Our Leadership

Tim Brown

Chair

Tim is currently working under contracts with area Law Enforcement to provide clinical supervision to Peer Support Teams and counseling services for employees and family members in area criminal justice agencies. He retired in March, 2020 as an Assistant Chief at the Loveland Police Department. Tim previously served on the SummitStone Board of Directors from 2012-2017 and has returned for a second round of service to SummitStone Health Partners and the greater Larimer County community. Tim was in Law Enforcement service for more than 38 years and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Northwestern University’s School for Police Staff and Command, and the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business Public Safety Leadership Program. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Albuquerque and a Master’s Degree in Agency Counseling from the University of Northern Colorado.

Carol Rieser

Vice Chair

Carol recently retired from Cheyenne Regional Medical Center as the Administrator of Specialty Services. Her nursing career spanned from being at the bedside, to teaching undergraduate nursing students, to hospital administration. She graduated from Metropolitan State University with a Bachelor’s degree in nursing and from the University of Northern Colorado with a Master’s degree in Nursing, specializing in education, chronic illness, and transcultural nursing.

Chris Otto

Treasurer

Chris is a partner in the audit service area of Plante Moran and the office managing partner of the Fort Collins Office. He has been involved in public accounting since 1990. He has extensive experience providing auditing, accounting and business advisory services to closely held businesses and public companies in a variety of industries including real estate, high-tech and software, manufacturing, distribution, construction and professional services. Chris also has extensive experience in forensic accounting and fraud prevention and is a Certified Fraud Examiner. Chris volunteers with many non-profit organizations and he is a certified human capital coach.

Carolyn Reed

Secretary

A native of Wellington, Carolyn is a small business owner with deep roots in Larimer County. She has been the proprietor of local favorite Silver Mine Subs for more than a decade. Her diverse skills and experience have led her to serve on the boards for the Wyoming and Colorado restaurant associations, the Teamsters Local 17 and most recently, the Poudre School District board. She has also volunteered with Foster Parent organizations, the United States Air Force Family Services and Larimer County Court Appointed Special Advocates. Her interest in serving on the SummitStone Board stems from a strong desire to make a difference in the community, particularly in behavioral health, which has never garnered as much importance and necessity as now.

Karen Morgan

Past Chair

Karen is a marketing and management consultant with more than 30 years experience in marketing and communications, strategic business planning, sales, product development, and human resources as an executive in both the credit union and health care industries. She also serves as a board member for The Success Foundation, secretary of the board for Fort Collins Foothills Rotary, and serves as a consumer advocate member of the steering committee for the Mental Health Substance Use Alliance of Larimer County. Karen is passionate about changing the dialogue and educating communities about the importance of a comprehensive, and integrated approach to providing behavioral health treatment. She is a graduate of Colorado State University with a B.A. in Speech and Theatre Arts with concentrations in public relations and broadcasting. Karen has served on the SummitStone board since 2016.

Isaiah Chavez

Isaiah Chavez is an Environmental Engineering student at Colorado State University. After graduation he hopes to work with Engineers Without Borders, where he is already a member through the CSU chapter. Isaiah’s desire to improve the world around him keeps him focused in academics as well as active in volunteer work. He is a member of CSU’s Rotaract Club, which is the young adult branch of Rotary International, a fellowship organization dedicated to developing leadership skills through service projects. Isaiah is motivated to serve on the SummitStone Board of Directors to bring his generation’s perspective to the table regarding mental health and addiction issues.

Jeff Vanhook

Jeffrey Vanhook is a Patrol Lieutenant with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. He has been employed with that agency since 1992. During his career he has held many different positions; Detention Deputy, Patrol Deputy, Narcotics Detective, General Criminal Investigations Detective, Patrol Corporal, Patrol Sergeant, Training Sergeant and Patrol Lieutenant. Jeff has been a Field Training Officer for the agency since 1998 and was the agency Field Training Program (FTP) Coordinator for 12 years. Jeff is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) trainer in the Emergency Vehicle Operation Course (EVOC) program and is the program administrator. Jeff is part of Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Curriculum Committee and previously served on Colorado POST academy committee. Jeff is a Crisis Intervention Team (C.I.T.) member and an Executive Board member of Colorado National Association of Field Training Officer (NAFTO).

