Speakers & Faculty

Tommie is speaking during New Approaches For Community Reentry Services For Corrections-Involved Consumers.

Tara is speaking during Innovative Program Approaches To Home-Based Services For Children.

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.

Briana Duffy, National Market President for Carelon Behavioral Health (formerly Beacon Health Options), has over 25 years of leadership experience within the provider and payer behavioral health and developmental disability service sectors. Briana’s expertise is in building and transforming organizations to create stakeholder value. Common across positions held is a commitment to fulfilling mission while simultaneously leveraging strategically focused continuous quality improvement. Accomplishments include designing the model of care for one of the country’s first dual eligible programs, implementing Medicaid managed care reform across multiple states and raising a successful and overall good human, her son. She is a LSW and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Management from Cambridge College.

Anna Fernandez is the Director of Mental Health for Hope Services. Since 1952, Hope Services has delivered a range of services to thousands of people with developmental disabilities. In this capacity, she oversees the clinical programs in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz plus neighboring counties, through Hope’s Mental Health Services. Having nearly 25 years of experience in mental health, Anna Fernandez has served in various clinical roles with progressive levels of responsibility, including Director, Clinical manager, Coordinator and Clinician. Anna Fernandez is also serving as the vice-president of the Behavioral Health Contract Association of Santa Clara County. Anna Fernandez is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and received his master’s in marriage and family therapy from Santa Clara University.

Anna is speaking during Innovative Program Approaches To Home-Based Services For Children.

Rick Gutierrez is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Licensed Psychologist in California. He has a Doctorate in Industrial/Organizational Psychology as well as a Masters in Psychology with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis. He has over 25 years of applied experience working in the clinical, community, and school settings. He has provided numerous workshops on Applied Behavior Analysis across Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America. Further, he has provided international consultation to clinics serving individuals diagnosed with a developmental disability around the globe.  

Currently, Dr. Gutierrez is the Vice President of Operations and Clinical Strategy for Easterseals Southern California Autism Services. He is responsible for the oversight of the intake, contracting, new development, and network provider services provided by Easterseals Southern California. Dr. Gutierrez has extensive experience in staff training, employee retention, employee engagement, as well  as the treatment of individuals diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities. He is an emotional intelligence trainer. He has published research in The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. His research interests are in social skills, verbal behavior, problem behavior, and organizational behavior management.

Rick is speaking during Home-Based Service Models For Consumers With Cognitive & Physical Health Challenges.

Frank has worked in healthcare IT departments since 2002 where he got his start at Siemen’s International, supporting branches of the Tenet Healthcare hospitals in Southern California. He studied programming in college from machine code to C++, where he discovered that he actually liked working and interacting with people instead of computer screens. With a base understanding of computer science, Frank has primarily been self-taught in modern programming languages, servers, systems, networks and business solutions for healthcare IT. For over eight years, he managed and supported the Northern Arizona region of LabCorp sites. He designed and wrote several custom programs for LabCorp, some of which are still in use today. He has also provided IT consulting services for various physicians and group practices in Arizona. He currently works as the VP of Information Technology at Spectrum Healthcare, where he can regularly be found providing services to patients or filling in wherever the need is greatest at the agency.

Frank is speaking during Developing Home Care Programs For Consumers With Behavioral Health Needs: A Case Study Presentation and Leveraging Technology To Improve Productivity & Consumer Engagement In Home-Based Programs.

Amy is speaking during Leveraging Technology In The Delivery Of I/DD Services.

As the National Medical Director for Virtual Care Dr. Will Lopez is the clinical leader in the implementation of Evernorth and Cigna Healthcare’s national virtual care strategy. In this role he is directly involved in coverage policy development, reimbursement, government affairs issues, and assessing new technologies coming to market. In addition he oversees a medical director’s team responsible for medical necessity reviews, case management, and claims activities.  He provides clinical expertise to Cigna’s sales and marketing teams during client and stakeholder meetings.

