Speakers & Faculty

Aaron joined Vista Care in 2024 to help lead the development of the next wave of tech-enabled I/DD services. Before Vista Care, he founded Mox Capital, where he partnered with innovative healthcare companies focused on reducing costs and enhancing outcomes. Aaron also served as Head of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Kingfish Group, where he sourced investment opportunities and drove strategic growth for portfolio companies. He holds a BA from Stanford University and a Master’s Degree from Oxford University.

Myke Bates, co-founder and CEO of Hearo Technologies, leads the company in creating innovative assistive technology that empowers individuals to live more independently. His forward-thinking approach drives Hearo’s mission to improve lives through empathetic, human-centered design.

Michel is co-founder and CEO of Mindsigns Health™ Inc a cloud-based neuropsychiatry platform with international collaborations and partnerships.

Michel is currently Director of Entrepreneurship and Research Translation at NTU-SCELSE, working on technology commercialization via spinoffs and industry collaborations and partnerships, strategy and corporate development.

During that time he was also responsible for the development and operations, from 2019-2022, of the Singapore National Biofilm Consortium, creating partnerships in the US, UK and EU and funding proof of concept and tech transfer projects between academia and industry.

Michel was a lecturer for the MIT-SMART ACT program where he developed and taught the course “Lab to Market”.

He is also co-founder and advisor to two other healthcare spinoffs involved in anti-microbials and microbiome.

Michel has held board positions with a number of technology and healthcare growth companies internationally, in operational and advisory roles and has managed technology & healthcare IPOs on both European markets and NASDAQ as well as M&A and investments.

Michel served as Vice Chairman of the Singapore Venture Capital Association (SVCA) and was a member of the Executive Council of BioSingapore. Michel won the SVCA’s Highest Impact VC/PE-Backed Company Non-Executive Board Member award in 2013

Michel holds a B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering (PINY) and attended General Electric’s Advanced Engineering program. Michel was a graduate of General Electric’s Edison Program. He earned his MBA from the London Business School and has certifications in machine learning, data privacy and QMS for Medtech.

Terry Blackwell is a seasoned leader with operational expertise in managing budgets, program requirements, risk mitigation, funding, and people. Terry brings more than three decades of diverse leadership experience serving the needs of people with disabilities. A recognized thought leader among his peers, Terry is a regular presenter at the national level for Applied Behavior Analysis International.

Notably, Terry helped lead the development of the country’s only I/DD- and autism-focused ACO. During the establishment of this entity, he worked with NCQA to impact national policy to accommodate the special needs of the I/DD and ASD (Autistic Spectrum) populations.

Previously, Terry was the Chief Executive Officer for Chimes International, a large multi-service nonprofit operating in the mid-Atlantic and in partnership with Chimes Israel in Tel Aviv. He worked closely with the board of directors of the parent company and the six affiliate companies in developing a coherent voice and outward-facing presence to external stakeholders. Terry also created new and exciting program ventures within the company, consistent with the evidence-based best practices in the fields of integrated supported work I/DD, autism, and behavioral health.

Terry was also the Chief Operating Officer for Services for the Underserved (SUS), a nonprofit organization that provides services to people with autism, intellectual disabilities, behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse issues as well as veterans’ services in a variety of coordinated and integrated care models. In this role, Terry provided operational leadership and oversight for this 187-million-dollar social services agency with 2,000 employees. He also co-created and co-chaired a 2.8-billion-dollar membership group of I/DD provider organizations oriented to aligning best practices in the field for managed care impact in Pennsylvania.

Before SUS, Terry was the Vice President of Operations for Fedcap, Inc., a 75-year-old NYC-based nonprofit serving over 1,000 clients with special needs throughout the New York metropolitan area, where he identified and developed associated license and programs for persons who have lifetime disabilities that may qualify for supports through federal and state initiatives.

Terry also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Developmental Delay Rehabilitation Services, Inc., where he provided direction and oversight for fiscal, programmatic, and development function of a New York State Education Department and New York State Department of Health approved home and community-based early intervention and early childhood program. The program was referenced by key national autism experts as a “best practices publicly funded services for autism” program in the Northeast.

In addition to earning his Master of Science degree in Psychological Services from the University of Pennsylvania, including attendance at the Wharton School, Terry is a Licensed School Principal, Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and Certified Addictions Specialist. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Saint Peter’s University.

Kirk has been conducting health services research for almost 30 years, primarily in substance abuse treatment and prevention. He has studied client retention and engagement in treatment and long-term program outcomes. He has also studied the staff working environment in treatment programs, quality improvement initiatives, program costs, and the factors that drive them. That research has been published in refereed scientific journals and books.

Kirk has particular expertise in the statistical and research methods applied in these studies. He has served as a consultant and teacher for colleagues, students, and clients.

Specialties include multilevel models for hierarchical data, structural equation models, linear and logistic regression, techniques for handling missing data, psychometric analysis, measure development, and economic cost analysis.

Experience with statistical software such as SAS, SPSS, Mplus, HLM, LISREL, and Winsteps.

Experienced manager of personnel and research projects.

Kimber Bruhn is the National Director of Quality and Nursing Services at Vista Care. She holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and Administration. Kimber has worked in over 17 states as well as internationally to support people with disabilities over the past 20 years.  She has worked in a variety of role,s including operations, project management, and quality & nursing.  In her current role, she is responsible for technology supports, assistive technology, and building an electronic health record system in addition to all things Quality and Nursing.

Jose is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with 16+ years of experience managing large-scale infrastructure projects in multidisciplinary and multicultural environments. A Civil Engineer by training, Jose brings his knowledge in project management, business processes improvement, data analytics, financial analysis, and operations to provide a different and unique perspective to the healthcare industry.

Jose holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s in Project Management from Andres Bello Catholic University in Caracas, Venezuela, and a Master of Business Administration from North Carolina State University, with concentrations in Financial Management, Operations and Supply Chain, and Data Analytics. Jose is an active member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

Grant Chamberlain joined Ziegler in 2015 as a managing director in the Healthcare Investment Banking Practice. With over 25 years of investment banking experience, Grant has dedicated the majority of his career to advising HCIT and tech-enabled outsourced services companies with particular focus on transactions with telehealth companies such as Vimly, CXC, TM2U, Somnoware, Avera eCare, Philips Lifeline / ConnectAmerica, Tridiuum, Anelto, SmartMeter, CancerIQ, Validic, Doctible, CentralLogic, SCI, Regroup, Forefront, Basys, Airstrip, Forefront, IRIS, MDLIVE and Voalte.

Prior to Ziegler, Grant led the mHealth sector coverage at Raymond James – which included telehealth, remote monitoring and wireless healthcare solutions – after spending 25 years advising HCIT and tech-enabled outsourced services companies on a broad variety of M&A, joint ventures/partnerships and private financings. Additionally, Grant has completed dozens of transactions in the physician practice management space with a specific concentration in oncology, having closed over 15 deals in that sector in his career.

Prior to Raymond James, Grant was a principal at Shattuck Hammond Partners, which was acquired by Morgan Keegan. He was also a part of the corporate finance group of General Electric Capital Corporation and the financial services division of GE Medical Systems.

In addition, Grant is an elected Director of the ATA, the leading international advocate for the use of advanced remote medical technologies. He is also on the Board of Directors for The MAVEN Project, which uses telehealth and a network of volunteer physicians affiliated with the nation’s foremost medical school alumni associations to improve healthcare access for underserved populations.

Grant earned a B.A. in finance and investment banking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Currently the Vice President, Innovation at Qualifacts, Nicholas is driving the company’s innovation strategy, including the integration of AI and Qualifacts iQ. His journey with Qualifacts began with the acquisition of OnCall Health, the client portal and engagement software solution he founded in 2016 specifically for behavioral health organizations. Nicholas’s passion for technological innovation in healthcare and expanding access to behavioral health services continues to be a driving force in his work.

Theresa Costales, M.D. became the Chief Medical Officer for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) in January 2025 after serving as Arizona Medical Director for Connections Health Solutions, overseeing clinical operations at the Urgent Psychiatric Center in Phoenix and the Crisis Response Center in Tucson, for several years prior.  She is recognized as a health care leader in the State of Arizona, with extensive experience working with individuals with Serious Mental Illness (SMI), in both direct care and administrative leadership roles, and has partnered with a number of key stakeholders to address systemic gaps and improve outcomes for patients involved in the civil commitment process. 

Dr. Costales graduated from Canisius College with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and earned her Medical Doctorate from Georgetown University School of Medicine. She completed the Psychiatry Residency Program at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and is Board Certified in Psychiatry. 

David W. Covington, LPC, MBA is a behavioral health innovator, entrepreneur, and storyteller. He is CEO and President of Recovery Innovations, manager partner in Behavioral Health Link and producer of the Moving America’s Soul on Suicide documentary film series. David also hosts and curates the popular weekly 988 “Crisis Jam” Learning Community with SAMHSA and NASMHPD and Lifelines: The 988 Podcast with Dr. John Draper.

