Sponsoring Leaders
Richard Dougherty, PhD, is President of the non-profit organization BasicNeeds US and recently retired, after 35 years of leading DMA Health Strategies, a national behavioral health policy and research organization. Dick is particularly pleased that DMA now has reorganized into a worker and woman owned cooperative. As President of BasicNeeds US, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, Dick volunteers all his time and provides support for effective and recovery-driven, global mental health policy, with a particular focus on low-income countries. He advises numerous national organizations, has published extensively, sits on several boards and received the 2011 Walter Barton Distinguished Fellow Award from The College of Behavioral Health Leadership (CBHL). Dick also serves as the Treasurer of CBHL. LinkedIn
Kara Hill, DHA, MHA, BSSW, is a consultant with WildBlue Health, bringing over 25 years of experience guiding nonprofit and health systems through change, leadership transitions, and strategic growth. She partners with organizations to strengthen leadership continuity, advance workforce strategies, and align operations with community need; grounded in a commitment to equity and mission impact.
Kara’s background spans executive leadership in community-based organizations and charitable clinics, integration of behavioral health into primary care, and development of sustainable workforce and value-based care models. She is known for her practical, systems-thinking approach, helping leaders anticipate challenges, operationalize solutions, improve operations, and foster high-performing, resilient teams.
She holds a Doctor of Health Administration from Oklahoma State University, a Master of Health Administration from Texas A&M University, and a Bachelor’s in Social Work from Bowling Green State University. LinkedIn
Fran Silvestri, MBA, recently left the role as founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Leadership Exchange (GLE), which he helped organize in 2003. GLE is jointly funded by ten countries, to build partnerships between mental health leaders in order to rapidly exchange knowledge of best and promising practices internationally.
Before his work with GLE, Fran was CEO of Monadnock Family Services (MFS) in Keene, NH. In this role he looked internationally to identify, and then replicate, innovative services that promote recovery and social inclusion for consumers of mental health services. Such services have included the Wyman Way Cooperative, an independent, non-profit corporation managed and operated by consumers of mental health services (based on the Trieste model). He was a founder of a state wide Integrated MH network in New Hampshire owned by six hospitals, 10 MH centers and the largest physician practice in the state. Fran also serves as the Past-President on the CBHL Board of Directors.
Marcy Melvin is a pivotal executive with over 25 years of experience in behavioral health policy, training, and clinical practice. As a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas her experience includes providing direct clinical and supervisory services to children, youth, parents, and young adults in various clinical settings including residential, in-home, outpatient, private practice, primary, secondary, and post-secondary locations. Marcy is extremely passionate about advancing health equity and reducing disparities and disproportionality; this has been a culmination of her life’s work in various clinical, organizational and systems settings. Marcy also serves as the current President on the CBHL Board of Directors.
Marcy has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana and a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Fisk University.
Dr. Edwin Wong is co-founder and CEO at Psyrin, where his team builds AI software to automate intake, assessment and outcome tracking for behavioral heatlh clinics. They’ve partnered with state agencies and providers to improve care access, alleviate staff burden, and reduce admin time. Edwin was previously a researcher in psychiatric genetics, having published multiple high-impact papers across his PhD at the National University of Singapore and King’s College London, supported by the President’s Graduate Fellowship.