Speakers & Faculty

Jeremy Aho, Sr. Manager of Talent and Learning, is a workplace learning professional and performance innovator for Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health. A pioneer of eLearning at the organization, his background in psychology and Human Resources Management plus skill with technology, training, and user experience design has contributed to solutions that support organizational learning, talent development, and improved performance.

Harry Bruell, CEO/President, has led PathPoint since 2017 and has been a leader in the nonprofit sector for more than 30 years. PathPoint supports people flourish by partnering with children, adults, and families to find hope and empowerment, build life skills, access systems of support, and develop meaningful relationships. PathPoint’s 500 employees support 3,750 people through employment, residential, community integration, and counseling services in five southern and central California counties. Harry’s dedication to PathPoint’s mission comes from a deep personal understanding of some of the challenges faced by individuals supported by PathPoint and their families. He serves as the Vice-Chair for Policy and Board Member for the California Behavioral Health Association, as the Policy Chair and Board Member of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder, and as a Board Member of California ASPE.  Harry is the previous Treasurer of the California Disability Services Association and serves on several workgroups and committees of the California Department of Developmental Services. Harry is also an active member of the Los Angeles Coalition of Service Providers and the Lanterman Coalition. Prior to joining PathPoint, Harry served for 26 years in the conservation corps field, including 13 years as President and CEO of Conservation Legacy, a national agency based in Colorado. During the Obama Administration, the Secretary of the Interior appointed Harry as chair of a federal advisory committee to grow the corps movement. He graduated with honors from Rice University.

Dr. Caroline Carney is the president of behavioral health and the chief medical officer of Magellan Health, a company focused on improving the quality and delivery of behavioral health care across health plan, Medicare, Medicaid, Exchange and Federal services covered lives. An active clinician, she is board-certified in both psychiatry and internal medicine. Her previous experience at Magellan Health includes serving as the Chief Medical Officer for Magellan Rx Management where she led the development of patient-centered clinical programs, quality, and drug information. She also served as SVP Chief Medical Officer of Magellan Behavioral Health and Magellan Specialty Health.  Her prior managed care experience included the role of chief medical officer for regional health plans where she gained experience in Medicaid, Medicare, Exchange, and commercial populations.

Previously, Dr. Carney served as the medical director for the Indiana Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning, helping to launch the Medicaid expansion product as well as the behavioral health transformation for the state’s community mental health services. While in Indiana, she served on the Governor’s Mental Health Commission.  She is a frequent speaker about behavioral health services, integrated and collaborative care, the role of digital technologies in health care, the importance of self-care during and following the pandemic, and parenting in a digital age.

Dr. Carney is a published author and co-author for over 100 peer and non-peer reviewed publications focusing on issues surrounding comorbid medical and behavioral health conditions.  She was a tenured associate professor of Internal Medicine and Psychiatry at Indiana University, and developed the psychosocial oncology program for Indiana University’s NCI accredited cancer center.

She started her medical and academic career at the University of Iowa where she earned her medical degree, as well as a master’s degree, and directed the Med-Psych residency program. She continues to engage in regular clinical work through supporting the behavioral health team at a federally qualified health center.

Dr. Chaudhry is the Chief Executive Officer of Solace Behavioral Health. With over 20 years of experience, he is expanding the footprint of Solace Behavioral Health to several centers in multiple counties, as well as expanding their scope of services through integrating care with lifestyle modifications and chronic disease management to improve outcomes. Dr. Chaudhry received his Doctor of Psychiatric Medicine from the University of Miami School of Medicine, and has clinical expertise in the inpatient, outpatient, and forensic settings.

Dr. Clark Harvey received a B.A. in psychology from Cal Poly Pomona, an M.S. in community counseling, and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

While pursuing her Ph.D., she was licensed as a Professional Counselor and practiced in community and hospital settings in Wisconsin for 5 years. She completed a pre-doctoral internship at USC’s Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and a post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA’s Mattel Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Clark Harvey was a Social Justice Fellow at the Center for Policy Analysis, where she researched the mental health provisions of the Affordable Care Act. She was a Science and Technology Fellow at the California Senate, where she worked as a fellow and then Principal Consultant in the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development (BPED) Committee. She served as the Chief Consultant to the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions before transitioning to the California Behavioral Health Association, where she served as the Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs before her appointment to CEO. She also serves as the Executive Director of the California Access Coalition.

