Speakers & Faculty

Throughout his career, Edward has worked with children, teens, individuals, and families from various walks of life; as a coach, crisis counselor, social worker, therapist, teacher, adoption services supervisor, and program director.  He has been a member of several boards, as well as serving as the Executive Director of The Concordia Schools – Los Angeles, the Managing Director for The Institute for the Redesign of Learning, and now as the CEO of the Jay Nolan Family of Companies.

Edward has led multiple organizations to financial prosperity, through digital and cultural change, by focusing on the greatest assets they have, the people they support, and the people providing that support.  He is committed to helping the leaders in our communities and companies to drive lasting positive change through innovation that keeps people at the center.

Having been in executive leadership roles for nonprofits for over 20 years; Edward believes one of the fundamental ways to strengthen our communities is through purposeful efforts to provide opportunities for every member to contribute.  By providing safe, challenging, and diverse venues in which to grow, develop, and contribute we create communities that are whole and healthy.

Joe Dan Beavers is the President/CEO of LifeSkills, Inc. a community mental health center based in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  With over 25 years in healthcare, his work focuses on expanding access to mental health, addiction treatment, and developmental disability services in rural communities.

LifeSkills was founded in 1966 and serves over 26,000 individuals each year through mental health, substance use disorder and intellectual and developmental disabilities programs. In January of 2020 LifeSkills and the Pennyroyal Center merged, creating one of Kentucky’s largest community mental health centers.

Later that year, LifeSkills also helped lead the formation of the Community Health Network of Kentucky (CHN).  CHN includes LifeSkills, Pennyroyal Center and three additional community mental health centers in Kentucky. Together CHN supports over 64,000 individuals annually through 55 programs across rural Kentucky.

Joe Dan has a BS in Accounting from Western Kentucky University, a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of Kentucky and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Terry Fox is a sixth-generation resident of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and a battlefield guide emeritus with Gettysburg National Military Park. He taught American History in the public schools for 33 years, serving as department head and as a member of the Carnegie Foundation for teaching American History. Since his retirement he has taught as an adjunct professor at Gettysburg College and at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. He has presented leadership seminars for U.S. Air Force chief master sergeants as well as employees of the U.S. Secret Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in addition to teaching in Johns Hopkins’ Police Executive Leadership program. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Shippensburg College.

Diane Gould joined Advocates in 1985 and was appointed President and CEO in 2013. In a career at Advocates spanning over forty years, she has held many clinical and leadership roles and directed a range of clinical, residential, and support services promoting empowerment, inclusion, and health equity. Diane is also the President and CEO of Family Continuity Program, as of January 1, 2023.

Central to Diane’s approach to leadership is a commitment to collaboration. At Advocates, Diane emphasizes partnership with employees, funders, and individuals who receive services as an essential way to advance the agency’s mission.

In the broader community Diane is an active board member of the Massachusetts Providers Council, Association of Behavioral Healthcare, and several other industry advocacy organizations. Throughout her career, Diane has worked to build diverse, inclusive community coalitions that address behavioral health and social service needs. Diane’s several community recognitions include the 2011 Deborah Blumer Community Health Leader Award from the MetroWest Health Foundation, the 2015 MassPRA Public Advocacy Award, and The Providers’ Council’s 2020 CEO Award and 2022 Chair’s Award. Diane’s leadership has resulted in Advocates being selected one of the Top 100 Women Led Businesses, and Top 100 Places to Work in Massachusetts by the Boston Globe.

Diane holds a Master of Social Work degree from Simmons College, and the values of the social work profession continue to inform her vision and leadership. Previously, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts with a concentration in English and Women’s Studies.

James (Jamie) was appointed CEO in June 2016. He joined Grafton in August 2008 as Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Vice-President. As a successful financial and administrative leader he has over twenty years’ progressive experience in a healthcare environment.

Patty loves storytelling. She has been a guide since 2013. Before becoming a tour guide, she was a substitute teacher for K-6 in one of the local school districts. But that did not prepare her for being a tour guide.

After attending multiple tours and doing a huge amount of reading, she was ready. And she loved it from the very beginning.

Patty is certified by the “Be a Better Guide Academy” in their tour program.

Patty’s mission is to share, educate, and inspire by sharing stories of the history of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Dr. Head-Dunham’s academic and administrative leadership has fostered noteworthy advances in the fields of addiction and mental health. She has served as a subject matter expert on various national and state platforms informing best practices for the field of behavioral health. Her clinical accolades include Clinical Faculty of the Year for the 2021 academic year at LSU School of Medicine. In 2019 she was the recipient of the Nyswander/Dole Award from the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, INC. (AATOD). Her clinical acumen coupled with her transformative leadership style has shaped an administrative career that fosters enduring changes for systems, organizations and individual levels of performance. Dr. Rochelle Head-Dunham is a New Orleans native who currently serves as the Executive Director and Medical Director for Metropolitan Human Services District (MHSD), a state local governing entity tasked with service delivery for indigent and Medicaid ensured persons living with mental illness, substance use disorders and intellectual/developmental disabilities, residing in New Orleans and neighboring parishes.

