Speakers & Faculty

Robert Baechle is a Clinical Informatics Analyst who uses data to help drive clinical and financial decisions at DuPage County Health Department. He is a public servant with a heart for helping people and uses this passion to serve his community. Rob’s career started in an inpatient behavioral health hospital and transitioned to public health in 1997. He has experience in all levels of outpatient care and was promoted into a supervisory role in 2006. During this time, Rob helped implement two behavioral health electronic health records, consulted on the implementation of an environmental health services electronic record, and established centralized scheduling for 100+ employees. Rob regularly uses analytics to support clinical, financial, and administrative staff. Rob’s expertise has helped the health department to achieve numerous best-practice clinical workflows across multiple service areas.

Dr. Margie Balfour is a psychiatrist and national leader in quality improvement and behavioral health crisis care. She is Chief of Quality and Clinical Innovation at Connections Health Solutions And an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Balfour was named Doctor of the Year by the National Council for Behavioral Health for her work at the Crisis Response Center in Tucson and received the Tucson Police Department’s medal of honor for helping law enforcement better serve people with mental illness. She contributes to expert panels for SAMHSA and the DOJ. Her pioneering work on crisis metrics has been adopted as a national standard, and she co-authored Roadmap to the Ideal Crisis System: Essential Elements, Measurable Standards, and Best Practices. Dr. Balfour is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and serves on the Quality-of-Care Council.

A native of Monroe, Louisiana, Dr. Balfour earned a BA in Biology at Johns Hopkins University, followed by her MD and PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Cincinnati. She completed residency and fellowship in Community Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Erin Boyd is Talkspace’s Chief Growth Officer, Enterprise. A proven leader in the healthcare industry, Erin brings a successful 25-year track record of managing sales operations, business development, strategy and marketing. Erin is responsible for driving growth and delivering differentiated solutions and capabilities to Talkspace’s Enterprise customers.

Prior to joining Talkspace, Boyd led Cigna’s behavioral network strategy, ensuring that customers had affordable, high-quality options when receiving behavioral health and substance abuse care. During her tenure at Cigna, she oversaw network programs and solutions that drove innovation, delivered cost-savings and improved outcomes to advance behavioral health access. Prior to Cigna, Boyd held a leadership position in business development and marketing for Aurora Behavioral Health System, a preeminent psychiatric hospital system.

Jerome Brown is the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of United Providers of Health (UPOH). UPOH is an Independent Provider Association (IPA) focusing on Integrated Care and addressing Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). His previous roles were COO/Consultant for various Provider Healthcare organizations serving the MH/SA/ and I/DD populations. He has over 27 years of corporate management and executive experience. Jerome is also the CEO/Owner and founder of New Thought Leadership. New Thought Leadership is a series of workshops where individuals will learn the basic leadership principles, characteristics and leadership styles of being a leader and how to effectively use these styles.

Jerome is a Lean Six Sigma-Green Belt for over 24 years. He is a certified Facilitator and certifications in Leadership Through Quality (LTQ), Problem Solving Process (PSP), Quality Improvement Process (QIP), Organization Development (OD), Business Process Development (BPD) and Change Management (CM). He enjoys leading organizations, collaborating and building growth through networks and business development and managing change. He has implemented operational processes and clinical workflows that achieves strong measured outcomes and financial sound business results for organizations. He has launched and implemented programs and process in corporate America regionally and nationally and statewide within Healthcare. He has chaired on several boards of non-profits and is currently a board member at his church and served on the former i2i-I’m IN, Advisory Group. Jerome attended Millikin University (Decatur, Ill.) where he is in the Hall of Fame and a two time All American in Football and he
received his BS in Psychology.

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.

Dr. Gina Forrest is a collaborative, strategic, energetic, and research-driven leader! She has a wealth of experience working in the for-profit, nonprofit, government, and academic sectors; she understands people – our most valuable human resource!

She has earned a Ph.D. in Health Behavior with a minor in Nonprofit Management, research focused on Health Inequities.  In addition, she has a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Leadership.  

As the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer with the Indiana Supreme Court, Dr. Forrest focused on building a new department, collaborating, and connecting with stakeholders across Indiana. Currently, she is the Chief Culture Officer with Aspire Indiana Health – She is responsible for forming a new unit with six departments, strategic planning, fostering an inclusive workplace, providing training, and being a resource for all.  

Dr. Gina has been part of academia, teaching and mentoring students for over ten years.  She is skilled at designing meaningful courses to impact the future workforce.  She has taught for four institutions and has gained valuable skills, knowledge and experience that she brings to every classroom.  

In her personal life, Dr Gina is the proud mom of two adult sons, and enjoys studying African Yoga, Reiki, and is working on a huge bucket list of things to complete before she turns 50 in 2024! 

Arun is executive chairman and CEO of Big Health, the world’s leading provider of clinically-validated, non-drug digital mental health treatments and pioneer of the digital therapeutics category. During his tenure as chairman and now CEO, Big Health’s digital treatments – Sleepio, for insomnia and Daylight for generalized anxiety disorder – have been clinically proven in over 80 peer-reviewed papers and in 14 randomized, controlled trials to deliver safe and effective patient outcomes. Under his stewardship, Big Health was the first digital therapeutics company to receive approval from the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to recommend Sleepio as a first line insomnia treatment.