Karen M. Dale is Market President for AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia, a mission-based Medicaid Managed Care Organization in Washington, D.C., and the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for the AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies. Her focus includes applying a health equity lens to impact all levels of policies, processes, decisions, laws, and outcomes for the communities AmeriHealth Caritas serves.

She also leads a decidedly metric-driven business approach to mobilize leaders and accelerate strategies to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion inside and outside the walls of AmeriHealth Caritas. As a result, opportunities for people to experience health, wholeness, and belonging are enhanced by addressing the social, economic, and environmental conditions that are drivers of poor health.

In addressing the landscape of needs among the nation’s vulnerable populations, Dale has cultivated a focus that has helped AmeriHealth Caritas concurrently innovate, while meeting the highest levels of quality and service. These efforts include the use of digital tools to aid in the management of chronic diseases, peer-to-peer outreach using community health workers and peer specialists, and the use of a human-centered member engagement approach.

Dale’s vision is notably reflected in key programs addressing Black maternal health, racism, housing, transportation, violence interruption, and food insecurity. In addition, her philosophy that health care must evolve into a health ecosystem that promotes wellness without barriers, starting where people are, has led to several collaborative relationships with providers, community partners, philanthropists, and businesses to implement sustainable, scalable solutions with high impact.

Her hobbies include gardening, creating healthy Caribbean recipes, traveling, and watching her son’s soccer games.

Marco Damiani has spent his entire career in disability rights, fighting for full inclusion of people with intellectual/developmental disabilities into their communities. Starting as a Direct Support Professional, working for a non-profit at the Willowbrook State School as it began closing, he quickly realized the power of collective advocacy on behalf of people who are perceived as different. As Marco’s career progressed, he devoted much of his energy in working to achieve health equity for people with disabilities, playing a major role in developing integrated care models for people frequently underserved by the conventional healthcare system.

As CEO of AHRC NYC, a Forbes Best American mid-size company,  he leads a staff of 5,000, supporting 15,000 individuals with IDD and their families.

Marco is an appointee to the NYU College of Dentistry Dean’s Strategic Advisory Council and is a recipient of the Kriser Medal, the College’s highest honor, a recipient of Pace University’s  Opportunitas-in-Action Medal, The Arc of the United States National Convention of Executives Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award, a Certificate of Special U.S. Congressional Recognition for outstanding and invaluable service to the community, Crain’s Business and Empire BCBS Whole-Healthcare Hero and The Excellence in Autism Award from Mental Health News Education. He has also received Citations from The NYS Assembly and the Bronx Borough President for Meritorious Advocacy and Community Service.

He is a Mayoral Appointee of the NYC Community Services Board, a member of NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ Transition Team, Board Member of the Inter-Agency Council of IDD Agencies, NY Disability Advocates, Care Design NY, Metro Community Health Centers, and Cafe Joyeux U.S., an international network of cafes staffed primarily by neurodiverse people. He has published articles in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities and the Journal of Social Work in Disability and Rehabilitation, among others. Marco has a BS in psychology from Manhattan College, a Masters in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University, and is ABD in Educational Psychology from New York University.

Dr. Latika D. Davis-Jones, Ph.D., MPH, MSW currently serves as the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP), appointed to the position by Governor Josh Shapiro in January 2023. With over 30 years dedicated to addressing the physical and behavioral health needs of vulnerable populations, she brings extensive experience to her role. Prior to joining DDAP, Dr. Davis-Jones held the position of Senior Director of Behavioral Health at Highmark Wholecare, where she provided leadership and administrative oversight for behavioral health programs, including expanding into new markets and implementing health management initiatives.

Dr. Davis-Jones’s academic contributions include teaching foundational courses on social work practice, diversity, risk, oppression, resilience, and empowerment. She played a pivotal role in contributing to the content and analysis of measures for the book “Measuring Race and Ethnicity: Inside and Out” by the late Dr. Larry Davis and Dr. Rafael Engel. This work focused on psychological measures related to racial identity, acculturation, and intra and intergroup relations, enhancing researchers’ ability to compare concepts across groups and evaluate disparities. Additionally, she served as co-principal investigator on the Strengthening Pittsburgh’s African American Nonprofits (SPAAN) Project at the University of Pittsburgh-School of Social Work.

Dr. Davis-Jones’s commitment to community service is evidenced by her receipt of numerous community awards and her active participation on local boards, reflecting her dedication to making a positive impact beyond her professional responsibilities.

She has also been a vocal advocate in addressing the opioid epidemic, delivering public testimonies before the Pennsylvania House and Senate Policy Committees, and presenting at national and local conferences. Her collaborative efforts have contributed to published reports and journal articles focused on tackling the opioid epidemic in Allegheny County.

David Donohue is the Market President of CareSource’s Arkansas Market, CareSource PASSE^TM. Prior to joining CareSource, David served as the Executive Director of the New Hampshire Medicaid plan with WellSense Health Plan, where he led state operations. David’s dedication to Arkansas extends back to the launch of the Provider-Led Arkansas Shared Savings Entity.

David has extensive experience working with people with complex needs, including individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and those with significant Behavioral Health challenges.

His passion for these populations is rooted in working for and with fee-for-service providers of services as well as hospital systems and provider practices.

He has also supported the launch of managed care programs for both traditional and complex populations across the country. His previous work includes helping to develop specialized programs for people with Intellectual and Development Disabilities, Crisis Programs, and Value-Based arrangements for a variety of provider-types.

Community involvement is a priority for David, and he regularly supports organizations focused on eliminating food insecurity and improving health equity.

David holds a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications from Ball State University and an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University.

As the lead director of Medicaid business strategy and health policy Nick reports to the Medicaid Chief Growth Officer (VP, Product & Business Development) for Aetna, a CVS Health company that serves nearly 3 million Medicaid members. He’s responsible for leading a team that identifies and creates strategies to drive growth in new and current markets based on healthcare policy and Medicaid state priorities.

Nick builds and maintains relationships with key stakeholders including community organizations, nonprofits, providers, associations, and state government. He interacts with leadership across various state markets to support a culture focused on strategic growth, organization, and team development.

He has over a decade of experience in the health care industry, specializing in state and federal health care programs. Prior to joining CVS Health, Nick served three terms in the Florida House of Representatives. In the Legislature, he served as ranking member in both the Health and Human Services and Appropriations Committees. Nick has also served on several private sector and civic boards, including Board of Trustees for the Jackson Health System, the largest public hospital system in the United States.

Jonathan Evans, MS, brings 30 years of experience in the behavioral health field. 

Previously, Mr. Evans was the Chief Executive Officer of InnovaTel Telepsychiatry, LLC. He was also the Chief Executive Officer of Safe Harbor Behavioral Health, an organization known for clinical innovations. He brings to the OPEN MINDS team noted expertise in the design of community-based programs, new service line development, expertise in telehealth-based service delivery, and governance and leadership expertise.

Mr. Evans began his career at Hamot Institute for Behavioral Health (IBH), where he initially worked in the emergency department providing initial evaluations for patients. He had a long tenure at Hamot IBH, serving as both Director of the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center (DEC) and the Director of the Adult Division.

Mr. Evans left Hamot IBH in 1993 to become the Founding Chief Executive of Safe Harbor Behavioral Health. Safe Harbor was established to assist the State of Pennsylvania with an initiative to close state hospitals and move consumers with serious mental illnesses to the community. Safe Harbor provides intensive outpatient services to patients with serious mental illness and provides 24-hour a day crisis intervention services to anyone in Erie County. The program’s annual operating budget has grown from the initial $300,000 to over $8 million. Safe Harbor currently provides services to over 4,000 consumers each year.

Mr. Evans is also the Founding President of Northwest Beacon Group, LLC.  Northwest Beacon, a subsidiary of Safe Harbor, provides outpatient behavioral health services in the Erie community and employee assistance services to over 100 organizations with over 40,000 employees.

Mr. Evans was also the Founding Board Chairman of Presque Isle Psychiatric Associates, a non-profit organization that provides psychiatric coverage for hospitals and community-based providers. In addition, he serves on many boards, including The Pennsylvania Community Providers Association, The Erie Center on Health and Aging and Community Behavioral HealthCare Network of Pennsylvania Provider Advisory Board.

Mr. Evans received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and his Masters’ Degree in Clinical Psychology from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

Jessica Fenchel is the Executive Vice President and COO at Access Services, where she supports the delivery of diverse community-based programming for children, adults, and families in Eastern Pennsylvania. Access Services is a nonprofit organization building community through the delivery of services in Behavioral Health, Children and Families Services, Intellectual Disability and Autism Programming, and Housing and Homeless Services.   

Jess has been key in the startup of innovative initiatives across multiple service spaces, including crisis, forensics, schools, and homelessness. Jess believes that help should be helpful and that the people we serve deserve our best. She has led in partnership building to realize integration between behavioral health and physical health, driving solutions for vulnerable populations. Jess’ work to develop new models of partnership between law enforcement and crisis systems has led to overall reductions in arrests for those experiencing mental health crises. 

