Michael Allen brings over 30 years of experience in the non-profit behavioral healthcare industry to the OPEN MINDS team. He currently serves as an Executive Vice President in our consulting practice, where he provides executive oversight and leadership to provider and payer client engagements for OPEN MINDS.

Mr. Allen was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of SummitStone Health Partners, the largest non-profit behavioral health service provider in Larimer County, CO. In this role Mr. Allen was responsible for the planning deployment, communication and accomplishment of SummitStone Health Partners’ overarching corporate strategy. He managed a budget of $80Million and was responsible for more than 750 full time employees and over 12,000 clients annually.

Prior to SummitStone Health Partners, Mr. Allen served as the Vice President of Managed Care & Operations at AspenPointe (now Diversus Health). At AspenPointe he developed and managed a system of accountability for monitoring and evaluating provider performance in seven Colorado counties. He was also responsible for the quality management oversight of all business lines, as well as managing a substance abuse treatment contract with the Colorado Division of Behavioral Health and a child welfare services agreement with El Paso County Department of Human Services.

Previously, Mr. Allen was the Director of Clinical Care for Connect Care, (rebranded as AspenPointe in 2010). In this position Mr. Allen provided supervision to the clinical staff, as well as developing clinical guidelines and services. He was also the project director for the 4th Judicial District Family Reunification Grant and he oversaw care coordination and voucher management functions for Colorado Access to Recovery Grant.

Before Connect Care, Mr. Allen was the Director of Child Welfare Services for Signal Behavioral Health Network, a non-profit that has been managing and expanding substance use prevention, treatment and recovery services in northeast Colorado for over 25 years. Mr. Allen managed a network of Substance Use Disorder treatment providers, programs and services across 35 Colorado counties.

Mr. Allen earned a Bachelor of Arts in Design/Psychology from Brigham Young University, a Masters in Social Work from Case Western Reserve University, and a Masters in Business Administration from Colorado State University. He is a Licensed Social Worker and a Certified Addictions Specialist in Colorado.

Dee DeWitt has extensive experience as a consultant and corporate leader in the healthcare field. Mr. DeWitt brings over 28 years of experience in healthcare finance and operations, M&A, use of technology, strategic planning, and change management in healthcare organizations to OPEN MINDS as a Senior Associate.

Previously, Mr. DeWitt was the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Momentum For Health, a CARF-accredited non-profit behavioral health organization providing services to individuals with a diagnosed serious mental illness (SMI) and/or substance abuse disorder, in San Jose, California. During his tenure, Mr. DeWitt increased outpatient productivity by 25% and contributed to growing revenues from $55 million to a projected $71+ million for the fiscal year of 2023. Mr. DeWitt also oversaw Momentum ‘s pilot with Santa Clara County’s transition to Netsmart Provider Connect and led a successful grant award and implementation of a multi-year paid intern program in partnership with Santa Clara University, San Jose University, and Palo Alto University.

Mr. DeWitt was also the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Veridian Financial Group, a strategic consulting firm specializing in performing long-term, on-site C-level and Director roles, evaluating and implementing financial strategies, strategic operational planning, and development strategies for companies that are poised for significant growth, change, or require turnaround attention, in San Jose, California. During his time at Veridian Financial Group, Mr. DeWitt focused primarily on healthcare, finance, technology, and private equity and coordinated licensing, compliance, and external audits for 42 state licenses, including managed care organizations, managed care plans, Medicare, Medicaid, and service provider organizations.