Rich Cohan

Rich Cohan has over 22 years of healthcare ethics, compliance and privacy experience in senior leadership positions across three health systems. Most recently Rich served as Vice President for Compliance, Privacy and Information Security for one of the largest non-profit health systems in the US. Prior to finding his calling to ethics and compliance, Rich served as the chief financial executive in a community mental health center leading IT, HR and HIM in addition to revenue cycle and finance functions. Before moving into the healthcare space, Rich spent over 12 years in the telecommunications industry, focused on marketing and sales strategy.

Nick Christensen

Nick Christensen is Vice President of Real Estate for the Colorado State University Research Foundation where he leads portfolio management and delivery of services. Previously, Nick co-founded Chrisland Real Estate Companies, an affiliation of commercial brokerage, development and related investment entities, and prior to that was an executive with McWhinney. Nick also served in an appointed role as Executive Officer on the command staff of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. He was subsequently appointed by the Larimer County Commissioners to the Behavioral Health Policy Council and has served in leadership capacities on several non-profit boards.

Heather Buoniconti

Heather is the Chief Development Officer for the Food Bank for Larimer County, a position she’s held since 2005. Prior to joining the Food Bank, Heather served as the Executive/Development Director and National Trainer for the American Cancer Society. She has more than 24 years of nonprofit experience and specializes in financial and budgetary management, fundraising, event planning, community relations, strategic planning, and board development.

Nate Budd

Nate is an experienced fundraising and business development strategist with several multi-million-dollar successes spanning the start-up, natural resources, infrastructure, non-profit and higher education sectors. Nate brings to the board his experiences from over six years as a philanthropic development professional at a major public University and a decade of navigating the legal, financial and regulatory hurdles of water infrastructure permitting and development in the Western US.

Michael Allen

Chief Executive Officer

Michael Allen has over 25 years of experience in the behavioral health field as both a clinician and an administrator.  For the past 7 years, Michael has served as Chief Executive Officer for SummitStone Health Partners, the largest provider of mental health and addiction services in Larimer County, serving nearly 10,000 clients annually in offices located throughout Fort Collins, Loveland and Estes Park. Michael holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Certified Addiction Specialist (CAS).

Tina McCrory

Chief Financial Officer

Tina McCrory joins the SummitStone Health Partners team bringing over 35 years of experience in advancing Behavioral Health, Substance Use Disorder (SUD), and Physical Health organizations. Tina has an MBA/Finance (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Colorado State University. Her nearly 25-year experience as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations Officer, and Chief Strategy Officer for Behavioral Health Organizations (BHOs) and Regional Accountable Entities (RAEs) has allowed her to develop close relationships with the State of Colorado and leaders, and provided her with avenues to demonstrate her passion for quality and accessible health care via expanding programs and securing increased funding. In every role, Tina diligently reviewed and enhanced the financials of each organization in collaboration with all staff for the success of the organizations, including solid Board presentations, and passing all audits and regulatory requirements. Her work has covered 60 of the 64 counties in Colorado, including Larimer County. Tina’s efforts have significantly increased revenue for Behavioral Health Centers through recent payment reform, and knowledge from her time as Chief Business Development Officer for the Behavioral Health Center in Pueblo by understanding the entire system. Tina thrives on being involved with and supporting communities by participating in events and valuing contributions from everyone she meets. Tremendous goals have been achieved through the integration of behavioral health, physical health, and substance use disorder (SUD), and Tina has been a leader in these efforts through a variety of projects, such as the adaptation of SUD to the Medicaid benefit, Crisis Programs, State Coding Committee, performance improvement, and whole-person care.    

Cyndi Dodds

Chief Clinical Officer

Cyndi has a great passion for behavioral health services. She is the Chief Clinical Officer at SummitStone Health Partners and previously served as the Executive Director for the Namaqua Center in Loveland. Her work has included more than two decades with behavioral health organizations in Northern Colorado. She began her career as a direct service provider at Island Grove Regional Treatment Center in Greeley and then at Larimer County Mental Health Center. She moved into senior leader roles at the Namaqua Center and SummitStone. Cyndi is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the State of Colorado. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Alliant University in San Diego and a Master of Science in Human Development and Family Studies from Colorado State University. Cyndi serves on the Larimer County Interagency Oversight Group, Colorado Behavior Healthcare Council Health Care Operations Committee and Colorado State University School of Social Work Advisory Board. She has served on the CBHC Conference Committee, CBHC Clinical Outcomes Subcommittee, the Colorado Association of Children and Family Agencies Public Policy Committee, CAFCA Board of Directors, and the Larimer County Federation for Families Board of Directors.