Jess received her undergraduate degree from Messiah College, her master’s degree from Lasalle University in Clinical Counseling Psychology, training in Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of North Texas, a certificate in Nonprofit Management from Lasalle University, and a certificate from the Global Trauma Recovery Institute. Jess is an avid sports fan, especially of the Buffalo Bills, and loves being active outside with her husband, three kids, and dog. 

Tad Gary is the CEO of Mercy Care, an Arizona-based managed care organization serving more than 475,000 Medicaid and Medicare members under six governmental contracts. These include AHCCCS Complete Care, Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS), Regional Behavioral Health Authority for Maricopa County, Developmentally Disabled, Department of Child Safety Comprehensive Health Plan (DCS CHP), and Medicare Dual SNP contracts.

As CEO, Tad is responsible for all health plan activities for all product lines. He also supports all Mercy Care business development and implementation efforts throughout Arizona.

Tad has held multiple leadership roles during his more than 20-year career in health care and social services. Tad is a member of the Greater Phoenix Chamber Board and a Trustee of the Vitalyst Health Foundation. He was also appointed to the State of Arizona Opioid Review Council and to the Phoenix Police Review and Implementation Ad Hoc Committee. Tad is the former president of the Arizona Counselors Association and former President of the Institute for Mental Health Research EpiCenter, serving adolescents experiencing their first episodes of psychosis.

He earned his master’s degrees in counseling and education and has completed executive education in finance and accounting from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Scott Green leads the Care Dimensions business unit at Netsmart. In his role, he leads a team focused on building out a comprehensive suite of solutions designed to support organizations as they digitize their operations beyond the EHR. Green has been with Netsmart for 10 years and has held many roles during that time including leading the Human Services business unit.

Prior to joining Netsmart, he spent 13 years with Pfizer where he focused on building relationships and clinical initiatives with Integrated Delivery Networks.

Scott holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial psychology from Kansas State University and a graduate certificate in healthcare leadership from Park University.

Christine Greimann, MSN, RN, CPNP is a seasoned healthcare leader with deep expertise in value-based care, clinical integration, and strategic partnerships. She currently serves as Vice President of Growth at Cityblock Health, where she is advancing innovative models of integrated community-based care delivery. Prior to Cityblock, Christine spent over eight years at DispatchHealth, with leadership roles focused on building scalable care models that align clinical operations with value-based contracting. Christine’s earlier career includes strategic roles at Aetna and frontline clinical experience as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, bringing a unique blend of clinical acumen and business strategy. She also serves as an advisor to Fresh Food Connect, working to build a more resilient food system by connecting gardeners and hunger relief organizations. 

Michelle is a seasoned leader with over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit behavioral health sector. As a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner (CPRP), she brings a wealth of expertise to her work in clinical practice, executive coaching, and nonprofit business development. Michelle has a strong focus on enhancing mental health services and guiding leadership teams toward greater impact. 

A recognized speaker and thought leader in behavioral health and minority leadership, Michelle is also an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, through which she continues her commitment to community service.

Michelle holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Arizona State University and a Master of Arts in Professional Counseling from Argosy University. Her career has been dedicated to supporting individuals and families facing mental health challenges, substance use, and behavioral health crises. 

As the first African American and woman to lead the organization, Michelle is committed to understanding community needs and forging partnerships with state and local stakeholders to address the growing demands of individuals living with behavioral health conditions and those in crisis.

A seasoned Healthcare and Human Services Executive with 25 years of experience in C-suite executive leadership throughout her career in Nonprofit, Private, and Government Organizations, Tine Hansen-Turton is the President and CEO of Woods System of Care (WSOC). WSOC is a leading population health and advocacy organization in PA and NJ that provides life cycle care to meet the lifelong needs of children and adults with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A), acquired brain injuries, and /or mental health challenges who may also have complex medical and genetic conditions. She oversees 7500 staff that serves more than 52,000 individuals.  Ms. Hansen-Turton also serves as the founding Executive Director and Administrator for the Convenient Care Association (CCA), the national trade association of over 3500 private-sector retail clinic industry, serving 40 million people with basic health care services across the country.  Ms. Hansen-Turton formerly served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Public Health Management Corporation, where she oversaw and led corporate strategy, operations, business development, and M&A. Additionally, Ms. Hansen-Turton served as CEO of the National Nurse-led Care Consortium, a non-profit organization supporting the growth and development of over 500 nurse-managed and school health clinics.  Ms. Hansen-Turton also teaches public and social innovations, leading nonprofits, health policy, and the social innovations lab at the University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute of Government and School of Nursing. Ms. Hansen-Turton is the founder and publisher of a social impact/innovation journal and has published eight books. She received her BA from Slippery Rock University, her Master of Government/Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute of Government, and her Juris Doctor from Temple University Beasley School of Law.

Stephen Hopkins has been with Eastern Shore CSB (ESCSB) for eight years, holding an Applied Science degree in Information Technology Specialization. Hopkins manages all state reporting, report building, EHR configuration, virtual care, and EHR-related tasks for the organization. He has successfully managed Credible throughout his tenure and for the past three years has successfully utilized Credible Client Experience Solutions for ESCSB’s client portal, client engagement, and telehealth.

Dr. Naveed Iqbal is the Founder and CEO of Tritone Health, the company behind the Medii platform. A pioneering platform designed to support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), brain injuries, and dementia. Drawing on over 15 years as a Primary Care Physician, Dr. Iqbal leads work at the intersection of technology, prevention, and health equity. Medii empowers individuals, families, and care teams by improving communication, promoting self-management, and enhancing access to care. Dr. Iqbal is passionate about advancing digital inclusion and healthier outcomes for people with complex needs across the U.S. and internationally.

Don Fowls, M.D. is a nationally known psychiatrist and health care consultant who works with organizations across the country to develop solutions for the many challenges they face today, including integration, value-based reimbursement, managing complex, special populations, and strategic partnerships. Dr. Fowls has worked with several national and regional health plans, health systems and providers to address these areas. He has also helped a number of start-up companies with product and business development, enabling them to strategically identify their best opportunities and then successfully pursue them as customers.

Dr. Fowls previously served as Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Business Development for Value Options and its parent company FHC Health Systems for eleven years.  He also worked at Schaller Anderson Inc. as Executive Vice President, Business Development, and President and CEO of its behavioral health subsidiary.

In Arizona, he recently served as the behavioral health advisor to the Practice Innovation Institute, one of the CMS Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative grant awardees to transform the practices of health care providers. As part of this process he co-led the Behavioral Health Affinity Group nationally. He also served as Chief Medical Officer of Mercy Maricopa Integrated Care, the first fully integrated behavioral health plan in the nation.

Dr. Fowls is recent past Chairman of the Board of Copa Health, an Arizona-based community provider of services for behavioral health and intellectual and developmental disorders and continues as a Board member. He is also immediate past President and current Chair of Government Affairs for the Arizona Psychiatric Society and a Fellow in the American Psychiatric Association.

Tisha Jackson is an experienced executive leader in healthcare operations, currently serving as the Chief Operating Officer at Abound Health. In this role, Tisha is responsible for leading operational strategies, ensuring quality and compliance, and fostering innovation. 

Previously, as a Novant Health leader, she was responsible for both ambulatory and acute facility neuroscience programming. Tisha holds a Master of Science in Health Administration from Louisiana State University at Shreveport and is dedicated to advancing quality outcomes in healthcare.

With more than 4 decades of experience in behavioral health, Dan has been Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of ACMH, Inc. since 2003.  He earned a B.A. from Columbia University in the City of New York and an M.Div. from the Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico. He is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and serves a parish in an immigrant community in Hudson County, New Jersey.

Ms. Jones has a wealth of experience database design, configuration, and reporting. She started out in 1999 building databases in 1999 for small non-profit organizations to assist in synthesizing donor contribution records and fundraising practices. Since then, she has provided database system administration for multiple systems across multiple nonprofit sectors.

In addition to database configuration and management, Ms. Jones has used her love of writing and passion for public health in the development arena and has been the team lead for over 150 grant proposals and applications and has assisted in securing more than 16 million dollars’ worth of grant funding in the last 15 years.

Ms. Jones has been working with the Affiliated Santé Group (Santé) since 2006. She has a wealth of crisis system and behavioral health program support experience including program design, project management, proposal development, and data and reporting. As the Director of Advancement for Santé, she is responsible for configuring, supporting, and training three separate data systems overseeing proposal development and project coordination. She specializes particularly in crisis metrics and has participated in both local and State Crisis Metric workgroups and advisory sessions.

Ms. Jones is currently pursuing her Masters of Public Health through the Milken Institute with George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She is committed to effecting positive change through data-driven service enhancement, effective data analytics, and person-centered approaches to documentation and system design.

