Shivan Bhavnani is a Partner at Evio VC, an early-stage venture fund investing in companies reinventing mental healthcare. In 2019, he founded GIMBHI (Global Institute of Mental & Brain Health Investment), a research and advisory firm that has driven more than $30M in funding toward mental, behavioral, and brain health startups and whose insights have been featured in Axios, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, and Behavioral Health Business, among others. He previously was an investor at Two Bridge Capital, Vynn Capital, and the Noetic Fund, and completed a fellowship at Columbia University's Department of Psychiatry. Shivan holds a BA from Wesleyan University and an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

April Joy Damian, PhD, MSc, CHPM, PMP, moves healthcare innovation from concept to scale. As Chief Scientific Officer at one of the nation’s largest community health systems, she builds the infrastructure, partnerships, and evidence base needed to transform care for communities that traditional systems have historically overlooked. At the Weitzman Institute, Dr. Damian leads a 70+ member interdisciplinary team whose research, workforce development, and policy innovation portfolio supports community health centers serving more than 32.5 million patients nationwide. Achieving impact at this scale requires cross-functional alignment. Under her leadership, the Institute’s national virtual, jointly accredited learning infrastructure has evolved into a sophisticated platform that brings together federal agencies, academic institutions, and frontline providers to deliver specialty-informed training to rural and isolated communities. Dr. Damian anchors this work in data-driven performance management, with responsibility for enterprise key performance indicators, including financial performance, patient reach, and professionals trained. Under her leadership, annual revenue grew from $3 million to more than $9 million, with accountability extending to the board level. Her earlier roles reflect a consistent focus on scalable implementation and data-driven population health strategy. As a Senior Scholar at AcademyHealth, she advised the CMS Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network on integrating equity and social determinants of health measures into alternative payment models across Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial markets. At the National Quality Forum, Dr. Damian led the first national Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Data Integration Action Team, developing measurement frameworks that health systems and payers use to screen for and address health-related social needs. At the Baltimore City Health Department, she designed the mixed-methods evaluation of the citywide Healing Baltimore trauma-informed care initiative, engaging more than 1,000 professionals across sectors and generating evidence that informed the Elijah Cummings Healing Baltimore Act. She concurrently serves as faculty in the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Co-Chair of the National Academies Forum for Children, Youth, and Family Well-Being, and an appointed member of the AcademyHealth Methods and Data Council. Dr. Damian holds a PhD in Psychiatric Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an MSc in Medical Sciences from Harvard Medical School, and a BA in Ethnic Studies with Highest Honors and Phi Beta Kappa distinction from the University of California, Berkeley. Her recognitions include the Truman Scholarship, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Community Well-Being Warrior Award, and the Most Influential Filipina Woman in the World Award.

When I started my career as a physician, I quickly realized that healing isn’t about prescribing the right medication–it’s about how we treat people. Most patients carry a story that is shaped by loss, struggle, or trauma. The way we speak, the way we listen, or even the way we conduct a physical exam, can either make a patient feel safe or unseen. This realization led me to trauma-informed care, an evidence-based, strategic framework for supporting people through stress. My award-winning curriculum on trauma-informed physical examination is now taught at medical schools across the U.S. I’ve expanded this work to trauma-informed telehealth, medical education, and corporate wellness, helping organizations create healthier, more engaged, and more effective teams. Burnout impacts healthcare workers on the frontline and corporate leaders who strive to maintain productivity and wellbeing. I’ve had the privilege of training healthcare systems, Fortune 500 companies, and legal teams on integrating trauma-informed principles into their work, including transformative sessions on professional resilience for Procter & Gamble. My keynote speaking has been described as “life-changing” and “transformational”.