Dr. Clark Harvey was appointed by the California Lieutenant Governor to the CIRM Board and is an appointee to SAMHSA’s Advisory Committee for Women’s Services. She is a Board member of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and the California Association of Nonprofits, and is a past Board member of the American Psychological Association, the Association of Black Psychologists, the First 5 California Advisory Committee, the Sacramento Children’s Coalition, and the Sacramento County Public Health Advisory Committee. She is an alumna of the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program and an American Leadership Forum fellow.

Ryan Estes is the Chief Operating Officer of Coastal Horizons, a leader in mental health and substance use treatment, justice services, child welfare, and integrated health programming. Coastal Horizons has been a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic for three years. Ryan is charged with overseeing eighty million in programming and nearly seven hundred staff to meet the mission of healthier lives, stronger families, and safer communities. Ryan received his BA in Psychology from Wake Forest University, an MSW from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MBA from UNC-Wilmington. Ryan has been in the behavioral health field for over twenty years as a clinician and director.  Ryan holds licenses in North Carolina as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist. Additionally, he is a Certified Clinical Supervisor with the NC Addiction Specialist Professional Practice Board.  Ryan is the former Treasurer on the National Association of Social Work board and an alum of the Annie E. Casey Foundation Child and Family Fellowship. Ryan teaches part-time for the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in the College of Health and Human Services.

Healthcare innovation is Neil’s driving passion. Drawing on his training as a physician and scientist, Neil has spent his career leading, advising, and investing in the medical and biotech industries. His experience spans established, market-leading corporations to groundbreaking, early-stage start-ups. Neil holds degrees from Duke University, Harvard Medical School, and Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.

Dr. Matthew Holder is recognized as an international leader in the care of individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD).

Dr. Holder began working on what would result in Developmental Medicine becoming a recognized medical expertise soon after starting his career. In 2002, he took over the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD).  Since then the AADMD has set the curriculum and standards that guide medical students, residents and fellowship-level physicians to better treat and understand patients with IDD.  Medical schools and residency programs around the world have implemented curriculum changes based on the work done by Dr. Holder and the AADMD.

In 2005 Dr. Holder became Global Medical Advisor for the Special Olympics. Dr. Holder has trained thousands of healthcare providers in addressing the health needs of athletes with IDD. He also assists the American Medical Association and the American Dental Association in developing and passing resolutions that improve the lives and healthcare of IDD patients.

Dr. Holder, alongside colleague Dr. Henry Hood, designed and developed a unique, interdisciplinary patient care and teaching model that meets the health needs of adults with IDD living in the community – the first of its kind in the nation. Today the Lee Specialty Clinic exists as a testament their shared vision.

Dr. Holder is a graduate of the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

Tess currently serves as the Chief Clinical Officer for Vivant Behavioral Healthcare. During her two decades of behavioral healthcare experience, Tess has experience in direct care, clinical operations, and executive leadership across community-based and inpatient settings. In her role overseeing Vivant’s clinical service models, Tess is driven to create trauma-informed, accountable, and inclusive behavioral health services through the implementation of research-supported clinical and patient safety best practices.

Tess has obtained her Doctorate of Philosophy in Education and is a licensed clinician in Iowa and Arizona. In addition, Tess is also a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP), a trained trainer for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), and an advocate and member with the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH).

Aubree Lovelace is a Division Chief of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health directing multiple programs in the Department’s Countywide Engagement Division. Leading the Homeless Outreach Mobile Engagement (HOME), Emergency Centralized Response Center, Skid Row Concierge, Women’s Community Reentry, and Men’s Community Reentry Programs, she ensures effective and assertive field-based services are delivered to the marginalized and underserved populations of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness with severe mental illness as well as formerly incarcerated people experiencing mental illness. In her former role as Program Manager of HOME, she led the transformation of that program from homeless outreach as usual into a full-service street psychiatry program implementing innovative interventions including Outpatient Conservatorship, relentless follow up, and hands-on intervention to effect involuntary hospitalization without the involvement of law enforcement. A Marriage and Family Therapist by training, Aubree’s time in now spent primarily in meetings with politicians and fellow bureaucrats to develop and coordinate services to the people of Los Angeles. She is happiest when those meetings are rescheduled and she can get out on the streets of Skid Row and involved in the services her programs deliver.