Simon Kimmelman, Esq., serves as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating and Legal Officer for the Woods System of Care. In his role as Chief Legal Officer, he heads up the Woods Legal Department and oversees all law-related matters for Woods, its affiliates, and related entities. As Chief Operating Officer, he is directly responsible for implementing the Woods Strategic Directions Plan and coordinating the Woods System of Care operations. Previously, he was a member of Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. and served as Managing Partner of the Firm’s Princeton, New Jersey office. Mr. Kimmelman’s practice was focused on business bankruptcy, health law, general corporate matters, and commercial litigation. He has represented major entities involved in many of the most significant Chapter 11 cases filed in New Jersey and several other jurisdictions. He served as the bankruptcy trustee for Kiwi International Airlines and John Z. DeLorean. He is admitted to the Bar in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and former Chair of the Bankruptcy Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association and the Lawyers’ Advisory Committee to the New Jersey Bankruptcy Court. In recognition of his contributions to the advancement of medicine and dental medicine, he has recently been elected a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.  Mr. Kimmelman has been involved in various charitable endeavors and most recently served as President of Har Sinai Temple in Pennington, New Jersey. He also served as a long-standing Member and Board Chair of the Woods Resources Board of Trustees. Mr. Kimmelman received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School.

Dave Lederman is currently a Senior Product Manager at Elevance Health. In his 2nd year at Elevance Health, Dave’s role is focused on developing strategies to expand access to behavioral health and substance use care in the commercial space. This work comes with an opportunity to shape Elevance Health product offerings when it comes to member experience, client reporting, and provider and vendor relationships. 

Dave earned a Bachelors Degree from Tel-Aviv University in 2007, and a Masters Degree in Business Management with a focus on Health Sector Management from the Temple University at Philadelphia in 2013. Prior to getting his graduate degree, he worked at Columbia University on a behavioral health and substance use study identifying the impact of genetic and environmental effect on behavioral health and substance use. After graduating from Temple University, Dave worked as a business consultant at telehealth and remote monitoring start up. Dave transitioned to lead projects at a Behavior Health Analytics start-up, identifying ways to drive members to seek care for chronic conditions and co-morbidities.

As co-founder of The Office of CEO, Tania brings a 25-year success record of C-level leadership, board experience, interim executive engagements, consultancy, investor experience, and serial entrepreneurship with multiple successful exits. Over the course of her career, she has realized several industry firsts as she launched several telemedicine companies starting in 1999. She is the Founder or Co-Founder of Medical Web, Inc, Virtual Medical Group, Inc. 1stonlinepharmacy.com (all related to online primary care with Medical Web being acquired), Vital Health Network. LLC (an online naturopathic company that implemented with Aetna), COPE Today, LLC (a telemental health company acquired by a venture firm), Virtual Medical Services and Veteran Benefit Management Services (dedicated to providing Independent Medical Opinions for veterans).

After two exits, she pivoted to board work, consultancy, and investments.

She serves as executive advisor to Excelerate Health Ventures (focusing on health SAAS companies) and member of Triangle Angel Partners (includes companies outside of healthcare).

As COO of the Center of Digital Health, Innovation and Telehealth for Optum, she focused on a virtual-first care delivery model. She also served as a strategic advisory board member for OmnySense, Inc. and Innovatel Telepsychiatry, acquired by Quartet Health in 2021. As co-founder and CEO of Medical Web, she led the first-of-its-kind online physician-patient communication platform to acquisition in 2014. She also served on the Board of Directors for Mindcare Solutions Group upon its 2013 acquisition of COPE Today, and is currently serving on the Board of Directors for Planned Parenthood Direct and other non-profit boards. She is a Fellow in the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) College of Fellows and was the ATA Woman of the Year in 2020.

Early in her career, Tania practiced law as a Senior Enforcement Attorney with the Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Georgia, and held the position of Administrative Law Judge with the Office of State Administrative Hearings (OSAH) as well as General Counsel for an HMO, Master Health Plan, Inc. A key tenure in management consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers’ healthcare practice in Atlanta served as a launch pad for business and entrepreneurial opportunities across the healthcare space.

Tania holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University, and a Doctor of Law from Georgia State University College of Law.

Jeanne Marshall has been affiliated with the Easterseals Midwest organization since 1987 when she began volunteering and working as a classroom assistant. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a Master’s degree in Special Education in 1991. She served in a variety of program roles prior to becoming the Director of the Training Program in 1997. In 2004, Jeanne was appointed as Chief Program Officer for and continued in that role until 2024 when she was appointed President.  In 2004, she completed a Master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from The University of Nevada and is a Board Certified and Licensed Behavior Analyst. She also holds teaching certifications in Special Education for Learning Disabilities and Behavior Disorders.

Jeanne has served for more than 15 years as a surveyor for CARF International , a not for profit organization that reviews and grants accreditation for organizations providing services in the industry. She has served  on the Board of Directors for St. Bridget of Kildare School, The Association for Aging With Developmental Disabilities, the Missouri Association for Behavior Analysis, and The Autism Collective. She currently serves on the Missouri Autism Commission and the Starling Board of Directors.

Blake Martin, MHA, serves as Monarch’s President. Under the direction of Chief Executive Officer Dr. Peggy Terhune, Blake leads the organization’s strategic planning efforts, build and maintain relationships with state and national policymakers and oversee operations of key business units, enabling the company to continue as well as expand the delivery of exceptional care across all services.

As President, Blake is directly responsible for identifying and developing strategic opportunities and maintaining relationships with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, statewide local management entities and managed care organizations (LME/MCOs), social services agencies, licensing agencies and the people and families Monarch supports, among other key stakeholders.

Blake brings extensive experience in health care administration, operational oversight and fiscal management, having most recently served as Monarch’s Chief Strategy Officer, where he led the development and implementation of a new five-year strategic plan. He holds both a Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree and a bachelor’s degree from Pfeiffer University. He also serves as a member of Pfeiffer University’s Board of Trustees.

Steven is a Managing Partner and healthcare industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience starting and operating market-leading technology and services companies in the health and human services industries.

He has been instrumental in Fund I’s investments, including Care Continuity, where he recently served as CEO. Prior to serving as Executive Vice President at Iodine, Steven was the Chief Executive Officer at ChartWise Medical Systems, Inc., a computer-assisted clinical documentation system company that automated and improved the completeness and accuracy of physician documentation for faster and more optimal reimbursement of services provided. Iodine acquired ChartWise in 2021.

​Prior to his success with ChartWise, he led several successful start-up ventures including OnFocus Healthcare, a leading provider of web-based enterprise performance management software solutions for healthcare providers and payers. The company was acquired by MedeAnalytics, where he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the EPM Business Unit. In this role, Steven was primarily responsible for integrating, managing, and growing the Mede Performance Management (MedePM) business unit within the broader MedeAnalytics portfolio.
 

Additionally, he was Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Qualifacts Systems, a SaaS based electronic medical records software provider, and Chief Operating Officer of Camelot Care Centers, a national behavioral healthcare provider organization.
 

Steven received his BA in History from the University of Mississippi and an M.Ed. Human and Organizational development / counseling from Vanderbilt University. Mr. Mason currently serves on the Board of Directors of several private digital health companies.

Carole Matyas is the Vice President Operations for Sunshine Health Plan. She oversees the SMI Specialty Plan in Florida and has responsibility for overall operation of the program. Carole is accountable to assure the development of a fully integrated medical/behavioral program that is centered in whole person attention and care. She assists with representing the company externally to assure our members, providers and stakeholders have the information and support they need.

Carole has more than 30 years of behavioral health-related experience, with 20 of those years of experience in health plan operations. She joined WellCare in 2011 as VP Behavioral Health Operations at WellCare Corporate office. Previously she worked for Magellan Health Services, first as a general manager for call center operations, and then as Chief of Clinic Operations, where she led practice management and operations of 23 mental health clinics and a psychiatric urgent care center in Arizona. Her additional experience includes serving as Vice President of Public Sector Operations for Schaller Anderson, a Medicaid managed care organization and helped to develop their integrated model; and as Vice President for Value Options, a managed behavioral health care company whose contracts included carve out managed care for state and government agencies, where Carole was executive lead on a large carve out program in Texas. Carole spent her early career as a licensed social worker providing direct clinical services in a group practice, community mental health and a residential treatment center.

Carole has been recognized by Mental Health America and NAMI Texas for her dedication to mental health advocacy. Carole earned both her undergraduate and Master of Social Work degrees from Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Whitney McChane brings over two decades of marketing, branding, and communications expertise to her role as Chief Marketing Officer at Clarvida, along with experience supporting other high-impact organizations such as United HealthGroup, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. As leader of the Marketing discipline, McChane is transforming the Clarvida brand into a symbol of excellence in health and human services. She is modernizing the brand and crafting a narrative that captures the essence of Clarvida: helping everyone, clients and employees alike, achieve their personal best. In parallel, McChane is building Clarvida’s Marketing Shared Services function to bolster the company’s marketing and communications across every market and service line in order to recruit and retain the best talent for Clarvida. Her past roles in leadership positions with franchise brands like International Dairy Queen and H&R Block have informed her ability to manage and unify marketing operations effectively.

