Over 20-years-ago, I started my career in Human Resources as a temporary HR Assistant for a non-profit hospital, helping to recruit high-quality nurses who were truly passionate about their purpose. During my deployments for the U.S. Air Force, I worked strenuously to guide soldiers through their transition back into civilian life. I even provided death certificates to families, forcing myself to face the full scope of human care. What I witnessed in these experiences is that the people came first, always. If the people come first, you won’t have to build policy - it will build itself. We are not numbers. We are humans, and should to be treated as such. We place policy and “professional etiquette” before transparency and openness. My time spent in the trenches of HR has shown me a few things to be true. It is possible to have an uncomfortable conversation with a colleague and leader - while remaining respectful. It is possible to include those we consciously, or unconsciously, marginalize through purposeful listening and sharing. I’ve been a minister, a horse wrangler, a soldier, an international fashion model, a journalist - a corporate leader. The varied and unconventional paths in my life have forged lessons designed from successes and failures. These journeys have produced my philosophical approach to our connectedness and diversities. I have accepted these lessons so that I might be - just better - by identifying my values, my pillars of self: Kindness; Empathy; Advocacy; Love. The best part about attributes like kindness, empathy, advocacy, and love, is that they are all accessible - no matter who you are, or where you find yourself. But - they can, at times, come with a vulnerable cost. These are all anyone can ask for in an organization. If you find yourself working around people, instead of with them, it might be time to face your authentic self, and make some uncomfortable changes. I am grateful to have been allowed to gain the unconventional wisdom and creativity to help you make the change, peacefully.

As Chief Clinical Officer at Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, Melissa Moody inspires a culture of creativity, accountability, and strength-based services. With over 25 years of clinical and leadership experience, Melissa has maximized organizational efficiencies and clinical outcomes including the implementation of multiple evidence-based programs. This includes the development of both co-located and integrated primary health and behavioral health clinics and trauma-informed treatment practices. Melissa has extensive knowledge in clinical service provision, contract and utilization management, multiple funding models, grant provision, budget development, and strategic planning. Melissa earned her Master’s degree in Clinical-Behavioral Psychology at Eastern Michigan University and Master of Business Administration at Ottawa University.

Nicole Lewis is a Change Agent and People Leader with more than 20 years of cross-industry experience in business transformations, technology implementations, change management, culture assessment and alignment, organization design, performance management, leadership alignment, stakeholder management, strategic communications, and project management. She advises business leaders with a dynamic, flexible, and agile approach to design and implement their organizational choices in alignment with their overall business strategy. She specializes in advising clients on managing large-scale change transformations from conception through deployment. She has a proven track record in helping C-suite leaders operationalize their business strategy, drive revenue growth and increase productivity through strategy articulation and targeted stakeholder engagement. Some of Nicole’s client and industry experience includes the federal government, healthcare, and life sciences, financial services, retail, consumer packaged goods, power and utilities, automotive, food and beverage, and chemicals.

Norman Kim, PhD. Norman is the co-founder and principal of the Institute for Antiracism and Equity in Mental Health and the Deputy Director of Ayana Therapy, an online therapy app focused on providing culturally competent care to marginalized communities. He completed his B.A. at Yale and his Ph.D. in Psychology at UCLA. His research and clinical interests include the social development of people with autism, the developmental course of bipolar disorder, and anxiety disorders.  In conjunction Norman has developed an expertise in psychiatrically complex populations, and his primary areas of interest are the application of a transdiagnostic framework for eating disorders, taking an evolutionary approach to shame and anxiety, and minority mental health. He is a regular national and international speaker, educator, and passionate advocate with a particular focus on minority status and barriers to mental health care in marginalized communities. He is the founding co-chair of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Committee of IAEDP, on the inaugural Behavioral Health Taskforce for the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, the co-chair of the Transcultural SIG for the Academy of Eating Disorders, and serves on numerous advisory boards. Norman was the co-founder of Reasons Eating Disorder Center.