Prior to joining Cigna in 2006, Dr. Lopez was a staff psychiatrist and Medical Director for psychiatric services at Snowden at Fredericksburg, a private behavioral health center in Virginia.  Dr. Lopez was a captain in the U.S. Air Force where he practiced aerospace medicine.  As a veteran of operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he is passionate about supporting and leading veteran related initiatives.

Dr. Lopez lives in Asheville, NC with his wife and youngest daughter who is a junior at NC State University. When not at work, he enjoys outdoor activities including hiking, bicycling, and whitewater rafting.

Will is speaking during The Cigna/Evernorth Centers Of Excellence Model: A Briefing & Discussion Session.

Debra Manners will be speaking in Making Strategy Work – Best Practices For Implementing Your Strategic Plan.

Dr. Amanda Nugent Divine, is the CEO of Kings View, a behavioral health and Information Technology company operating in thirty-six counties throughout the fifty-eight in California. As a Chief Executive Officer, Amanda brings experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit health related businesses. She is an enthusiastic leader dedicated to creating a positive and productive work culture, setting impactful strategies, building an effective and healthy executive team and company culture, and developing data driven processes that get results.

She holds a BA in Sociology, an MS in Clinical Psychology, a Master of Arts in Media Psychology, and a PhD in Psychology with a focus in Media and Technology. She is also a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California and has worked as a Subject Matter Expert Consultant for the CA Board of Behavioral Sciences for over 5 years.

Additionally, Amanda serves as a board member for California Council of Community Behavioral Health Agencies and has experience working as a Clinical Director in both mental health and substance use disorder treatment settings, and teaching Psychology as adjunct faculty.

You might hear Amanda on KMJ, where she delivers regularly the “Mental Health Minute with Amanda Nugent Divine.”

Amanda attended university on a theater scholarship and worked in the film industry as an actress, writer, producer, and director for ten years in Los Angeles before meeting her husband Eric Divine and relocating to Fresno assuming her current role. In her free time, Amanda loves spending time outdoors traveling to remote corners of the world and hiking with her husband, their six children and their three dogs.

Amanda is speaking during Identifying & Addressing Burnout In Middle Management.

Ontson is speaking during Developing & Contracting For Community Support Services For High-Risk, High-Needs Consumers.

Dr. Paula Pompa-Craven brings over 25 years of experience in non-profit leadership positions to OPEN MINDS as an Advisory Board Member.

In addition to her work with OPEN MINDS, Dr. Pompa-Craven is the Chief Clinical Officer and a Licensed Psychologist at Easterseals Southern California. In this role, Dr. Pompa-Craven leads the autism service line throughout an eight-county region in Southern California, including operations, clinical, project, and program management. She is responsible for the clinical and operational oversight including service provision to 12,000 individuals with autism and their families and 1400 staff throughout Southern California. Dr. Pompa- Craven also oversees the clinical case consultation for multi-diagnoses and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) clinical teams in this role. Dr. Pompa-Craven oversees a research lab focused on client outcomes, satisfaction, advocacy and staff retention. Dr. Pompa-Craven has several recent publications in peer reviewed journals.

In her long tenure at Easterseals Southern California, Dr. Pompa-Craven has held multiple positions. Prior to becoming Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Pompa-Craven was Regional Vice President of Easterseals Southern California. In this position, she led the start-up and development of a Residential Service line resulting in the development of 15 homes in the community for a number of people who had previously spent most of their lives in instinctual settings. Dr. Pompa-Craven also supervised The Directors of Residential Services and Support Living Services in this role. Dr. Pompa-Craven was also the Director of Foundations and Grants at Easterseals Southern California. In this position, she led and collaborated with the foundation’s team to develop appropriate funding targets and maintain grants and the foundation database. She researched, wrote, and provided consultation to Easterseals programs for federal, state, and community grants and foundation requests. Additionally, Dr. Pompa-Craven held the position of Northern and Western Los Angeles County Regional Director for Easterseals Southern California, where she led the operations of infant, child, and adult social service programs in the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita, Lancaster, and West Los Angeles areas.