Megan leads GoodLife University’s internal and external collaborations, driving the outreach and dissemination of innovative solutions for workforce stability and technologies. Megan leans on decades of experience in strategic planning to optimize growth, outreach, and the development of GoodLife University’s ever-expanding toolbox. With a degree in English, graduate coursework in rhetoric and professional communication, and more than 20 years of professional nonprofit and business experience, Megan thrives as an engaging and articulate ambassador of GoodLife University’s service models and approaches.

Olga Muller is the CEO of the company behind EMRAY, a platform designed to simplify EHR integration and accelerate innovation adoption in healthcare. EMRAY is how Kepler Technologies channels its mission to support impact-driven startups—especially in mental health—by removing one of the biggest barriers to scale: integration into real-world clinical workflows. With over 10 years of experience working closely with digital health innovators, Olga brings deep understanding of what it takes to transform promising ideas into adopted, scalable solutions. Her work reflects a strong commitment to ethical, responsible innovation that improves access to care.

Dr. Sailaja Musunuri, MD, Executive Vice President of Integrative Medicine and Chief of Psychiatry. Dr. Musunuri is an accomplished physician, psychiatrist, and leader with over 20 years of experience in clinical practice, specializing in the care of children and adults with intellectual disabilities, autism, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, and other complex medical conditions. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Integrative Medicine and Chief of Psychiatry at Woods System of Care, where she is recognized for her exceptional leadership, innovative thinking, and ability to deliver results across diverse clinical settings. Double board-certified in both Adult and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr. Musunuri is known for her compassionate, high-quality care and her ability to think creatively, challenging conventional approaches to healthcare. Her leadership extends beyond clinical practice to include fostering key collaborations with nonprofit health organizations and pharmaceutical leaders, focusing on improving services and outcomes for individuals with intellectual disabilities. She has played a pivotal role in building trust and driving mission-critical initiatives within her organization. Dr. Musunuri is also the founder of the Mollie Woods Hare Center for Excellence in Neurodivergence – Intellectual Disability, Autism, and Mental Health, which serves as the training and dissemination hub for best practices in the field. In addition, she is an active Board Member of The Network: Toward Unity for Health (TUFH), a global non-state actor aligned with the World Health Organization. TUFH works to foster equitable, community-oriented health services and research globally, and Dr. Musunuri’s involvement further underscores her commitment to enhancing healthcare access for vulnerable populations. With her unique combination of clinical expertise, leadership, and global partnerships, Dr. Musunuri continues to drive forward the strategic goals of Woods System of Care, ensuring that individuals with disabilities receive the highest quality of care and support. Her connections across the U.S. and India are instrumental in developing new programs and partnerships aimed at improving services for people with disabilities in both regions.

Shar Najafi-Piper, PhD was appointed as CEO of Copa Health in 2019. A clinical psychologist, Dr. Najafi-Piper has expertise in fully integrated continuums of care for complex-needs individuals and believes in a whole-person health care model that supports successful outcomes.  

In leadership roles since 2008, she has also demonstrated notable talent and skill on the business side of the health and human services industry. This ranges from the implementation of quality assurance functions, peer review, utilization review, as well as service and clinical protocols. In addition, Dr. Najafi-Piper has demonstrated success in the areas of program development, contract development/negotiations, public relations, media development, and business growth through revenue diversification including both traditional and non-traditional sources. 

Dr. Doug Nemecek is the chief medical executive for behavioral health quality, integration, and clinical operations.  He helps ensure network access and availability, patient safety, compliance with clinical guidelines, customer and provider satisfaction, and utilization management.    Additionally, he works directly with customers and clients to mold operations and provides clinical expertise in new and existing behavioral health and integrated program development.   Additionally, he continues to develop unique relationships with our network providers to ensure our customers and providers achieve optimal total health outcomes. 

Dr. Nemecek currently serves on the Board of the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness.   He also serves on the Scientific Board for Shatterproof, a national non-profit organization dedicated to ending the devastation that addiction causes families.

Dr. Alexander Pelaez is a Professor in the Information Systems and Business Analytics department at Hofstra University. His research interests include artificial intelligence, machine learning, healthcare information systems and technology strategy. He has over 15 journal publications and 30 conference publications on topics across artificial intelligence, machine learning, financial systems, healthcare and econometrics. In addition to his academic role, Dr. Pelaez serves as the Chief Executive Officer of 5e Analytics, a data science firm specializing in providing comprehensive data services, including a robust enterprise data platform to integrate data across a number of systems and provide for visualizations and data science including AI/ML and Natural Language Processing. Dr. Pelaez’s professional experience spans over two decades in senior management positions within various companies. His extensive background in both academia and industry underscores his expertise in leveraging artificial intelligence, data science and analytics to drive informed decision-making across multiple sectors.

Amanda (“Mandy”) Ralston is a queer, neurodivergent serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in behavior analysis. Certified as a behavior analyst since 2002, Mandy has founded and scaled two clinics that delivered life-changing applied behavior analysis (ABA) services to hundreds of families, schools, and individuals with autism and other developmental or intellectual disabilities. Her successful exit in 2019 to the fourth-largest ABA provider in the U.S. marked a significant milestone in her career.

Mandy is recognized internationally as a thought leader in behavior analysis, ethics, outcomes, and practice. She has served as a Subject Matter Expert on global panels, sharing her expertise to shape the future of the field. As a dynamic and sought-after speaker, she addresses audiences worldwide on topics including autism spectrum issues and her acclaimed talk, “#ItsNotBinary: Avoiding Binary Thinking in Work, Life, and Social Media.”

Her accolades include being a two-time nominee for Small Businessperson of the Year (2015, 2017) and the 2023 recipient of the prestigious Autism Innovation Award at the Autism Investor Summit.

Mandy’s latest venture, NonBinary Solutions, pioneers cutting-edge data analytics and technology, developing Clinical Decision Support Systems to empower ABA providers and stakeholders within the neurodiversity ecosystem.

Mandy is deeply committed to reshaping how the world perceives autism and advancing the field of behavior analysis. Her work centers on fostering a more inclusive and equitable society, driven by the belief that diverse perspectives are essential to meaningful change.

Mike Rhoades is CEO and Founder of Alera Health, the largest population health manager of behavioral health Integrated Systems of Care (ISOCs) in the US. As CEO of Alera Health, Mike oversees the assemblage, governance, technology, analytics, and APM contracting departments supporting 13 ONEcare networks supporting over 3M patients to improve health outcomes and reduce unnecessary costs. Mike was former VP of Population Health at Community Care of NC and COO or RHA Health Services.

As Devereux’s senior director of administration, Rich Rinaldi, MBA, PMP, uses project management best practices to either lead or influence every major initiative across the organization.

Rinaldi joined Devereux in 2015 and, since that time, has served in roles of increasing responsibility. In 2021, he was promoted to his current position, overseeing the following areas/departments: 1) Project Management Office 2), New Business Development, 3) Procurement and 4) the national executive administrative assistant team.

Rinaldi has earned the following degrees: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgetown University and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in not-for-profit-management from Chaminade University in Honolulu. He holds the following professional certifications: Project Management Professional, Certified Scrum Professional – ScrumMaster and Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner.

In addition to his work at Devereux, Rinaldi is an adjunct professor at Wake Forest University and Villanova University, where he instructs students in the area of project management. Previously, he served as an adjunct professor at Harcum College and was a member of the Leadership Main Line Class of 2020. Rinaldi is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) – Delaware Valley Chapter (treasurer) and serves as a board member for his local library in Narberth, Pennsylvania.

David Rogers is the President of Independent Living Systems (ILS) and a seasoned leader with more than 30 years of healthcare experience in both the public and private sectors. As President of ILS, Rogers is responsible for day-to-day management of the internal operations of the company as well as execution of strategies to optimize people, process, and technology across the enterprise and to continue to advance ILS as a driving force in healthcare innovation.

Prior to being named President of ILS in 2020, Rogers joined Florida Community Care (FCC), a subsidiary of ILS, as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer in 2018. Before assuming his role at FCC, Rogers was Managing Principal of Health Management Associates (HMA) Medicaid Market Solutions where he advised and supported state agencies, health systems, health plans, and others. Rogers served as Assistant Deputy Secretary for Medicaid Operations, functioning as the Florida’s Medicaid program’s Chief Operations Officer. He has also served as Idaho’s State Medicaid Director.

David earned his Bachelor’s degree and Graduate Certificate in Health Services Administration and Public Policy from Florida State University.

Sherri Romano, LCSW, joined the Child Center team as Senior Vice President of Clinical Services in August 2021. In this role, she is bridging clinical services across the six divisions of The Child Center to create a standardized comprehensive clinical model.