Melissa M. Matos, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist with focused expertise in rehabilitation and health psychology, and specialized training across medical and psychiatric settings, including the VA healthcare system. She currently serves as Director of Therapy Programs at Brightside Health, where she collaborates on clinical quality initiatives, supervises clinically diverse teams, and advances inclusive, equitable care. Her work is informed by lived experience and driven by a commitment to health equity, identity-affirming care, and reimagining service delivery through non-traditional models.

Dr. Crystal Taylor-Dietz is the national director of behavioral health services at Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health and is a licensed psychologist in Maryland and the District of Columbia. At Devereux, she supports clinical teams with implementation of their trauma-informed framework (D-PBIS), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and other clinical needs. In addition, she has been the project owner for a number of national clinical initiatives within the organization. She has over 18 years of mental health experience working with children and adults in community-based, residential, and outpatient services, including holding a number of leadership, management and supervisory roles. Dr. TD is a member of the supervising faculty at The George Washington University Professional Psychology Program and was previously a teaching faculty member in the Child and Adolescent Training Program at the Washington School of Psychiatry. Her research/teaching and clinical interests have included issues related to mental health/wellness, mindfulness, race/ethnicity, and trauma-informed care.

Rafael Vaquerano is the President and CEO of Gardner Health Services located in San Jose, CA. Rafael holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology, and a Masters of Public Health degree from the University of New England.

Rafael is responsible for the management and performance of Gardner Health Services, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), serving the underserved and under-represented communities in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Gardner Health Services has 11 locations, and two mobile units providing Primary Care, Specialty Behavioral Health, and ancillary services.

Rafael has worked in the healthcare industry for over 18 years, of which has served in a leadership capacity for 12 years. Prior to joining Gardner Health Services, Rafael served as the Vice President of Practice Development and Innovation at John Muir Health. Rafael has also held a variety of roles which include Director of FQHC at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, System Director Patient Access and Revenue Operations at Alameda Health System, and Clinics Manager at San Mateo Medical Center.

Rafael has wide-ranging experience in healthcare administration, continuous process improvement, strategy-growth and development. Rafael is a firm believer in servant and facilitative leadership, and enjoys creating a community of problem solvers while developing future leaders in achieving organizational objectives.

Debbie Witchey began her tenure as the President and CEO of the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness (ABHW) in 2024. ABHW member companies provide coverage to over 200 million people in both the public and private sectors to treat mental health, substance use disorders, and other behaviors that impact health and wellness. 

Previously, Debbie served for more than 20 years as the Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of the Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC), an alliance of leading health industry CEOs representing all sectors of health care. She also built an award-winning community health program for a hospital system in Charleston, SC and served as deputy assistant secretary at the US Treasury Department in both a Republican and Democrat administration.

Debbie has a master’s in health administration from the Medical University of South Carolina and a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Duke University.

Michael Allen brings over 30 years of experience in the non-profit behavioral healthcare industry to the OPEN MINDS team. He currently serves as an Executive Vice President in our consulting practice, where he provides executive oversight and leadership to provider and payer client engagements for OPEN MINDS.

Mr. Allen was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of SummitStone Health Partners, the largest non-profit behavioral health service provider in Larimer County, CO. In this role Mr. Allen was responsible for the planning deployment, communication and accomplishment of SummitStone Health Partners’ overarching corporate strategy. He managed a budget of $80Million and was responsible for more than 750 full time employees and over 12,000 clients annually.

Prior to SummitStone Health Partners, Mr. Allen served as the Vice President of Managed Care & Operations at AspenPointe (now Diversus Health). At AspenPointe he developed and managed a system of accountability for monitoring and evaluating provider performance in seven Colorado counties. He was also responsible for the quality management oversight of all business lines, as well as managing a substance abuse treatment contract with the Colorado Division of Behavioral Health and a child welfare services agreement with El Paso County Department of Human Services.
Previously, Mr. Allen was the Director of Clinical Care for Connect Care, (rebranded as AspenPointe in 2010). In this position Mr. Allen provided supervision to the clinical staff, as well as developing clinical guidelines and services. He was also the project director for the 4th Judicial District Family Reunification Grant and he oversaw care coordination and voucher management functions for Colorado Access to Recovery Grant.