Larry Korczyk has been a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park for 10 years.  He passed the National Park Service licensed guide exam in March of 2013.  Prior to this, he worked for 30+ years in the logistics industry as a manager at two large distribution centers.  However, always having a love of history, particularly on the American Civil War, he joined a Civil War Round Table in his native state of New Jersery, became an active Civil War reenactor for the 2^nd Rhode Island Infantry, and dreamed, after his first visit to Gettysburg in 1990, to become a Licensed Battlefield Guide.  Today, he lives in Gettysburg, has conducted hundreds of tours on the battlefield, is a regular speaker at Civil War Round Tables, and has co-authored a book titled “Top Ten at Gettysburg”.

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

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

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

Robert H. Prosperi is one of the foremost experts on the Battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War. He is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a U.S. Army veteran. He served for 17 years as one of the two historians at the Gettysburg National Military Park. During this time he served as a personal tour guide and battlefield escort for numerous dignitaries and celebrities. He had the distinct privilege of providing a personal tour for Presidents Carter and Sadat and Prime Minister Begin during the Camp David Summit.

Whitney Westerfield serves as the Director of Legal and Governmental Affairs for LifeSkills, Inc., one of Kentucky’s largest behavioral health providers covering 18 counties across South Central and Western Kentucky. Prior to joining LifeSkills, Whitney represented the 3rd Kentucky Senate District from 2013 through 2024, and served as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee for all three terms in office. Senator Westerfield also served as a member of the Senate Standing Committees on Agriculture, Families and Children, Natural Resources and Energy, the Veterans, Military Affairs, and Public Protection Committee, and the Juvenile Justice Oversight Council. Additionally, he helped create and was an inaugural a member of the Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity. His award winning legislative record includes Kentucky’s most comprehensive overhaul to its juvenile justice system in decades, amending Kentucky’s Constitution to include rights for crime victims, and a pilot program funded with opioid settlement funds to intervene in criminal cases shortly after booking to pair offenders with behavioral health services.

Following his legislative service Westerfield continues to work with national advocacy organizations to advance the cause of data-informed criminal justice and behavioral health policy. You can occasionally find his writing in the editorial pages of the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Senator Westerfield received his B.S. in Communication at the University of Kentucky in 2003, and his J.D. in the spring of 2006 from Southern Illinois University School of Law. He has been an active member of the Kentucky Bar since October 2006 and the Tennessee Bar since 2012. He owns a small row crop farm in Western Kentucky with his five brothers. Whitney and his wife, Amanda, have five children, including a set of triplets, and live in Western Kentucky.

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, Payer/Provider Market. In this role, Ms. Bond provides executive oversight and leadership to all Provider and Payer client engagements for OPEN MINDS.

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 Bachelors Degree in Psychology, with Honors, and her Masters in Counseling Education from San Diego State University. She is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in both California and Arkansas.

Stuart Buttlaire brings over 35 years of clinical, management, and leadership experience to OPEN MINDS as an Advisory Board Member. Dr. Buttlaire has experience in both the public and private sectors of healthcare providing leadership and direction in healthcare delivery.

In addition to his work with OPEN MINDS, Dr. Buttlaire is 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 is also 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 is a regional leader in the development of Best Practices at Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Buttlaire has 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 is a medical/psychiatric unit to treat those members with both medical and psychiatric co-morbidities and the other, 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.

Paul M. Duck brings over 30 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.

Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.

Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.

Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.

Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Associate of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.

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.

Sharon Hicks, MBA, MSW, has more than 20 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive expertise and a wide range of experience in health plan management, clinical operations management, and technology. A recognized thought leader among her peers, Ms. Hicks is a regular keynote speaker at industry conferences and association meetings, as well as an author of hundreds of articles and resources for professionals in both clinical and executive roles.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system. She served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, UPMC’s managed behavioral health organization responsible for $800 million in annual revenue. At Community Care, Ms. Hicks was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations, including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. She also managed the day-to-day operations of human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.

Ms. Hicks also served in a variety of tech leadership roles for UPMC. In 2002, she was appointed as the Vice President of Technology Strategy for the UPMC Insurance Services Division before becoming the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, a leading provider of electronic health record software for behavioral health and social service organizations. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth and profitability of the company and the direction of software development. In addition, Ms. Hicks was the President of U Squared Interactive, a UPMC-owned organization with the exclusive United States rights to Beating The Blues – the renowned computerized cognitive behavioral therapy solution for treating anxiety and depression.

Ms. Hicks started her impressive career as a psychiatric social worker and an Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.

Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Point Park College, Pittsburgh, PA.

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.