Sherri began her career almost 20 years ago in NYC foster home programs, mastering how to navigate the many systems that touch our children’s and families’ lives. She moved on to develop and implement one of the first Bridges to Health programs in NYS before transitioning to residential services. Sherri was the Clinical Director of a large residential treatment center (RTC) serving youth with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) before jumping into her role as Director of an RTC serving dually diagnosed SED/IDD (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities) youth. To effect change on a larger scale, Sherri joined the Office of Mental Health in NYC as the RTF Director, a position in which she served for more than five years. Sherri is thrilled to be using her clinical expertise, knowledge of systems and social determinates, and her insight into government to enhance and integrate clinical services for our children and families.

Danielle’s experience includes over 16 years of work in leadership and consulting roles within the behavioral healthcare system in the state of Virginia. Her experience encompasses both service delivery leadership in the intellectual and developmental disability, behavioral health, and addiction treatment communities, as well as roles as vice president and virtual chief information officer. She is a sought after advisor for her skills in helping organizations to align their strategic initiatives and organizational operations with their investments in technology. 

 In her role as vCIO for Netsmart managed services, she provides customers with the necessary blend of IT leadership and service delivery knowledge to help them leverage their technology in the day to day operations and service delivery efforts of their organization. Her primary goal is to help clients gain the ability to focus their efforts on consumer care and service delivery by making sure their technology supports and enhances those efforts, versus creating challenges and barriers. 

Olga Ryzhikova has built SaaS and enterprise solutions across industries and partnered with startups to bring innovative products from concept to launch. Her approach blends deep technical expertise with agile principles, focusing on rapid iteration, user feedback, and simplicity in design to deliver scalable, secure systems that people love to use.

As CTO and co-founder of EMRAY, Olga leads the platform’s technology strategy with an emphasis on clinical integration, regulatory compliance, and intuitive user experience. She draws on her experience to create healthcare tools that reduce complexity and meet the real needs of care teams, bridging the gap between innovation and practical adoption.

Kathleen Sammer is a board certified behavior analyst, BCBA, licensed behavior specialist, LBS, and Senior Clinical Director of Behavior Supports and Assessments at Access Services. In that capacity, she supports BCBA’s and behavior consultants in training across counties as far north as Schuylkill and as far south and east as Bucks and Montgomery. She is a former teacher and parent to special needs children. For close to three decades, she has worked to individualize what her students, clients, and families needed in a way that supports healing and growth within treatment. She has practiced within in-patient settings, schools, homes, and non-profits. She has taught in schools in North and West Philadelphia that were deemed “behavior schools.” Through these experiences, Kat recognized that there was interaction between autism, mental health, trauma, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  This drove her to build a team of BCBA’s that could work within the spaces where all 4 parts of her client’s narratives met. In her role as Senior Clinical Director of Behavior Supports and Assessments, across multiple counties in Pennsylvania, she has championed supporting her team members’ work towards their application of ABA becoming trauma-informed while simultaneously recognizing how DEI must be at the forefront of their daily clinical work. Kathleen has had the honor of presenting at the Association for Teacher Educators around DEI. She has been a part of RCPA’s advocacy towards equitable access to ABA services as well as Netsmart’s Leadership Summit. She has coordinated with the Office of Children and Youth to provide support around autism to the court system.  More importantly, Kathleen goes by Mom to her special needs children, who have taught her more about living with multiple disabilities than any other experiences ever could. They are her inspiration and a source of endless learning opportunities to do better each day. 

Courtney Sanchez is passionate about expanding access to high-quality behavioral health care and creating meaningful partnerships that drive real change. As the Director of Partnerships at Connections Health Solutions, she works closely with communities, health plans, and government agencies to develop innovative crisis intervention and stabilization services that meet people where they are in their time of need. With a background in business development and healthcare administration, Courtney brings both strategic expertise and a deep commitment to improving behavioral health systems across the country.

With more than a decade of experience in behavioral health operations, Courtney has played a key role in launching crisis stabilization centers, including the Emergency Behavioral Health Crisis Walk-In Center in Harrisburg, PA, and the upcoming crisis walk-in center in Montgomery County, PA. Her ability to bridge the gap between policy, operations, and community needs makes her a trusted leader in the field.

Beyond her professional work, Courtney is actively engaged in community advocacy and governmental affairs, ensuring behavioral health services remain a priority at the local and state levels. She is dedicated to building strong partnerships that make a lasting impact on individuals, families, and communities.

Fran Sheedy Bost, M.Ed., served as executive director of TCV Community Services, a position she has held for over 16 years until her retirement in January 2025. For over 50 years, TCV Community Services has been one of Allegheny County’s most-respected nonprofit organizations providing treatment, care and services to individuals living with behavioral health differences and intellectual and developmental disabilities. In her role as executive director, Bost oversaw TCV’s comprehensive array of programs and services for youth and adults through intensive outpatient, partial hospitalization, community living support programs and group homes for mental health adults and individual with intellectual and disabilities, as well as school-based services for children and adolescents.

In 2017, Fran began working with the TCV Board to affiliate with a stronger organization to build capacity to more adequately address the needs of the county. In January, 2022, TCV completed an affiliation with Devereux. The affiliation and integration are viewed as a model on how two mission driven organizations can work together to achieve amazing results.

Prior to TCV, Bost holds more than 35 years of administrative experience in healthcare in Western Pennsylvania. Prior to joining TCV, Bost held the role of vice president of operations at Heritage Valley Health System in Pittsburgh, where she directed the Staunton Clinic and inpatient psychiatric services at two hospitals and six outpatient psychiatric programs. She also oversaw other hospital departments, such as cardiology, radiology and laboratory services.

She also worked for Allegheny Health Choices, Inc. (AHCI), which oversaw Medicaid Behavioral Health managed care in Allegheny County.

Bost also served on the board of Embolden Workers Compensation Trust and as an executive committee member and past president of the Allegheny County Providers Association. She is currently a member of the Allegheny County Behavioral Health Advisory Board.

Commissioner Smith has spent 30 years serving families, children, the aging population, and people experiencing homelessness. She’s led human services departments across the country, most recently serving nearly five years as the Chief Executive Officer at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services where she led five divisions: Behavioral Health, Children and Family Services, Developmental Disabilities, Medicaid & Long-Term Care, and Public Health.

During her tenure in Nebraska, Smith convened a statewide behavioral health task force; focused on opportunities to improve behavioral health services for adults and children, as well as initiated the exploration of Medicaid utilization as a payer for behavioral health services; and redesigned the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center system to include intensive clinical and therapeutic services in the juvenile justice system. While in Virginia Beach, she collaborated with the Sheriff’s Office to provide enhanced behavioral health services in the jail system and provided strategic oversight in the development of the “First Responders” initiative to provide behavioral health services in the community with the Virginia Beach Police Department as part of their service calls.

The 2023 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), Commissioner Smith holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Eastern Michigan University and a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Illinois Chicago. She’s also completed the Kennedy School of Government, Child Welfare Executive Leadership Program at Harvard.

Justin Reynard Smith, M.D., MBA, is originally from Nashville, Tennessee, and completed his undergraduate and medical school education at Vanderbilt University. After experiencing the limitations in delivering person-centered care within the United States health care system, he decided to take an academic leave of absence from medical school to obtain a master’s degree in business administration at Harvard Business School, with the goal of obtaining more skills and knowledge to help improve health care delivery systems.

After returning to medical school and finishing his last year, Dr. Smith continued his training through the psychiatry residency program at Columbia University (New York-Presbyterian and New York State Psychiatric Institute). Following his residency, he completed the Public Psychiatry Fellowship of New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University while working part-time at The Child Center of NY. In addition to his ongoing supervisory support with the Youth ACT team and provision of direct care, Dr. Smith will use his new role to help our team enhance its delivery of medical and psychiatric services so that we can be sure we serve clients in the best way possible.

Sawyer is a Licensed Professional Counselor and manager of Promoting Recovery from Onset of Psychosis (PROPs) Program in Madison, Wisconsin that works with individuals experiencing their First Episode of Psychosis (FEP). He has worked within the program for over 2 years, filling multiple roles as a program coordinator, team leader, and manager on the team. Sawyer brings a dual focus of clinical expertise and business to the table as he also holds an MBA in Accounting and Finance. Sawyer is dedicated to developing and growing programs like PROPs to provide specialized care to individuals experiencing their first episode of psychosis, striving to improve outcomes through a holistic and coordinated approach.

Sandra Stein, M.D. has been the Chief Medical Director of Banner University Health Plans since December of 2020. Previously, she was the Medical Director of Care Integration of Banner Health Network from Oct. 2017 to Dec. 2020. From Oct. 2015-Sept. In 2017, Sandra served as the chief medical officer for Intermountain Centers in Arizona. From March- September 2015 Sandra served as the Behavioral Medical Director for the Arizona Comprehensive Medical Dental Program (CMDP)/State of Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS). From July 1997 to March 2015 Dr. Stein served as a Medical Director for the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona (CPSA), the Regional Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA). Dr. Stein is a double board certified in general and child and adolescent psychiatry. Sandra Stein, M.D. graduated from Albany Medical College in Albany, NY in 1992 and did an internship, general psychiatry residency, and child psychiatry fellowship in 1997 at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson, Arizona.