Before Connect Care, Mr. Allen was the Director of Child Welfare Services for Signal Behavioral Health Network, a non-profit that has been managing and expanding substance use prevention, treatment and recovery services in northeast Colorado for over 25 years. Mr. Allen managed a network of Substance Use Disorder treatment providers, programs and services across 35 Colorado counties.

Mr. Allen earned a Bachelor of Arts in Design/Psychology from Brigham Young University, a Masters in Social Work from Case Western Reserve University, and a Masters in Business Administration from Colorado State University. He is a Licensed Social Worker and a Certified Addictions Specialist in Colorado.

Stuart Buttlaire has over 35 years of clinical, management, and leadership experience. His career includes diverse experience in both the public and private sectors of healthcare providing leadership and direction in healthcare delivery.

Dr. Buttlaire currently serves as the Regional Director of Behavioral Health and Addiction Medicine for Kaiser Permanente. In this role, Dr. Buttlaire designs and oversees a broad continuum of services and programs for both inpatient, ambulatory, and emergency settings for mental health and addiction medicine. Dr. Buttlaire previously served as the Regional Director of Inpatient Psychiatry and Continuing Care at Kaiser Permanente and the lead Mental Health Representative within Kaiser Permanente’s State Program Initiatives including Medicaid and Medicare.

Additionally, Dr. Buttlaire served as a regional leader in the development of best practices at Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Buttlaire developed and led major program redesigns including Integrated Urgent Services for adults and youth with mental health and substance use disorders, Kaiser Permanente Post-Acute Center (SNF) Behavioral Health Program, mental health and emergency room consultation and suicide prevention, multi-family groups for adults and teens in treatment of severe psychiatric conditions, and intensive outpatient treatment programs for adults and youths. Recently, Dr. Buttlaire implemented a mobile application for eating-disordered patients that won Kaiser’s Innovation Award. Dr. Buttlaire also developed and implemented two psychiatric inpatient units at Kaiser Permanente, one of them was a medical/psychiatric unit to treat those members with both medical and psychiatric co-morbidities and the other, was a free-standing psychiatric health facility.

Additionally, Dr. Buttlaire often provides expertise and consultation on state and federal legislation and its impact on behavioral health within Kaiser Permanente, the State of California, and nationally. Dr. Buttlaire is currently the Board President of the Institute for Behavioral Health Improvement. He was selected to the American Hospital Association Regional Policy Board for Western Section after serving as AHA’s Chair of Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse section. He is currently on the Board of Directors of NAMI California, and the California Hospital Association’s Advisory Board of Behavioral Health.

Dr. Buttlaire is a graduate from the University of California, Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business with a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Health Care Management, Finance, and Marketing. Dr. Buttlaire also graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Additionally, Dr. Buttlaire holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from California State University, Humboldt, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Political Science from the University of Colorado.

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.

Margaret Mays brings over 20 years of health care industry experience to the OPEN MINDS team. Ms. Mays currently serves as a Senior Associate at OPEN MINDS. Her areas of expertise include quality program design and metrics-based programs, training development, health care processing systems, policy development, and accreditation/regulatory requirements.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Mays served as the Vice President of Quality Improvement at Magellan Health Services, where she provided comprehensive quality leadership, developed high-performance teams, and improved metrics. She launched the Magellan Lean Six Sigma Training Institute resulting in an ROI of $1.7 million. Ms. Mays cultivated a high-performance team of over 20 staff members and improved department productivity through mentoring and coaching.

Prior to her role at Magellan Health, Ms. Mays served as the Director of Quality Management at TLC Family Care Healthplan, a division of Amerigroup, where she successfully managed MCO NCQA accreditation and directed all HEDIS processes. Ms. Mays helped produce a 27% improvement in Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment. She also achieved 95% and above performance on state audits through a full-spectrum quality improvement program.

Previously, Ms. Mays served as the Director of Quality and Compliance at Magellan Health Services, where she managed a wide range of quality processes, developed high impact reporting, and collaborated with cross functional teams to improve data accuracy. At Magellan, Ms. Mays achieved a track record of exemplary audit scores through implementing state-of-the-art practices.

Ms. Mays received a Doctor of Health Sciences from A.T. Still University in Mesa, Arizona. She holds a master’s degree in Health Administration from the University of Washington. She previously earned a Bachelor of Science in Allied Health Administration from the University of Alabama.

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, 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.