Speakers & Faculty

Jeff is speaking during Assessing The ROI Of Strategic Technology Investments.

Robert is speaking during Models For Creating Organization-Wide Performance Reporting & Decision Support Tools.

Tracy is speaking during Solutions For Independence: Smart Homes Made Simple.

Mr. Bronson is the Vice-President of Information Services for Mental Health Partners. He graduated from University of New Hampshire with a degree in Electrical Engineering Systems. He has over 25 years of experience within software engineering, infrastructure and client management.

Andrew is speaking during Tech At The Table: How To Have A Tech Enabled Business Strategy.

Gina Brown is the Director of Health Information Technology at Easterseals UCP North Carolina & Virginia, Inc. She has 29-years’ experience in Healthcare IT and has amassed extensive knowledge in data governance processes and procedures, project and product management, and building key performance indicators (KPIs). As the Director of HIT, she leads, mentors, and develops the HIT team to be innovative, collaborative, and to have a focus on data collection, analysis, and data storytelling. The team is guided by ESUCP mission to provide meaningful and exceptional services so that children, adults, and families living with disabilities and mental health challenges can live, learn, work, and play in their communities.

Gina is speaking during Data Governance: A Non Partisan Policy & Best Practice Session.

Dimitrios has been the CEO of the Lower Shore Clinic (LSC) since 2016, a private non-profit organization established in 1979. The $21 million organization has 160 employees serving over 2400 persons in the Wicomico, Worcester, Somerset, & Dorchester communities of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Services provided include primary care, health home services, outpatient behavioral healthcare, medicated assisted treatment, substance abuse treatment, vocational services, psychosocial & residential rehabilitation, supportive housing, residential crisis beds, healthy food services, & assertive community treatment teams. He is a Licensed Certified Social Worker-Clinical & holds a Certificate in Child & Adolescent Treatment from the University of Maryland School of Social Work (UMSSW) & is a subject matter expert on homelessness, primary care integration, & assertive community treatment. Prior to his current role he was also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the UMSSW for 11 years teaching Advanced Mental Health & Social Policy at the graduate level & has been in Non-Profit Executive Leadership for 23 years in urban, suburban, and rural settings. In his leadership he strives every day to promote the recovery of all. This means that the community & the people LSC serves are healthy, have a stable & safe place to live, find a purpose they find meaningful for their life, & experience support, friendship, love, & hope.

Dimitri is speaking during Beyond The Patient Portal – Consumer Technologies To Enhance Care Delivery.

Tec is the Executive Vice President, Chief Program Officer, Easterseals Midwest.  Easterseals Midwest is the largest IDD provider in the state of Missouri providing early interventions services, integrated & competitive employment, and community living services to over 6,500 individuals and/or their families annually with nearly 1,700 employees.  Tec is part of a team responsible for agency strategic planning, development, and implementation; work with local, state, and federal funders to securing necessary

rates to provide programmatic and financial stability, and growth of services to meet current and future needs of people with IDD and their families.  Most recently he was the Executive Director of Services for Independent Living, which is one of Missouri’s 22 Centers for Independent Living serving persons with disabilities to maximize their independence.  With additional experience as the Chief Program Officer and Federal Relations Director for the Missouri School Boards’ Association (MSBA), Deputy Director for the Missouri Division of Developmental Disabilities.  He has over 35 years of experience supporting individuals with disabilities, their families, and working with federal, state, and local agencies.   

Tec is a recipient of the Anne Rudigier Award from the Association of University Centers for Excellence on Developmental Disabilities (AUCD) for his demonstrated dedication and commitment to enhancing the lives of families and individuals with developmental disabilities.

In 2005, Tec was a Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation Public Policy Fellow working in the United States Senate for Mike Enzi, Chairman, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee.  At the completion of his fellowship he was hired by the Chairman with a legislative portfolio that included disability policy (IDEA, Rehabilitation Act, Developmental Disabilities Act, Combating Autism Act), K-12 education (NCLB), the Head Start Act, Title II of the Higher Education Act, and child-care issues.

Todd is speaking during Leveraging Your EHR Investment – Getting More Out Of Your Current Tech Spend.

Kristi Daugherty, CEO for Emergence Health Network, has over twenty years of experience in the behavioral health arena.  As chief executive officer for El Paso County’s Mental Health/Intellectual Disabilities Authority for El Paso County, Ms. Daugherty is responsible for all clinical and oversight services delegated through performance contracts with Texas Health & Human Services.

During her tenure as CEO, Ms. Daugherty spearheaded several key initiatives that have significantly increased scope of services offered to the El Paso community.  As a result of her leadership, jail-based mental health services are now offered to justice involved patients and crisis intervention teams now partner especially trained police officers with behavioral health clinicians during crisis response. 