For more than 39 years, Mike has led GoodLife Innovations, Inc., and its subsidiaries, including iLink Technologies and GoodLife University. Mike’s extensive work encompasses research, development, refinement, and dissemination of evidence-based, nationally-regarded community service models that consistently produce person-centered care and high quality-of-life outcomes and also improve the capacity of the direct support workforce. Mike earned his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior Management and holds a courtesy faculty appointment in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas. He continues to participate in research, assist with training graduate students, and successfully nurtures this important, 50-year partnership with the University.

Karen Hoffman Tepper oversees the strategic plan and provides guidance and leadership for Terros Health. She leverages the people around her and empowers them to do what they do best: Inspire Change for Life. Karen has over 20 years of Chief Officer experience and holds Doctorate Degrees from the University of Arizona in Human Development and Family Studies. 

Dr. Peggy Terhune has been CEO of Monarch since June 1995. Under Peggy’s leadership as, Monarch has implemented evidence-based and best practices in all areas, has successfully added numerous services, enhanced community integration, improved customer satisfaction, reduced turnover, and has effectively developed programs to serve consumers with multiple disabilities. She has grown the company significantly and diligently pursues her methodology to incorporate continuous improvement within the organization. Peggy is a strong advocate for people with disabilities and has presented often at conferences and technical workshops, particularly on emerging practices that are used at Monarch.

Peggy has served as an advocate for people with disabilities for more than 40 years and has presented often at conferences and technical workshops, particularly on emerging practices that are used at Monarch. She is a founding board member of the North Carolina Providers Council and past president of the National Conference of Executives of the Arc. Additionally, Peggy was appointed to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Waiver Advisory Committee (DWAC) and has been appointed twice to the N.C. Commission on Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services. She is also a board member of the N.C. Council of Developmental Disabilities, also appointed twice by the Governor. Peggy is a past member and officer of the Board of Directors for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) North Carolina and former member of the Benchmarks’ Board of Trustees.

Peggy is the recipient of numerous regional and national leadership awards. In 2016, she was the first-ever recipient of the Distinguished Professional Award in Diversity and Cultural Competency by the National Conference of Executives (NCE) of The Arc. In 2017, she was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Excellence Award from i2i, a health care leadership organization in North Carolina. In 2020, she was awarded the Champion award by the National Conference of Addiction Disorders. In 2020, she was also awarded the highest honor a North Carolina citizen can receive when she received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award, recognizing her outstanding contributions to the state and its people.

Peggy received a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Indiana University, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Rochester Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has worked with and advocated for people with disabilities for more than 40 years. Her competencies include a wide range of clinical and administrative skills and she is culturally competent. 

In addition to her career, Peggy is mother to seven adult children, grandmother to ten and wife to Bob. For more than twenty years, the couple has fostered children with and without disabilities.  A servant leader, Peggy continues to provide community service in many ways. For fun, she serves as an adjunct faculty member at Wingate University in the doctoral program for Occupational Therapy and at Pfeiffer University in the masters’ program for Occupational Therapy. In her spare time, she enjoys needlepoint, knitting, reading and traveling.

John is a strategic business development innovator who can engage and assist a variety of agencies and organizations in providing a vibrant foundation and platform for growth.  John has more than 30 years of working in and partnering with groups of all sizes to create unique pathways of excellence designed on each entity’s individual characteristics, needs and goals.

With his passion for seeing others succeed, John has developed a career of advocacy, service, and organizational growth and excellence.  In roles ranging from business and strategic development leadership to CEO, through John’s guidance organizations have experienced more than $800 million of financial growth.  Further, these organizations have been able to hire more than 4,600 additional professionals to assist in service delivery and community enhancement.

John has also been able to utilize his experience and background in for-profit, not-for-profit, public sector and academic settings to provide motivating and thought-provoking messages to thousands of individuals and groups around the country.  John’s extensive written articles, in-person presentations, podcast and webinar events now number more than 500.  Additionally, John has also directed and hosted more than 85 conferences and seminars throughout the US.

With an ever-changing health and human services landscape, John continues to provide a stable base of usable, realistic leadership that is vital to payers and providers of services in critical areas of organizational quality and impact, such as strategy development,  operational growth, leadership development, governance, financial modeling, integrated care planning and network development, the use of data and analytics, mission and vision development, marketing, communications, brand differentiation and more.

With over a decade of experience in the field of Autism and advocacy, Nia Uhlenhake is the Family Support and Community Outreach Manager at AZA United, where she has been a driving force for the past six years. Nia’s journey in this field began 12 years ago when her son, now 17, was diagnosed with Autism, ADHD, ODD, and Anxiety. Motivated by a deep desire to understand the systems of care to better support her son, she began working at the Division of Developmental Disabilities as a Support Coordinator. This early experience ignited her passion for helping families navigate complex systems and led her to AZA United.

Starting as the sole Family Support Specialist, Nia helped develop the family support program from the ground up. Soon she began leading a thriving team of five additional family support specialists. Her unwavering commitment to advocacy and her “no stone left unturned” approach has made her a trusted resource for families, ensuring they receive the support and resources they need to thrive. Nia has become a reliable community resource and has been invited to present at multiple events and serve as a panelist, sharing her expertise and experiences with a wider audience. She was also the recipient of the 2024 Arizona Peer and Family Career Academy’s Family Support Partner of the Year Award, a recognition of her dedication to supporting families in need. Nia is passionate about creating lasting positive changes in the lives of families and individuals.

Brandon Ward, PsyD is a dynamic healthcare leader, bringing together deep clinical insight, experience with complex technology solutions, and an innovative and collaborative style – all in the service of transforming behavioral healthcare in Colorado and beyond. In his current role as Chief Innovation Officer and VP of Information Systems at Jefferson Center, Dr. Ward leads a team of exceptional professionals in this pursuit – partnering within the organization and throughout the community to build robust, secure, and innovative solutions to behavioral healthcare’s toughest challenges. 

Renee, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, has been serving or supporting individuals in need of behavioral health care for over 30 years. She spent the first half of her career in direct practice serving youth and families, many of whom were engaged in the child welfare system, and she received training on multiple evidence-based therapy models. As the community-based agency grew and expanded over the years, Renee’s role also evolved into training and supervision of other clinicians and leading company-wide quality improvement initiatives. In 2019, after 15 years with a statewide comprehensive behavioral health organization, Renee was promoted to executive lead of the organization. As the Vice President of Operations, Renee had clinical and operational responsibility for ensuring 10,000 members, many challenged with serious mental illness, received high-quality behavioral health treatment and crisis support.

Renee is currently supporting 2 Clinically Integrated Networks in Arizona comprised of 10 behavioral health integrated care companies as the Vice President of Network Operations at Alera Health. She is excited to use her clinical knowledge and operational skills to assist these networks with refining their workflows to ensure members are engaged in treatment, and receiving timely health screenings and the highest quality of care possible.

Renee earned a BS in Psychology from the University of Arizona and a Master of Social Work from the University of Kentucky. She has held clinical licensure since 1999. 

Jaimica Wilkins is the Senior Vice President of Quality at Alera Health and co-chair of Health Equity. With over 17 years of distinguished experience in health equity, quality management, innovation, and continuous improvement, she has led transformative initiatives at macro, meso, and micro levels, significantly enhancing outcomes and operations. Jaimica is also a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), Certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, and ICAgile Certified Professional (ICP). Her career is marked by impactful collaborations with large health systems, government agencies, and payers building quality improvement departments from the ground up. Her visionary leadership, creating sustainable systems that drive health improvements, has earned her positions as a thought leader on boards and councils, most recently, NCQA’s Public Sector Advisory Council. Most importantly, Jaimica thrives on improving the world around her.

As Senior Director of Human Services Strategy, Tricia Zerger works closely with the clinical, development, and product teams to ensure all Netsmart technology and services align with client and market needs. This allows clients across the human services community to thrive in emerging models of care, like value-based reimbursement. She also advances Netsmart thought leadership, promoting addiction treatment, autism, behavioral health, child and family services, foster care, I/DD, and other human services markets, as well as oversees the Child and Family Advisory Council. 

 An active participant in advancing healthcare technology since 2003, Tricia’s career at Netsmart began in 2014. Over her tenure, she has held a variety of roles in areas such as solutions consulting, CareGuidance strategist, marketing, and specialty markets. Tricia holds a master’s degree in Professional Counseling and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Kansas. She serves as one of the Netsmart Certified Mental Health First Aid Certified Trainer. Netsmart has certified 1,000 associates in various locations across the country, with a goal of 100% certification. Tricia is a certified trainer of QPR (Question. Persuade. Refer) industry-leading approach to suicide prevention. She is helping Netsmart associates feel empowered to effectively intervene on behalf of suicidal and in-crisis people.   

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.

Deanne Cornette, MHA, GPC, brings over 20 years of experience in the behavioral health field.  Ms.Cornette currently serves as a Senior Associate for OPEN MINDS and brings to the OPEN MINDS team noted expertise in strategic planning, grant writing and revenue development.