After receiving her doctorate, Dr. Pompa-Craven was a Registered Psychology Assistant for Rene Folse, Inc., J.D., Ph.D. In this role, Dr. Pompa-Craven conducted psychological assessments on children and adults for regional center eligibility, social security benefits, requests for conservatorship, and individual educational planning. She also provided behavioral planning for individuals residing in a group home and provided training and monitoring of written behavioral plans.

Dr. Pompa-Craven was also a Consultant for the Kern Regional Center in California, where she provided and managed the person-center assessment, evaluation, and planning with individuals moving from State Development Center and provided technical assistance and training to the Inyo and Mono County Self-Determination Initiative. Dr. Pompa-Craven also participated in state-wide committees and conference presentations for both projects.

Dr. Pompa-Craven graduated with a Doctorate in Psychology from Pepperdine University in 2000. Dr. Pompa-Craven also holds a Master’s in Psychology from Pepperdine University in 1995. In 991, Dr. Pompa-Craven graduated from the University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Pompa-Craven is also a member of numerous boards and committees including the American Psychological Association, the Association for Behavior Analysis, the California Psychological Association, the Conejo Valley Parent Teacher Student Association, the Kaiser Permanent Autism Service Steering Committee, the Autism Society of America, California Associate for Behavior Analysis, Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, Easterseals Autism Spokesperson Network, and National Charity League Vista Robles Chapter.

Paula is speaking during Home-Based Service Models For Consumers With Cognitive & Physical Health Challenges.

Robert is speaking during Replication Of Successful Service Lines – Strategies For Market Expansion.

April Rhodes, MBA, LAMFT is President and Chief Executive Officer for Spectrum Healthcare Group. Through statewide community solutions, and focused care, April and her team are meeting the whole health needs of Arizona’s populations.

April has served at the forefront of healthcare and human services management for nearly two decades. Her unique brand of leadership has successfully launched whole healthcare delivery into new heights of innovation, defragmentation, integration, and cohesion.

April has a Master of Advanced Study in Marriage and Family Therapy from Arizona State University and a Master of Business Administration from University of Arizona. April is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist.

April Rhodes currently serves on the Board of Directors for Arizona Council of Human Service Providers, Yavapai County Board of Health, and Yavapai College Foundation Board. Additionally, she serves on the Contexture Board, the health information exchange for Arizona and Colorado. April is considered a subject matter expert on topics relating to leadership, whole-person healthcare, value-based purchasing, access to care, and criminal justice and mental health related community-based services.

April is speaking during Developing Home Care Programs For Consumers With Behavioral Health Needs: A Case Study Presentation and Leveraging Technology To Improve Productivity & Consumer Engagement In Home-Based Programs.

Don Taylor is the regional executive director of the Bay Area for Pacific Clinics. In this capacity, he oversees the clinical programs in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Alameda Counties, plus neighboring counties, through our foster care and adoptions program. Having nearly 30 years of experience in mental health, Taylor has served in various clinical roles with progressive levels of responsibility, including director, clinical manager, clinician and family specialist, as well as led the regional quality assurance and improvement team. Prior to joining Pacific Clinics, he worked at nonprofits in Rhode Island and Chicago. Taylor is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and received his master’s in social work from San Jose State University.

Don is speaking during Innovative Program Approaches To Home-Based Services For Children.

Angela Yen is a dedicated behavior analyst with over 15 years of experience working with complex, underserved populations. After receiving her master’s degree in Special Education with an emphasis in autism spectrum disorders, she pursued her certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). Since then, she has worked in a variety of settings, including schools, residential facilities, and community organizations, helping individuals with developmental disabilities, mental health disorders and other unique needs. 

Angela has demonstrated a commitment to delivering innovative and effective individualized interventions for her clients. She has also provided training and consultation to other professionals and organizations, helping to expand the use of evidence-based practices in the field.   

At Easterseals Southern California, Angela oversees both the Consultation Services and the Crisis Support Services Departments. She believes in collaborative approach that emphasizes the importance of building strong relationships with individuals and their systems of support to create linkages and build capacity. 