Tegan Camden

Chief Operations Officer

Tegan Camden is a licensed professional counselor who has served in the field of community behavioral health for more than fifteen years. She graduated with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Psychology from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and holds a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in community counseling from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Tegan joined SummitStone in 2018. She has extensive experience in leading nonprofit clinical programs and has served in executive leadership for more than ten years. She has provided leadership to numerous organizations, teams and committees aimed at improving mental health service delivery methods for children and families. Tegan actively contributes to the well-being of her community in numerous ways, including serving as a member of the Loveland Human Services Commission as well as holding a board seat for the United Way of Larimer County. Tegan was also a recipient of the 40 Under Forty award for Northern Colorado in 2021 and works to steward the development of new and emerging leaders in our county.

Dr. Lesley Brooks

Longview Executive Director/Medical Director SummitStone Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Lesley Brooks serves as the Chief of Addiction Medicine for SummitStone Health Partners and as the Assistant Medical Director for the North Colorado Health Alliance in northern Colorado. Dr. Brooks, a board-certified family physician, has practiced full-scope family medicine including prenatal care, chronic pain, and substance use disorder/addiction in northern Colorado for more than a decade. Since her transition to SummitStone Health Partners in 2020, she specializes in substance use and mental health. As the Chief of Addiction Medicine at SummitStone, Dr. Brooks leads the design, development and implementation of Larimer County’s Behavioral Health Services facility, which is set to be open in 2023.

John McKay

Chief Culture Officer

John’s career has focused on promoting equitable outcomes for marginalized communities. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Bethel College, Kansas, and his master’s in Clinical Social Work from the University of Kansas. He also holds a Principal Licensure in Educational Leadership from the University of Phoenix. His work in education brought him to recognize the increasing need for advocacy in health equity for diverse identities and cultures, and how viewing our varied communities’ needs through a behavioral healthcare lens can improve outcomes for everyone. John’s extensive experience in team building, systems analysis, and data-driven decision making will help our organization to further our vision of being a place where a diverse mix of talented professionals can accomplish their best work to fulfill our mission of providing unsurpassed behavioral healthcare to our community.

Nathan Groathouse

Director of Marketing and Development

Nathan Groathouse has nearly 18 years of brand marketing and business development experience within the translational medicine and biomedical industries. He joins SummitStone Health Partners after serving as the Executive Director of Brand Marketing and Business Development for a national engineering firm. Previously, Nathan was the Co-Director of a biopharmaceutical manufacturing organization at Colorado State University. In addition to an MBA from CSU, Nathan holds a Master of Science degree with a concentration in Infectious Disease from the University of Wyoming.

Stephanie Madsen-Pixler

Director of Community Based Services

Stephanie Madsen-Pixler, MSW, LCSW, CAC II, has worked for SummitStone since 1995, moving from case manager to therapist and supervisor of numerous programs across the spectrum of services SummitStone offers. She has been instrumental in the development of the Sister Mary Alice Murphy Center for Hope, a resource center for people who are homeless, as well as our peer services and ACT teams. Stephanie represents SummitStone with Outreach Fort Collins and the Zero Suicide model.

Cali Thole

Director of Forensic Services

Cali Thole is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist as well as a Licensed Addictions Counselor with nearly 20 years of experience in behavioral health. As Director of Forensic Services, Cali oversees all of SummitStone’s jail-based services, working closely with Larimer County Community Corrections and the police departments in Fort Collins, Loveland and Estes Park. Cali’s experience focuses on developing and implementing progressive programs using best practices to reduce recidivism and provide alternatives to jail for those in the criminal justice system who also have a mental illness. Cali earned her Master’s in Human Development and Family Studies from Colorado State University and her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Clarke College.

Andrea Strayer

Director of Outpatient Services

Andrea Strayer, LCSW, LAC, is the Director of Outpatient Services for SummitStone Health Partners. Andrea holds her Master of Social Work from the University of Washington. She began her work with SummitStone in 2013, starting as an Access Clinician Team Lead and progressively moving into leadership roles. Andrea has a strong track record of leading teams to accomplish clinical and organizational goals with an eye for innovation and collaborative solutions to provide excellence in client care and experience with a culturally affirming lens.