In addition, Mr. DeWitt served as Chief Financial Officer and a Consultant in Strategic Planning and Finance for Home Recovery – Home Aid, Inc., a private equity-backed, for-profit company that provides personal care and skilled care in 35 locations and in-home care throughout Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. During his time there, Mr. DeWitt was a member of the company’s executive management team, audit team, and License & Compliance team. Mr. DeWitt also served as Chief Financial Officer of Professional Healthcare Resources, Inc., a for-profit holding company comprised of 5 home health companies, 4 hospice companies, and 2 private duty/personal care companies. Mr. DeWitt has also been the Chief Financial and Technology Officer for The Filson, a nationally renowned non-profit archive and research institute, and Director of Strategic Development for Signature Healthcare, LLC, a national private equity-backed for-profit, long-term care company operating over 180 facilities, with 18,000 employees, and over $1 billion in revenues.

Mr. DeWitt also held the positions of Deputy Director of Behavioral Health at the County of Ventura, CA Behavioral Health Services Department, and Director of Finance and Management Services of the Southeastern Arizona Behavioral Health Services (SEABHS), a joint commissioned accredited non-profit.

Mr. DeWitt graduated from the University of Louisville, Kentucky with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and a Master’s in Political Science with a concentration in Economics and Public Policy.

Rick Gutierrez, Ph.D. brings over 20 years of clinical and operational experience to the OPEN MINDS team. His unique blend of experience has allowed him to drive impactful outcomes in the developmental disability and behavioral health fields.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Dr. Gutierrez served as Vice President, Clinical Strategy & Operations at Easterseals Southern California. In this role he oversaw the outpatient Applied Behavior Analysis provider network and Enhanced Care Management in partnership with Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Gutierrez also oversaw START Crisis services, behavioral services for all residential services, negotiation and management of contracts with network providers and payers, and intake and customer service functions including revenue cycle management, benefits and eligibility, and authorization teams. In addition, he developed and monitored the implementation of a strategic plan in collaboration with the Chief Clinical Officer.

Prior to this, Dr. Gutierrez served as Regional Vice President and Director of Subcontracting also at Easterseals Southern California.

Previously, Dr. Gutierrez served as Clinical Administrator at Applied Behavioral Consultants, Inc. where he oversaw all clinical aspects of community-based behavioral health treatment for consumers in Southern California. He also monitored compliance across multiple areas of the organization, negotiated contracts with most major health plans, and led new program development. Before this role, Dr. Gutierrez served as Regional Director and Program Manager at Applied Behavioral Consultants, Inc.

Dr. Gutierrez is a certified Emotional Intelligence (EQ) trainer, licensed psychologist in California, and Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). He has overseen a variety of service settings, including adult day programs, residential programs, and intensive therapy programs like Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), and has worked with individuals across the lifespan who have developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health conditions. He has experience managing projects aimed at enhancing service delivery, ensuring that strategic initiatives align with budgeted funding and contribute to sustainable growth. He has worked across diverse funding models, including those from the Department of Developmental Services, insurance companies, and school districts, while ensuring programs meet accreditation standards. Additionally, he has shared his expertise globally, giving numerous talks on program development, leadership, and employee retention. These combined clinical and operational skills make him a versatile leader capable of improving both care delivery and organizational performance.

He has also served as Program Director, Behavior Consultant, and Case Manager at various organizations. Dr. Gutierrez is an active member of multiple professional organizations.

Dr. Gutierrez earned his Doctorate of Philosophy from Capella University, his Masters of Science from California State University, and his Bachelors of Art from University of California.

Emily Harris brings more than a decade of healthcare marketing experience to the OPEN MINDS team. She is a seasoned marketing executive with extensive knowledge of brand strategy and planning growth strategies.

Ms. Harris was most recently the Chief Marketing Officer for Trusted Provider Network Health (TPN.health), a national, interactive platform of behavioral health professionals. In her role there, she established TPN.health as a national behavioral health platform leader. She also led a team of marketing executives focused on revenue growth. And, Ms. Harris built out critical marketing data dashboards to track marketing impact of strategies by channel.

Prior to TPN.health, Ms. Harris was the Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Growth for Physician’s Choice Marketing Group, a full-service healthcare marketing firm in Dallas. Here she developed marketing strategies for private practice physicians. To achieve their clients’ marketing goals, Ms. Harris expanded direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketing channels to increase patient volume. She also developed key word ranking/search engine optimization strategies to drive content creation for organic online search ranking.