Angela is interested in research topics related to trauma informed care and organizational behavior management. She is passionate about what she does and looks forward to continuing to make a difference in the lives of those she serves.

Angela is speaking during Home-Based Service Models For Consumers With Cognitive & Physical Health Challenges.

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.

Richard Louis, III, brings extensive experience in public and for-profit behavioral healthcare administration and business development to the OPEN MINDS team. Mr. Louis was formerly the Executive Director of Strategic Development and Planning, Pacific Region, for Providence Service Corporation.

Prior to OPEN MINDS, Mr. Louis served as the Assistant Director of the San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health, the 4th largest county behavioral health system in California, where he was responsible for day-to-day operations of a system serving over 50,000 unduplicated consumers annually through 31 county-operated facilities and 60 contract provider organizations.

Prior to his work with San Bernardino County, Mr. Louis was the Vice President of Government Operations for College Health Enterprises. In this role, he pioneered the development of public sector partnerships, contracts, and community mental health system joint ventures in California by creating some of the first inpatient psychiatric hospital-based, outpatient, day treatment, and institutional specialty treatment programs for county, state, and federal government agencies including L.A. County Department of Mental Health, L.A. County Probation Department, California Youth Authority, California Department of Developmental Disabilities, California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, and U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement/Homeland Security.

Mr. Louis has served in a number of leadership roles with several organizations in the community including: the California Hospital Association – Center for Behavioral Health, Advisory Board, and SCAN Health Plan – Advisory Board; the Board of Directors of the Forensic Mental Health Association of California, College Hospitals, and the Intercommunity Child Guidance Center of Whittier; and testified on behalf of the National Association of Psychiatric Healthcare Systems before President Bush’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Mr. Louis is currently a volunteer police officer with the City of Monterey Park Police Department in East Los Angeles serving since 1987 and currently holds the rank of Captain. Mr. Louis was recently appointed to the City of Claremont Police Commission in Los Angeles County.

He is a graduate of Whittier College and of the Police Academy of Rio Hondo College.

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M., Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.

Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics.  Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.

Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.

He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.

Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.

Ramona Osburn, MBA, MHA, FACHE, brings 20 years of experience in the behavioral health field to OPEN MINDS. Prior to joining the OPEN MINDS team, Ms. Osburn served as the Regional Vice President of Operations, Strategic Behavioral Health, providing leadership, strategy, and operational support to behavioral health hospitals and outpatient centers in multiple states. In that role, she created numerous outpatient telehealth programs, developed a strategy for community-based care programming, and was responsible for business development and marketing planning.

Previously, Ms. Osburn was the Chief Executive Officer for Summit Behavioral Health. At Summit, Ms. Osburn led a program to integrate the operations of a large addiction treatment center; an addiction medicine practice with more than 40 addictionologists and psychiatrists, and a medical health care system. She facilitated the development of a strategy for the newly-integrated system, developed its marketing plan, created a physician council, and negotiated its payer contracts including pay-for-performance arrangements.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Osburn was the Market Chief Executive Officer for Universal Health Services (UHS). She was recruited to design, build, and open a new behavioral health hospital and multiple outpatient centers to support a partnership with a regional medical center. Ms. Osburn was also responsible for the operations of four other behavioral health hospitals, managing the CEOs of those facilities. In this role, Ms. Osborn also recruited psychiatrists, led a initiative to integrate behavioral health into the medical center’s emergency services, and negotiated numerous health plan contracts and partnerships.  

Before UHS, Ms. Osburn was the Senior Vice President of Behavioral Health for Texas Health Resources. In that role, she provided operational leadership for multiple behavioral health hospitals, residential addiction treatment centers, eating disorder programs, and outpatient centers. She developed the organization’s direct employer contracting strategy and negotiated Center of Excellence contracts with health plans. Ms. Osborn also led Texas Health Resources involvement in an ACO initiative to integrated behavioral health with primary care and created a systemwide mobile assessment team for 55 hospital emergency departments in the greater Dallas metro area.

Ms. Osburn received her MBA and MHA from Texas Women’s University and Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from Excelsior College at the University of New York.

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