Speaker Profiles

Kurt’s work involves overseeing a range of health-centered arrest alternatives for individuals with complex unmet health needs that are having low-level, non-violent police contacts in the community through the City’s Police-Assisted Diversion (PAD) initiative. For the past 3 years, Kurt has worked at the intersection of the law enforcement and behavioral health communities.

Careless is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Pennsylvania, and has experience in direct care, operations, managed care, teaching and administration. She approaches the work at hand with a desire to think outside the box and inspire a shared vision of what is possible. She is open about her own mental health to help lessen stigma surrounding BH challenges.

Eddie overseas Community Based Service Development, Peer Culture and Community Inclusion and a new unit called the Community Wellness Engagement Unit within the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbilty Services (DBIHDS). Eddie was raised by parents born in Puerto Rico. He loves reading, music, dancing salsa, family & kayaking.

I am in a 12-Step fellowship program, in recovery from substance use disorder. Five months ago I was also struggling with homelessness and knocking on death’s door. My recovery date is March 5, 2020. I spent 25 years in active addiction and felt like I would never be good enough or to contribute anything. Today, I know that as long as I continue on this path in my recovery, I can do anything that I put my mind to.

As the Deputy Commissioner of Emergency Medical Services for the Philadelphia Fire Department, Crystal oversees the operations for the only 911 provider in the city. She serves on the mayor’s Philadelphia Resilience Project which is responsible to address the opioid crisis and is fortified with the collective impact of multi-sector agencies and organizations.

Erin Whelan has worked in the Social Service field for over 13 years working with youth experiencing homelessness and as a therapist. Erin’s current work focuses on the National Movement to End Youth Homelessness by 2020 and currently co-leads the Austin initiative.

Liz has over 10 years of experience in research design, evaluation, and statistical modeling. Her efforts to use data to inform service delivery and the adoption of evidence-based programs at LifeWorks were highlighted in the documentary, Failing Forward: On the Road to Social Impact. She serves as the Principal Investigator for two multimillion-dollar SAMHSA grants, and oversees local evaluation for the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program.

Bree Williams is a Licensed Master Social Worker fiercely committed to ending homelessness in Austin/ Travis County and serves as the Director Community Housing for the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition. Bree is responsible for developing and implementing creative strategies to increase access to low barrier housing opportunities for households experiencing homelessness, including the development of multi-sector partnerships.

Lyric Wardlow works in partnership with a wide variety of organizations who work to end homelessness in the nation for youth and adults. From her own personal experience as a homeless youth for almost 9 years, she now consults service providers on best practices for working with people who have lived experience.

Maryam earned her Masters in Social Worker at Florida Atlantic University. After starting work at Lifeworks in 0ctober 2019, she was the Intensive Outpatient Program Director at Omni Community Health, Knoxville, TN. She has spent several years in working in different fields of social work and has always been involved in communities to help herself and others to overcome adversity.

Laura’s primary role is working closely with DCMHI partners and guiding strategic initiatives aligned with the vision of a community-based, integrated mental health delivery system. This intentional work spans health promotion, prevention, early intervention, crisis, acute and long-term care, and relies heavily on the passion and dedication of DCMHI and other community partners.

Jenn oversees Colorado Crisis Services and other BH services across 10 counties in the Denver/ Boulder area. Jenn’s career is dedicated to ensuring that health equity, access to high quality whole person care, and coordination of care are paramount. As a longtime resident of, Jenn finds peace and recovery on the trails in the local hills.

In June 2014, at the request of the Board of County Commissioners and County Manager, Barbara formed the Douglas County Mental Health Initiative to address unmet mental health needs of county residents. The Initiative continues to develop strategies to build an integrated mental health system for county residents.

Captain Duffy began his law enforcement career in 1989 and has served proudly for 32-years. His passion is to serve and work with youth. He is the Chairman of the Board for the Juvenile Assessment Center, the Co-Chair of the Collaborative Management Program and serves on the DCMHI Steering Committee. He recently served on the BH Task Force, Safety Net Sub-committee.

In this role, Doug develops, administers and directs strategic and tactical operational behavioral health service line activities at Porter Hospital and across Centura Health. He is also responsible for identifying gaps and barriers and developing processes to increase access and improve outcomes in the communities Centura Health serves.