During this time, Emergence Health Network added key components the system of care such as extended observation unit services and Multi-Systemic Therapy for at-risk adolescents and their families.  Ms. Daugherty also orchestrated operational turnaround resulting in significantly improved financial indicators, enhanced quality measures and an emphasis on patient data analytics to improve overall health.  These efforts resulted in Emergence Health Network receiving Joint Commission accreditation– a distinction held by only a handful of community centers in the State of Texas.   Most recently, EHN also achieved Certified Community Behavioral Health Center (CCBHC) designation, which will help the organization focus on addressing social determinants of health with a behavioral health focus.

Ms. Daugherty has led efforts to form critical community collaborations that have resulted in expanding access points to behavioral health services and expansion of services.  Outside the area of crisis services, EHN has developed services in local school districts to include school-based clinics.  A strong partnership with the local housing authority has resulted in work on a therapeutic community for individuals that have mental illness and are at risk of homelessness. 

As El Paso has recently faced several challenges directly impacting community mental health, and Ms. Daugherty has ensured that EHN has led in crisis behavioral health response. In the aftermath of the August 3^rd Walmart shooting, EHN provided a myriad of supports and services to victims, families and the entire community.  Similarly, Emergence Health Network’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a strong emphasis on mental health supports.

Ms. Daugherty is a Licensed Clinical Social Work Supervisor in the State of Texas and a Licensed Independent Social Work Supervisor in the State of New Mexico.  She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from New Mexico State University and is a graduate of the Executive MBA Program at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Kristen is speaking during Tech At The Table: How To Have A Tech Enabled Business Strategy.

Wendy is speaking during Solutions For Independence: Smart Homes Made Simple.

Tamara is speaking during Leveraging Your EHR Investment – Getting More Out Of Your Current Tech Spend.

Mark is speaking during Analytics – The Data Points That CEOs Should Be Looking At & How To Get Them.

Rachelle is speaking during Technology Tools For Improving The Performance Of Value-Based Contracts.

Suzi is speaking during Improving Consumer Engagement With Technology & Improving Workforce Productivity (& Satisfaction) With Technology.

Clarissa is speaking during Improving Consumer Engagement With Technology.

As Chief Operating Officer, Kim oversees the operations and administration of the Cohen Veterans Network and all of its programs and initiatives.

Prior to joining the Cohen Veterans Network, she was the Director of Operations at the Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families (CIR) at the University of Southern California School of Social Work. Kim oversaw the day-to-day operation of CIR and managed several large research projects funded by the Department of Defense to enhance the competence and capacity of civilian behavioral health care providers working with military populations. Kim also led the development of numerous cutting-edge programs such as an online training platform for behavioral health professionals, virtual avatar trainers for evidence-based practice and clinical skill, observed structured video examination (OSVE) for military clinical skill assessment, and inter-professional education using military-focused standardized patients. Throughout her career, she has worked for numerous major research initiatives focused on behavioral health care, community development, social welfare, and education. Kim received her BA from the University of Chicago and her MA from the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration.

Alice is speaking during Models For Creating Organization-Wide Performance Reporting & Decision Support Tools.

Michael is speaking during The Investor Perspective — Trends In The Complex Consumer Market Space For 2023 & Beyond.

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.

David is speaking during The Investor Perspective — Trends In The Complex Consumer Market Space For 2023 & Beyond.

April is speaking during Improving Consumer Engagement With Technology.

Jim Triandiflou is a four-time CEO who has over 25 years of experience building companies as both a Senior Executive and Consultant to management. He most recently served as the CEO of insightsoftware (backed by TA Associates, Hg Capital, and Genstar), a leading provider of reporting, analytics, and performance management solutions, helping the company more than double in two years.

Prior to insightsoftware, Jim was CEO of Relias Learning (backed by Vista Equity Partners and acquired by Bertelsmann) for eight years. Under Jim’s leadership, the company became one of the largest providers of online education for healthcare in the world, growing from under $25m in revenue to over $200m with double digit organic growth and 15 acquisitions.

Jim is an experienced executive who creates high performance teams and builds personal relationships with C-level executives. His leadership skills and integrity result in long-term relationships, repeat customers and employees, and a focus on customer success.

Jim is currently on the Board of the Special Olympics of North Carolina, Benevity, ISSA and Band Together.

Jim is the proud father of four young adults, an avid runner (completed the 2018 New York Marathon, 2008 and 2009 Boston Marathons, 2010 Tobacco Road Marathon), and loyal Boston Red Sox fan.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the State University of New York College at Oswego and an MBA in international marketing from Arizona State University, including coursework at “Thunderbird.”

Jim is speaking during The Investor Perspective — Trends In The Complex Consumer Market Space For 2023 & Beyond.

Dr. Carol Clayton is a licensed, psychologist with 30 years of health care experience in the public and private sector, including non-profit and private practice work. Prior to joining OPEN MINDS as a Senior Consultant, she retired as the Translational Neuroscientist for Relias, where she specialized in health care solutions targeting workforce development and population health outcome improvement. Before joining Relias, Dr. Clayton was the CEO of Care Management Technologies, a health IT data analytics company. She also served as the Executive Director of the NC Council of Community Programs from 2000-2006. The NC Council is the predecessor organization to i2i.