Brent P. Forester, MD, MSc, is the psychiatrist-in-chief and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Tufts Medical Center, the Dr. Frances S. Arkin professor and chair of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine, the director of behavioral health for Tufts Medicine and the Co-Physician Executive of the Neuroscience and Behavioral Health Service Line. Dr. Forester is leading efforts at Tufts Medicine to integrate behavioral health care into primary care and medical specialty settings. Prior to joining Tufts Medicine, he spent more than 25 years at McLean Hospital and Mass General Brigham, where he served as chief of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at McLean Hospital and senior medical director for value-based care solutions within the Population Health Management Department at Mass General Brigham. A nationally recognized expert in geriatric psychiatry, Dr. Forester specializes in the care of older adults with depression, bipolar disorder, and the behavioral symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. His research centers on developing innovative treatments for the challenging behavioral symptoms of dementia, including agitation and aggression, encompassing NIA-funded clinical trials. He founded the Geriatric Psychiatry Research Program at McLean Hospital in 2004, co-edited a textbook on bipolar disorder in older adults, and co-authored The Complete Family Guide to Dementia. He is a past president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP), a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a former board member of the Alzheimer’s Association of Massachusetts/New Hampshire.

Dr. Robert Franks is president and CEO of The Baker Center in Boston, Massachusetts, and a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. He is recognized as a leader in the field of children’s mental health and the training and dissemination of best practice programs. Dr. Franks has provided consultation, training, and technical assistance to jurisdictions across the country to improve the quality of mental health care at the policy, systems, and practice levels. Dr. Franks is an expert on child and adolescent development and providing strength-based resources and supports to children and families. Over the course of his career, he has worked at the state and national level. He has also worked with various child-serving systems, including child welfare, behavioral health, pediatrics, juvenile justice and education. His work has helped child and family serving systems become more trauma-informed, and he has worked to systematically improve access to high quality care.

He is a board-certified adult Psychiatrist with a master’s in public health and over 30 years of experience in integrated primary care, home care and office-based practice. He has advocated for mental health parity actively through organized medicine since residency. He is Past President of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society and Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is Representative on the American Medical Association’s Relative Value Update Committee. He is past Chair of the Committee on RBRVS, Coding and Reimbursement of the American Psychiatric Association's and on the Workgroup on Measurement-Based Care. He is on the Massachusetts Medical Society’s Committee on the Quality of Medical Practice and past Chair of the Committee on Interspecialty.

James A. Laughman is President of AmeriHealth Caritas’ full-service behavioral health managed care organization (MCO). Prior to his current appointment, Laughman served as Executive Director of the behavioral health MCO doing business in Pennsylvania, and developed a national behavioral health strategy for the AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies. Additionally, he is President of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Solutions for AmeriHealth Caritas, leading the team that coordinates care and social services for members with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Laughman has devoted the majority of his career to improving the quality of life for people with behavioral, intellectual, or developmental challenges. He is a staunch advocate for funding efforts to address social determinants that impact health and wellness, in particular breaking the cycle of homelessness and increasing access to quality health care. Laughman has also dedicated many years of service to helping combat the opioid epidemic, promoting mental well-being, and reducing stigma associated with behavioral health challenges. He has been responsible for overseeing various initiatives to increase evidence-based treatment aimed at reducing hospital readmissions for people with opioid use disorder. Before joining AmeriHealth Caritas, Laughman spent more than 10 years in private practice to provide counseling services to individuals challenged with behavioral health issues and substance use disorders. This includes his role from 2001 to 2004 as Chief Executive Officer for a psychiatric outpatient clinic. He has been a featured panelist at national conferences offering insights on topics such as the impact and future of telemedicine for behavioral health, the Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act, and the future of behavioral health and sustainability. He has also contributed articles on accessing medical services during the COVID-19 pandemic for U.S News & World Report and acute anxiety and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder for Fierce Healthcare. Laughman earned a master’s degree in social work from Temple University. He serves on the board for Special Olympics Pennsylvania and helps advance its mission promoting inclusivity in all dimensions of life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Laughman also serves on the boards of Norristown State Hospital and the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness.

Dr. Sera Lavelle is a clinical psychologist, healthcare entrepreneur, and AI innovator working at the intersection of behavioral science, technology, and mental healthcare. She is the founder of multiple integrative mental healthcare practices in New York City and AnchorState Labs, an emerging AI company developing a new layer of state intelligence to help AI systems recognize psychological states and adapt their responses in real time. Drawing on her experience as a clinician, former psychology professor, and healthcare executive, Dr. Lavelle focuses on a critical gap in today's AI systems: the difference between knowing what to say and understanding when, how, and whether to say it. Her work explores how state-aware AI can improve psychological safety, preserve human agency, and support more effective behavioral interventions. She is particularly interested in the future of AI governance, the evolving role of autonomous agents in healthcare, and how emerging technologies can responsibly transform mental healthcare delivery.