Previously, Ms. Harris was the Director of Brand Marketing and Growth for TeleHealth Solution (now Fident Health), a leading provider of virtual hospitalist telehealth services in Addison, Texas. In this position she developed lead and demand generation strategies that increased revenue growth through marketing qualified leads. She created strategic presentations for C-Suite board meetings to obtain an additional $10 Million in venture capital funding.

Ms. Harris earned both her Bachelor of Business Administration and her Master of Business Administration degrees from California Baptist 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, 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.

Rick Rowley brings over 10 years of experience driving improved performance, quality, and costs of the health care system to OPEN MINDS as a Senior Associate. Mr. Rowley is focused on bringing together health care physicians, provider organizations, health care payers, and data-driven strategies.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Rowley was the Chief Data & Analytics Officer at the State of Colorado, Behavioral Health Administration. In this role, he designed and implemented the Colorado behavioral health performance monitoring system, which focused on the impact of care across privately and publicly funded services including health care, criminal justice, and social services. Mr. Rowley served as the state’s subject matter expert on quality and performance measures for behavioral/mental health services, grants, and contracts worth over $200 million annually. He brokered data-sharing agreements with both public and private organizations and advised senior executives and state leaders on data trends utilizing data visualizations and formal presentations. He spoke at national and state-level conferences focused on improving mental health care.

Previously, Mr. Rowley was the Vice President of Healthcare Strategy and Operations at Redwood Family Care Network, a private equity-backed provider of services for those with severe mental illness disabilities within California, Washington, Nevada, and Arizona. He developed strategies and implemented the use of operational guidelines for physicians, psychiatrists, behavioralists, and social workers caring for residents within our 124 facilities located across the four states. He also served as a merger and acquisition (M&A) consultant on the business development team providing subject matter expert insights on revenue cycle management, quality of services, and the strategic synergies of potential healthcare acquisitions.

Mr. Rowley was also the project manager for the development of a specialty mental health/primary care medical group contracted with Medicare Innovations Value-Based “Primary Care First” program that performed services through a hybrid telehealth and satellite facility environment. He designed and engineered a data warehouse (BigQuery) for the integration and coordination of care between insurance payers and state services.

Prior to that role, Mr. Rowley served as the Vice President of Corporate Wellness at OC Wellness Physicians Group. In this role, Mr. Rowley drove B2B sales for corporate wellness contracts that generated $18 million worth of new business. He provided operational and strategic leadership creating and maximizing payer agreements with Medicare, Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna, and UnitedHealthcare.

Previously, Mr. Rowley served as the Executive Director for Regenerative Orthopedic Clinic, where he turned the company around from a negative EBITDA to $2.5 million. He was responsible for $10.1 million annual P&L grown from $750k in 2011. While working with the CEO, Mr. Rowley oversaw the operations and strategies for the company’s three southern California facilities and 45 employees with support from eight direct reports.

Mr. Rowley earned his Doctorate of Chiropractic degree at Southern California University of Health Sciences. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree at Brigham Young University, majoring in Microbiology with a minor in business management.

Rachel Steinmetz brings broad experience in the health and human service field to the OPEN MINDS team. From operations management to marketing strategy, Ms. Steinmetz has been involved in almost every aspect of management in her career.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Steinmetz was the Director of Operations for Funnel Lab, an internet marketing solutions firm. In that role, she designed revenue generating strategies including lead generation and customer engagement. She also developed their automation solutions, including operationalizing AI-driven text bots to enhance customer interactions. Ms. Steinmetz was also responsible for mulit-channel marketing strategy and strategy implementation including email, SMS, and social media automation.