Emily Del Vecchio brings over 14 years of experience in strategic, customer-focused, and results-driven marketing in retail and the behavioral health field. Ms. Del Vecchio is currently the Executive Vice President, Partnerships for OPEN MINDS.

Previously, Ms. Del Vecchio was the Marketing and Communications Manager II for Cleveland Clinic. As Cleveland Clinic’s global interests grew, Ms. Del Vecchio was promoted to manage international marketing and support for International Operations, Global Patient Services, international business development, and global expansion efforts. She was instrumental in setting up the London Marketing and Communications function ensuring the UK-based team was connected to US resources and providing corporate oversight for all foundational marketing elements including recruitment advertising campaigns, grand opening promotional strategy and events, and the creation of a localized website and online tools for patients and referring doctors. She also served as a senior member of the cross-departmental “Digital Optimization Team” that was responsible for strategic oversight of all digital lead generation campaigns, designing, executing, and analyzing testing strategies to roll out scalable programs; and managed day-to-day relationship with digital agency and marketing automation partners.

Prior to Cleveland Clinic, Ms. Del Vecchio was Senior Manager, Affiliate Marketing for Gen3 Marketing. Ms. Del Vecchio led the day-to-day management and strategic development of affiliate marketing programs for some of Gen3’s highest-profile clients ranging from financial services to high-end, luxury retail. She operated as an extension of the client’s internal marketing team to support key initiatives, drive increased sales and maintain set budgets. Ms. Del Vecchio established strong relationships with publishers and network teams on behalf of clients to effectively structure and negotiate terms, secure paid placements, and ensure overall brand presence across affiliate sites. She tracked campaign performance, identified trends and growth opportunities, and analyzed key metrics.

Before Gen3, Ms. Del Vecchio advanced to Online Marketing Specialist, Affiliate Marketing for QVC, Inc. Here she managed QVC’s affiliate marketing program, which had 1K+ publisher partners and generated over $200M in annual revenue. She oversaw daily program activities, implemented strategic plans and offer strategies, managed a multi-million dollar budget, and exceeded aggressive revenue goals. Ms. Del Vecchio ran QVC’s most successful publisher optimization campaign at the time, which generated $300K+ in incremental sales among mid-tier publishers in one month. Ms. Del Vecchio and her team provided creative briefs for print and television, attended photo and video shoots, and oversaw projects from concept to execution. 

Ms. Del Vecchio received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration for Marketing at Elon University, Elon, NC.

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.

Nancy Martin brings 25 years of experience in the behavioral health field to OPEN MINDS.  Ms. Martin currently serves as a Senior Associate on the OPEN MINDS Consulting team.

Previously, Ms. Martin was the AVP, Risk Adjustment for Molina Healthcare, Inc, where she was responsible for establishing strategy and managing operations for the company’s risk adjustment operations across 18 states. This included developing and implementing strategies for member engagement, provider engagement, value-based contracting models and population health, that served to optimize the quality of care delivered to Molina Healthcare members in Medicaid, Medicare and ACA products. 

Prior to her work at Molina, Ms. Martin served as the Senior Corporate Advisor for Population Health Strategy and Solutions at EVI-BASE, LLC, an organization that offers evidence-based programs to people with chronic disease that improves their health and quality of life.

Ms. Martin also served as the Senior Director, Value-Based Contracting and Network Development for Lumeris, where she was responsible for value-based contracting and network development for Lumeris clients’ Medicare markets.

As the Vice President, Quality and Population Health for Medical Mutual of Ohio, Ms. Martin was responsible for Medicare Stars, risk adjustment, quality, disease management, and population health for all lines of business at Ohio’s largest mutual health insurance company. She had oversight of all aspects of Quality for the organization including HEDIS, Medicare Stars, CAHPS, Accreditation and value-based networks. She managed risk adjustment programs for both Medicare and ACA lines of business, including data analytics, vendor management, clinical care home visits, provider programs, member incentives, coding and all aspects related to revenue enhancement for the government’s risk adjustment programs. In addition, she was responsible for value-based network strategy including mapping data analytics to contract methodology, negotiation strategy and tactics, and staff oversight.

Prior to her role at Medical Mutual of Ohio, Ms. Martin served as Senior Vice President, Network Services for ValueOptions, the nation’s largest independent behavioral health care and wellness company. In this role, she oversaw national network strategy and services to a network of 70,000 providers to incorporate progressive contracting models such as Centers of Excellence, telehealth, and value-based contracting.

Ms. Martin received her Bachelor of Arts in French from the University of Kansas and her Masters’ Degree in International Management/MBA with an emphasis in Finance and Accounting from the American Graduate School of International Management.

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., 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.