Cassie Damato

Director of Acute Services

Cassie Damato joined SummitStone Health Partners in 2010, specializing in trauma-informed practices including Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy TF-CBT, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Trauma Informed Art Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). She advanced into a leadership role at SummitStone with Crisis Services programming, supervising walk-in and mobile services. Cassie has played an integral leadership role in establishing interdependent, co-owned programs with community partners such as UCHealth, Foothills Gateway and multiple police and EMS services through several Co-Responder programs in the Acute Services Division of SHP. She is a member of the Larimer County Zero Suicide workgroup and serves on the steering committee for the Imagine Zero Coalition. She is a member of the Crisis Counseling and Resilience Enhancement (CARE) team for community disaster response. Cassie also serves on the state Mental Health Advisory Board for Service Standards and Regulations appointed by Governor Jared Polis. Cassie is adept at developing and growing partnerships that further advance SummitStone’s mission to create a seamless behavioral health service system in Larimer County.

Kyle Trinkner

Director of Information Technology

Kyle joined SummitStone’s Information Technology team in 2020 as a System Administrator with previous technical experience in the manufacturing and consulting industries. Kyle has a strong background in system administration, network management and helpdesk support in addition to an extensive range of software and information technology platforms. He studied Computer Information Systems at Colorado State University for both his bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Kyle brings a focus on bridging technical solutions with business needs while ensuring friendly customer service.

Jerry Howell

Director of Facilities

Jerry Howell has extensive experience serving as a leader in safety services including the direction of policy, budget and organizational goals. He comes to us from the Poudre Fire Authority where he was most recently a Division Chief/Fire Marshal. Throughout his career, Jerry has been dedicated to creating, fostering and facilitating community partnerships to best serve the public need. He holds his master’s degree from Oklahoma State University and his bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University. In addition to his years of public service, Jerry has published numerous articles on safety and fire prevention mitigation, as well as serving on editorial committees to develop and produce training materials for other public safety professionals.

Bethany Engblom

Associate Medical Director

Bethany Engblom, D.O., serves as Associate Medical Director of bed-based care for SummitStone Health Partners. She is a board-certified family medicine physician who has practiced broad spectrum care since 2009. She comes to SummitStone after working as the Medical Director for Sunrise Community Health Center where she developed a passion for understanding the neurobiology of addiction and helping clients treat and manage this disease. Bethany has an extensive history of volunteer work throughout her career. She will primarily serve clients at the Longview Acute Care facility, which is set to open in 2023.

Laurie Good

Director of Finance

Laurie Good, MBA, CPA, has more than 25 years of experience in Finance and Operations where she has consistently achieved positive bottom-line results. Having led strategies to increase revenue, control costs, improve business processes and make profitable investment decisions, Laurie is a resourceful agent of change, skilled at enhancing corporate value. She comes to SummitStone after managing a $60 million loan portfolio with Mountain Valley Bank. Prior to that she was responsible for all the financial elements for Steamboat ski area, the AAA Four Diamond Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel and Condominiums, and Steamboat Central Reservations® including accounting, central cashiering, auditing, pre-sold services, fulfillment, financial reporting, and strategic planning. She also served as division CFO for Qwest Global Services in Denver, was the director of business operations for Nextel Communications, and prior to that was a financial analyst for Storage Technology Corporation. Good started her career as a certified public accountant with Arthur Andersen & Company. She is a graduate of Idaho State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a Master’s of Science in Finance from the University of Colorado. Laurie is actively involved in the community, serving as a board member or volunteer for Northwest Colorado Health, United Way, Arts Council, Hospice, Tax Policy Advisory Board and the Economic Development Council.

Brian Ferrans

Deputy Executive Director

Brian Ferrans (he/him) has an undergraduate degree in Sociology/Criminal Justice and a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice/Healthcare. He has spent the past twelve years working on improving our systems of care for individuals with mental health and substance use disorders across our local behavioral health, criminal justice, and most recently our fire/EMS systems. Brian comes to us from Poudre Fire Authority, where he served as their Community Risk Reduction & Outreach Manager. Brian also served as the Health District’s Director of Community Impact until 2021, working on key behavioral health projects across Larimer County (ex. Solutions to Behavioral Health Service Gaps in Larimer County report, MAT in Jail, CO-SLAW, Changing Minds, Rethinking Addiction etc.). He served as the facilitator and lead of the Mental Health Substance Use (MHSU) Alliance of Larimer County and is a current Co-Lead for the Northern Colorado Collaborative for Addiction and Recovery Support (NOCO-CAReS) committee. During the pandemic, Brian helped to develop and run the COVID-19 Isolation/Quarantine site for people experiencing homelessness in Larimer County as part of the Health District’s COVID response. He currently serves as a member on the Larimer County Behavioral Health Policy Advisory Council (BHPAC) and as a board member of Outreach Ft. Collins. Brian also served six years in the Colorado Army National Guard.