Previously, Ms. Steinmetz was the Chief Operating Office for Housing for Health, Orange County, a non-profit organization aimed at ending homelessness by addressing physical and mental health needs. As COO, she led all aspects of operations, including human resources, program development, and organizational management. This including implementing measures to enhance organizational efficiency, ensure regulatory compliance across multiple platforms and electronic health records. She also successfully cultivated robust partnerships with external partners.

Before Housing for Health Orange County, Ms. Steinmetz held roles supporting strategic communications and public policy initiatives in the behavioral health space. As Communications Coordinator for Be Well Orange County, she supported a county-wide initiative to improve access to compassionate mental health care through infrastructure investment and cross-sector collaboration. Her responsibilities included public relations, event planning, business development, research, vendor coordination, and managing the organization’s web and social media presence. As Senior Project Manager at Principle Strategic Advisors, a consulting firm focused on public policy and executive leadership, Ms. Steinmetz led multi-stakeholder initiatives, developed detailed project roadmaps, and coordinated efforts across municipalities, healthcare agencies, and community-based organizations.

In addition to her institutional roles, Ms. Steinmetz brings over a decade of experience consulting with nonprofits, small businesses, and mission-driven entrepreneurs. Her expertise includes business operations, digital marketing, workflow automation, and web strategy; working with clients to streamline systems, drive engagement, and scale sustainably.

Ms. Steinmetz earned a Bachelor of Arts in English/Creative Writing from DePaul University.

Raymond “Ray” Wolfe, J.D. brings over 40 years of experience in the health and human services sector to the OPEN MINDS team. Mr. Wolfe currently serves as a Senior Associate, a position in which he utilizes his expertise to successfully lead varying projects for OPEN MINDS. His areas of expertise include financial analysis and management, mergers and acquisitions, performance improvement, and strategic planning.

Before joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Wolfe served in a 22 year tenure with Pittsburgh Mercy Health System in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Most recently, Mr. Wolfe served as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) where he was responsible for oversight of all system operations, strategic planning, and performance management. Under his direction Pittsburgh Mercy achieved over $850K in value-based reimbursement contract quality bonus awards, integrated three organizations through merger/acquisition, and adopted a new performance management program for managers.

Before acting as Pittsburgh Mercy’s COO, Mr. Wolfe served as the organization’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and was responsible for the development of internal costing methodologies, contract rate negotiations, and financial forecasting activities. In addition, he coordinated an integrated care program with local partner hospitals to develop a series of diversion and respite programs, as well as, specialized primary care, integrated care management and high utilizer teams, while maintaining 15 straight years profitability.

Mr. Wolfe was promoted to CFO after serving as the Director of Fiscal and Information Security/Compliance for the health system. In this role, he was responsible for managing the transition of service contracts from fee-for-service (FFS), leading all compliance activities, and implementing a next generation electronic health record (EHR) system.

Prior to his time at Pittsburgh Mercy Health System, Mr. Wolfe served as Chief Fiscal Officer with the Summit Center for Human Development in Clarksburg, West Virginia, where he was responsible for reporting and budgeting functions and preparing Summit Center’s programs for FFS billing.

Previously, Mr. Wolfe served in billing and collections for two Pennsylvania-based hospitals. First, as an Accounts Receivables Manager for Brownsville General Hospital in Brownsville, PA, where he managed the accounting and billing system transition systems. Later as a Patient Account Manager for St. Francis Medical Center in Pittsburgh, PA, where he improved collections to hit 95% rate through the implementation of new billing software and department reorganization.

Prior to working in the health and human services market, Mr. Wolfe spent five years practicing as a Lawyer with at Law Offices of Arch A. Moore in Moundsville, WV. In this role he provided general legal practice, created and established bylaws for multiple corporation, and handled West Virginia licensing of first vision insurance plan.

Mr. Wolfe earned his Juris Doctor from the West Virginia University School of Law in Morgantown, WV and his Bachelor’s degree with a focus in Political Science and Sociology from West Liberty University, in Wheeling, WV, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.