Jessica Lyons, MS, LMFT, is the Co-Founder and Chief Clinical Officer of Helios Behavioral Health, a Boston-based nonprofit focused on transforming access to behavioral healthcare by expanding the workforce and helping health systems successfully implement and scale the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) across primary care, pediatrics, women's health, and other specialty settings. She brings more than 20 years of clinical, executive, and integrated care experience, with a career focused on bridging the gap between evidence-based models and what works in real-world health care settings. Jessica is a published author and national speaker on integrated behavioral health and workforce development. Her work is driven by a core belief that solving the behavioral health access crisis requires more than adding clinicians: it requires redesigning systems, expanding who can deliver effective care, and building the infrastructure necessary to bring proven models to scale.

I am a national leader and population health scientist dedicated to enhancing well-being outcomes across various sectors, including employer, government, payer, provider, start-up, and education. As the CEO of Vibrant Emotional Health, I focus on breaking the stigma around mental health and improving access to behavioral health care for individuals and communities nationwide. My expertise lies in integrating evidence-based health science into practical business models, enabling stakeholders to implement scalable solutions that foster population-level mental health impact. I am passionate about democratizing mental health care and strive to build a society where emotional wellness is accessible for all. My previous roles include President of Behavioral Health and Mental Well-being at CVS Health and North American Leader of Wellbeing for Willis Towers Watson, where I gained recognition for spearheading Minnesota’s groundbreaking population health care legislation. I hold a doctorate in public administration, a Master of Science in applied health science, and a Bachelor of Science in community health education.

Zachary Rega-Oliveira is the Executive Director of Brockton Behavioral Health Center, part of Boston Medical Center. A psychiatric nurse practitioner and behavioral health leader with more than 20 years of experience, Zachary has overseen inpatient psychiatry, addiction services, and pediatric behavioral health across Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He is passionate about creating safe, supportive environments for both patients and staff, advancing workforce resilience, and strengthening systems of care. He is board certified as both a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and a Nurse Executive, Advanced.

Dr. Mason Turner is the Associate Chief Medical Officer for Behavioral Health for Intermountain Health based in Salt Lake City, UT. His leadership in mental health care focuses on the development and evolution of strategic innovations in behavioral health care delivery that enhance quality of care and clinical excellence and are guided by principles of equity and inclusion of the patient/consumer voice into all aspects of the behavioral health ecosystem. Including integration initiatives which link mental health care and addiction medicine services with both primary and specialty medical care, as well as supporting innovative technological means of reaching patients for treatment of behavioral health conditions, he is also committed to enhancing access for behavioral health care services to all those who need it. Additionally, he has extensive experience in promoting employee health and well-being in a variety of corporate and healthcare sectors. As a clinician, he specializes in addiction medicine, consult-liaison psychiatry and treatment of personality disorders. He has received extensive training in resiliency-and systems-based approaches for improving the mental health and well-being of refugees, asylum seekers and torture survivors. Dr. Turner also serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah in the Division of Medical Education. He previously served as a former Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School, where he taught medical students at all levels the practice of interviewing patients and clinical reasoning skills. He also served as adjunct faculty at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine. Dr. Turner earned his AB degree in psychology from Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, and completed his MD degree at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center/ Parkland Hospital in Dallas, TX. He completed his residency in psychiatry at Harvard University Medical School through Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital, in Boston, MA, with additional training in psychotherapy at the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies at Massachusetts General Hospital and addiction psychiatry at McLean Hospital. He is board certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine through the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

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.

Vaile Wright, PhD, is the inaugural Senior Director for Health Care Innovation at the American Psychological Association, where she leads national efforts to advance the responsible use of technology and data in mental health care. A licensed psychologist and nationally recognized expert, Dr. Wright develops strategies to expand access to care, strengthen quality measurement, and modernize mental health service delivery. She is a trusted voice in federal health policy, with research published in leading peer reviewed journals, and is a frequent contributor to national media. Dr. Wright earned her PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and is licensed to practice psychology in the District of Columbia.