Jenn Anderson

Director of Talent Management

Jenn has extensive experience in Human Resources, specifically in the healthcare field. Most recently, she served in Human Resources leadership roles for in large healthcare systems along the Front Range, and she previously provided consultative services to systems across the country, while working for an organization specializing in employee and physician engagement and retention. Jenn earned her Master’s degree in Career Counseling from Colorado State University and her BA in Psychology from the University of Vermont. Jenn’s areas of strength include talent mapping and development, employee relations, strategic workforce planning and succession planning.

Jaime Engel

Director of Total Rewards

Jaime has years of experience in Human Resources and comes to SummitStone after a long career with Poudre School District. Jaime earned her bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Colorado State University. She holds a Senior Certified Professional credential (SHRM-SCP), as well as the Senior Professional in Human Resources certification (SPHR). She has extensive experience in compensation, recruitment, hiring and retention, employee relations and employment law compliance.

Kathy Sisneros

Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Kathy’s background is in higher education, with the majority of her career spent supporting and leading diversity, equity, inclusion and justice efforts at the unit, department and institutional level. She has a strong understanding of structural ecosystems and the ability to identify important questions, engage key stakeholders, and identify potential solutions. Kathy has experience creating and delivering a wide range of DEIJ content and experience with multicultural organizational development/change, collaboration, and creating a supportive and safe environment for valuable learning to occur. She had dedicated her career to helping organizations become more inclusive and dedicated to working with and advocating for historically minoritized groups.

Renee Brooks

Director of Information Systems, Data & Business Intelligence

Renee has more than 25 years of experience in Information Technology/Information Systems particularly with Federally Qualified Health Centers. She specializes in project management methodologies, metrics reporting, process oversight and data analytics. Renee’s diverse experience also includes expanding organizational operations, overseeing grant awards and implementing disaster recovery plans for IT. Renee earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri. She comes to SummitStone after serving as Chief Information Officer for CareSTL Health in Saint Louis.

Laurie Johnson

Director of Administrative Operations & Revenue Cycle Management

Laurie has broad expertise in healthcare leadership applying innovative practices and a team-focused approach toward meeting organizational goals. She holds two bachelor’s degrees from Cornell College, one in business and economics, and one in psychology. Prior to joining SummitStone, Laurie served as the Director of Revenue Cycle Services for Estes Park Health where she helped to establish a Medicaid Certified Application Assistance Site (CAAS). She is dedicated to open and transparent communications with clients to ensure the highest standards of care. Laurie is pleased to again apply her expertise in the behavioral healthcare field where she began her healthcare career at Centennial Peaks in Louisville.

Rebecca Helfand

Director of Quality

Dr. Rebecca Helfand has extensive experience working for non-profit organizations and overseeing behavioral health projects on the local, state and federal level. Prior to joining SummitStone, Becky was the senior director of Scientific Knowledge and Expertise with the American Psychological Association where she focused on increasing the technical precision of the information shared by APA. Becky earned her Ph.D. in Psychology with a minor in Statistics from Baylor University and earned a Public Leadership Credential from Harvard Kennedy School. Her bachelor’s degree is in Psychology and her master’s degree is in Neuroscience, also from Baylor University.

Kristi Shattuck

Director of Nursing

Kristi comes to SummitStone with more than 15 years of nursing and leadership experience in a variety of nursing specialty areas. Her work experience includes serving as a director at Longmont United Hospital and the Medical Center of Aurora, in addition to developing clinical education and onboarding programs for nurses.

 Throughout her career she has focused on the professional development of nurses and fostering cultures that support growth and the advancement of the practice of nursing. Kristi is passionate about growing leaders and is a true advocate for nursing, as proven through interprofessional collaboration, project and change management, and staff development.

Kristi earned her bachelor’s in nursing from the University of Phoenix and her master’s degree in nursing leadership and management from Western Governors University. She is a Board-Certified Nurse Executive through the American Nurses Credentialling Center. 

Sarah Bystrom

Director of Compliance

Sarah has a diverse background with over a decade of experience in the nonprofit healthcare space and spent her last few years in the software industry where she learned how to better leverage new and emerging technologies. She started her career as a direct care staff and worked through the various facets of operations which led to a passion for compliance. Sarah pulls on her operations experience to ensure compliance is approachable, effective and encompassing of the various stakeholders’ needs.