recruitment program in partnership with New Directions Behavioral Health (NDBH). She created the program’s acquisition strategy, marketing collateral and recruited behavioral health providers to accelerate access to care for 4M NDBH members. NDBH acquired Tridiuum based on program’s immediate impact and success.
Previously, Ms Evangelist, served as Vice President of Partnership & Loyalty Marketing with OneMain Financial in Wilmington, DE. In this role, she launched OneMain’s strategic partnerships and customer loyalty programs to generate demand for loan products, provide financial literacy, create customer engagement and enhance the OneMain customer experience.
Prior to her role at OneMain Financial, Ms. Evangelist was Senior Manager of Strategic Partnership Marketing for ShopRunner in Conshohocken, PA. In this role, she developed and executed strategic marketing programs with corporate partners like American Express, Mastercard and PayPal to acquire new ShopRunner members and drive member activation within the ShopRunner network.
Previously, Ms. Evangelist was at QVC (Qurate Retail Group) in West Chester, PA for 12 years, where she held several instrumental roles within Marketing and eCommerce. In her last role as Manager of Partner Marketing, she piloted and launched QVC’s first Co-Op Marketing program, which accounted for over $2M in incremental marketing contributions from national retailer partners like Dell, Dooney & Bourke and Vera Bradley.
Ms. Evangelist received her Bachelor of Arts in Commercial Design from Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA. She has also been a member of the Lycoming College Athletics Advisory Board since 2018.
Strategic Success & The Customer Experience
Planning for growth and creating an individualized customer experience need to go hand-in-hand. Provider organizations who can wrap their hands around these strategic initiatives while remaining flexible to the market forces, will seize competitive advantages. Join Monica Oss, Chief Executive Officer of OPEN MINDS as she unpacks key institute takeaways and lays out a foundation for consumer-centered care innovation. This closing session will review:
- Strategic decisionmaking in turbulent markets
- Integrating digital tools into consumer service delivery
- Marketing for brand awareness and revenue growth
Monica E. Oss

Monica E. Oss, M.S., Chief Executive Officer and Senior Associate, is the founder of OPEN MINDS. For the past three decades, Ms. Oss has led the OPEN MINDS team and its research on health and human service market trends and its national consulting practice. Ms. Oss is well known for her numerous books and articles focused on the strategic and marketing implications of the evolving health and human service field. She has unique expertise in payer financing models, provider rate setting, and service pricing. She has led numerous engagements with state Medicaid plans, county governments, private insurers, managed care programs, service provider organizations, technology vendors, neurotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations, and investment banking firms – with a focus on the implications of financing changes on delivery system design.