Previously, Arun founded Quartet Health, a mental health technology startup, leading it through a significant scale-up as CEO and then Executive Chairman of the Board – securing $150M in investments from Google Ventures and Oak HC/FT. Prior to Quartet, Gupta was General Partner at Accretive where he helped build over 10 industry-defining technology companies, driving several IPOs such as Accolade and R1 RCM and creating over $5B of equity value. He spent his earlier career at Palantir Technologies, McKinsey & Company, The World Bank and working as a Clinton Foundation fellow.

Arun earned a Master’s Degree from the Harvard Kennedy School where he was a Reynolds Fellow for Social Entrepreneurship and graduated with honors from Duke University. He serves on the boards of education technology company iD Tech and Autism Partnership Foundation and as an advisor to 8VC and Anthos. Arun and his wife, Dr. Mrinali Patel Gupta, live in Newport Beach, California with their three children.

Joshua Klein is the VP of Strategy and Business Operations at New York Psychotherapy and Counseling Center (NYPCC), where he dedicates his expertise to increasing access to quality mental healthcare for underserved communities in New York City. Using his background in financial operations and a keen interest in technology, Joshua focuses on creating efficiencies and streamlining operations at NYPCC, with a special emphasis on leveraging technology to improve both consumer engagement and workforce productivity.

Prior to joining NYPCC, Joshua served as a Manager in PwC’s assurance practice, managing audits of large alternative asset managers. A licensed CPA, Joshua brings a strong financial acumen to his role, where he successfully integrates finance and technology to deliver exceptional outcomes.

Dr. Hossam Mahmoud is Regional Chief Medical Office at Carelon Behavioral Health, overseeing a team of medical directors, psychologists and pharmacists, dedicated to supporting behavioral health programs across multiple states. He leads the overall direction of the regional strategy to optimize behavioral health, improve whole-person health outcomes and implement innovative approaches and digital solutions to enhance behavioral health care access. 

Prior to joining Carelon Behavioral Health, Dr. Mahmoud was the Medical Director for Behavioral Health at Cambia/Regence, where he provided medical leadership, strategic direction and clinical oversight for behavioral health services across all lines of business within the health plan. He has also served as medical director and senior vice president at Array Behavioral Care, a national telehealth organization, focusing on expanding access to BH services across the country.

Dr Mahmoud is a Board-Certified psychiatrist, Past President of the Illinois Psychiatric Society and Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He earned his Medical Degree and Master of Public Health at the American University of Beirut. He worked as a Medical Officer at the World Health Organization before completing his residency training at Northwestern University in Chicago. He is passionate about increasing access to high quality behavioral health services nationally.

Accomplished Human Resources Leader with over 17 years of expertise partnering with executive teams during successful strategic growth, outsourcing, and downsizing to accomplish changing business objectives. Ability to proactively integrate Human Resources initiatives to create a compelling and engaging company culture to drive organizational goals.

Experience working for high growth companies across behavioral health/social services and legal/professional services industries, providing both a strategic and hands-on approach to implementing human resources solutions and programs.

Ms. Morris received her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Fisk University and her Masters in Human Resources Development from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.  Ms. Morris is active in the human resources community and has served in various volunteer capacities including Member of the Legislative Committee for the San Diego Society of Human Resources Management.

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.

Kimberly Bond, MS, LMFT, brings over thirty 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 $12M in annual revenue to over $100M and becoming one of the largest providers of behavioral health services in California. In this role, 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.

Carol Clayton brings over 30 years of experience in the health and human service fields to the OPEN MINDS team. She has a wealth of experience both in clinical work and in executive management. Her areas of expertise include data-driven strategy development and management, performance measurement and outcomes reporting, quality improvement, and growth strategies.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Dr. Clayton served as the Vice President of Behavioral Health Solutions Integration for Relias, an online training solution for health care providers. At Relias, Dr. Clayton led the development of analytics-focused market solutions. Her areas of focus were performance measurement systems, management team dashboards, and analytics for managing value-based reimbursement.

Prior to her role at Relias, Dr. Clayton served as the Chief Executive Officer for Care Management Technologies (CMT), an analytics solution organization of which she was a minority owner. With CMT, Dr. Clayton worked with state and county governments and provider collaboratives to develop shared performance management and performance improvement platforms. Her work included creating solution-specific health information exchanges promoting data sharing between multiple payer and provider organizations.

Prior to joining Care Management Technologies, Dr. Clayton served as the Executive Director for the North Carolina Council of Community Programs. In this role, she worked with both public agencies and private provider organizations during the evolution of the North Carolina MH/DD/SA service delivery system to a new managed care model. Her work involved both advocacy to public policy makers and the legislature, as well as working with member organizations on improving their delivery system.

Previously, Dr. Clayton also served as Executive Director for Magellan Behavioral Health. In this role, she was responsible for the Magellan book of business – at-risk managed care, administrative service organization (ASO) contracts, and employee assistance program (EAP) contracts for two million lives across four states.

Dr. Clayton started her career as a Staff Psychologist at John Umstead Hospital. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Special Education from Appalachian State University and her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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.