Previously, Ms. Cornette was the Vice President of Strategic Development for Tampa Family Health Centers, a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center. In this role, she managed grants, contracts, front desk operations, training, quality assurance special assignments (risk assessments and responses to complaints), credentialing and billing functions.  In a very short time period, she successfully procured funding to integrate behavioral health services, brought a system of processes to track health indicators and improve value-based care payment and service and became proficient in utilizing HRSA’s reporting portals.

As Counsel for Strategic Development at Agency for Community Treatment Services, Inc. (ACTS) and Vice President of Business Development for Gracepoint (merger), Ms. Cornette directed strategic development, contract negotiations, revenue development, marketing and grants.  In this capacity, she targeted funding sources and built a lucrative cash flow that provided needed services to vulnerable populations in need of behavioral health treatment.

Some of her most successful negotiations created best practice services for veteran’s programs, women’s services, as well those involved with the criminal justice system. Her portfolio includes a wide array of awards from a multitude of agencies including, but not limited to: SAMHSA, HUD, Centers for Medicaid, and the Department of Transportation and collaborations with private, non-profit and government entities.  Most recently, she worked with Gracepoint to develop Hillsborough’s Centralized Receiving Facility, one of the first funded in the State of Florida.  From a system of care for jail diversion to evidence based practices for individuals who are homeless with behavioral health needs, her awards have netted over $80 million dollars to our community.

In addition, Ms. Cornette served as the Vice President for the National Contract Management Association Suncoast Chapter, Vice President of ACTS Affordable Housing Board of Directors, Vice President of ACTS Foundation Board of Directors, and was a member of Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board.​ She is the recipient of University of South Florida’s 2018 Florida Outstanding Women of the Year in Public Health. Her Centralized Receiving Facility collaborative won a 2018 WEDU PBS Be Brilliant / Innovation Award.  Her concept of Housing, Engagement and Retention Tenancy (HEART) program won the 2018 Heart for Homeless award through the Housing and Education Alliance.

Ms. Cornette received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and her Masters Degree in Health Administration from the University of South Florida.

Christy Dye is a data-focused healthcare executive who brings over 30 years of experience supporting provider organizations, state agencies, and communities in achieving their business, operational, and quality goals in health and human services to OPEN MINDS as a Senior Associate. Christy’s career has included working as a state Medicaid leader, a national expert in substance abuse treatment systems, health information exchange and interoperability, and as chief executive for Arizona’s leading integrated primary/behavioral healthcare provider.

Prior to OPEN MINDS, Ms. Dye served as Chief Business Development Officer for Health Current, (division of Contexture), Arizona’s statewide health information exchange (HIE). While there, Ms. Dye developed provider education and training programs in using clinical and administrative data to improve patient outcomes and manage value-based reimbursement contracts. She led the Health Current HIE research data initiative in partnership with Arizona State University and also served as co-principal investigator for a National Institute of Mental Health project at ASU focused on information sharing for behavioral health populations.

Ms. Dye is the former Chief Executive Officer for Partners in Recovery (now Copa Health), an Arizona agency serving more than 10,000 adults with serious mental illness. At Partners she created a network of fully integrated behavioral and primary care clinics for SMI adults, and launched the company’s population health, value-based and complex care programs, including Arizona’s only Medical Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team.

Prior to PIR, she served as Division Chief for Clinical and Recovery Services and Arizona’s state substance abuse director at the Arizona Department of Health, Division of Behavioral Health. As a state official, she served on a team charged with the re-design of Medicaid behavioral health benefits in Arizona and oversaw the expansion of the state’s contracted managed care system to a more recovery focused model, including expansion of peer-delivered mental health, addiction, and consumer-operated services.

Ms. Dye graduated from the University of Arizona with a Master’s in Public Health Administration. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is an active member of the Community Advisory Board for Health Informatics at ASU’s College of Health Solutions.

Lauren Frantz brings expertise in event planning, marketing, and campaign development to OPEN MINDS as the General Manager of Executive Education.

Previously, Ms. Frantz was the Program and Marketing Director for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation in Tampa, Florida. In this diverse role, Ms. Frantz supervised the foundation’s event and marketing teams and was responsible for event planning/logistics, implementing a strategic plan for the foundation’s digital marketing efforts, and developing custom campaigns for corporate partners.

Prior to her role as Program and Marketing Director, Ms. Frantz served as the foundation’s Program Manager and was responsible for enhancing national programs through innovative campaigns, implementing event marketing strategies, and coordinating more than 20 annual events. Ms. Frantz worked heavily on the foundation’s Fashion Funds the Cure program and event series. A main component of which was a nation-wide event tour that partnered with some of the country’s leading property companies, retail vendors, and corporate entities to create high-end fashion show galas and ultimately raise critical funds for pediatric cancer research.

Ms. Frantz enjoys both the creative and the analytical aspects of her work, she strives to embrace out-of-the-box thinking while also ensuring strategic implementation of processes and communication across teams. Her work style has been heavily influenced by her background in performing arts and work with local non-profit organizations in the Tampa Bay area. She strives to bring a broad view and creative edge to her work and is always searching for new ways to engage an audience.

Ms. Frantz graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences with a concentration in health management and biological science.

Dr. Gutierrez brings over 20 years of clinical and operational experience to the OPEN MINDS team. His unique blend of experience has allowed him to drive impactful outcomes in the developmental disability and behavioral health fields. ​

Dr. Gutierrez is a certified Emotional Intelligence (EQ) trainer, licensed psychologist in California, and Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). He has overseen a variety of service settings, including adult day programs, residential programs, and intensive therapy programs like Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), and has worked with individuals across the lifespan who have developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health conditions. He has experience managing projects aimed at enhancing service delivery, ensuring that strategic initiatives align with budgeted funding and contribute to sustainable growth. He has worked across diverse funding models, including those from the Department of Developmental Services, insurance companies, and school districts, while ensuring programs meet accreditation standards. Additionally, he has shared his expertise globally, giving numerous talks on program development, leadership, and employee retention. These combined clinical and operational skills make him a versatile leader capable of improving both care delivery and organizational performance.​

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Dr. Gutierrez served as Vice President, Clinical Strategy & Operations at Easterseals Southern California. In this role he oversaw the outpatient Applied Behavior Analysis provider network and Enhanced Care Management in partnership with Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Gutierrez also oversaw START Crisis services, behavioral services for all residential services, negotiation and management of contracts with network providers and payers, and intake and customer service functions including revenue cycle management, benefits and eligibility, and authorization teams. In addition, he developed and monitored the implementation of a strategic plan in collaboration with the Chief Clinical Officer. ​

Prior to this, Dr. Gutierrez served as Regional Vice President and Director of Subcontracting also at Easterseals Southern California. ​

Previously, Dr. Gutierrez served as Clinical Administrator at Applied Behavioral Consultants, Inc. where he oversaw all clinical aspects of community-based behavioral health treatment for consumers in Southern California. He also monitored compliance across multiple areas of the organization, negotiated contracts with most major health plans, and led new program development. Before this role, Dr. Gutierrez served as Regional Director and Program Manager at Applied Behavioral Consultants, Inc. ​

Before this, Dr. Gutierrez has also served as Program Director, Behavior Consultant, and Case Manager at various organizations. Dr. Gutierrez is an active member of multiple professional organizations.​

Dr. Gutierrez earned his Doctorate of Philosophy from Capella University, his Masters of Science from California State University, and his Bachelors of Art from University of California.

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM, 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.

Monica E. Oss, M.S. is the founder of OPEN MINDS and serves as its chief executive officer, executive editor of its publications and websites, and executive lead of its consulting engagements. 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. She is well known for her numerous books and articles focused on the strategic and marketing implications of the evolving health and human service field – and its focus on the verticals of the field serving consumers with chronic conditions and complex support needs.

Ms. Oss has extensive experience in developing and implementing growth strategies for a wide array of organizations in the field. She has expertise in industry trend analysis, reimbursement and rate setting, and creating actionable plans for market success. In her role, she has led numerous engagements with state Medicaid plans, county governments, private insurers, and health plans, 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.

Prior to founding OPEN MINDS, Ms. Oss served as an executive with a nationally managed behavioral health organization, responsible for market development, actuarial analysis, and capitation-based rate setting. She also held a position as vice president of the U.S. risk management and underwriting division of an international insurance company.

Ms. Oss has been the keynote speaker at the conferences of dozens of national associations and has been published in a wide range of professional journals and trade publications. She has provided Congressional and state legislative testimony on issues as diverse as the financial impact of parity and payer medication access policies.

Ms. Oss has led a range of industry research and consultation initiatives, serving as principal investigator on research projects that include the examination of national managed care enrollment and service patterns, development of provider rate structures for government entities, creation of return-on-investment models for technology investments; design of performance-based compensation models within public and private health plans; and analysis of the economic impact of changes in benefit design, adoption of evidence-based practices, and new technologies.