Rita M. Gardner is President and CEO of Melmark, a multi-state human service provider with premier private special education schools, professional development, training and research centers. Rita has devoted 35 years to non-profit management in the field of community-based services for children and adults with the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders, acquired brain injuries, neurological disorders and severe challenging behaviors. In addition to leading Melmark’s $95-million operations across all of its divisions, Rita is the co-founder of Melmark New England in Andover, Massachusetts and a co-founder of Melmark Carolinas in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Rita has been recognized by the Commonwealth Institute and Boston Globe, on the organizations’ list of Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts for the past two years (#35 in 2018 and TBA in 2019). She is dedicated to creating opportunities for skills growth and advancement for women in the field of human services. Rita does this through her work with CASP (Council of Autism Service Providers), for which she and Melmark are founding members; her leadership role as a board member of maaps (Massachusetts Association of Approved Private Schools); and her vital role in WIBA (Women in Behavior Analysis), for which Rita volunteers her time and expertise as a mentor.

Rita received her Master of Public Health degree from Boston University’s School of Public Health in the School of Medicine. Most important, she holds the heart of Melmark’s mission at the core of her professional standards. She is dedicated to every child, adult and family served at Melmark, as well as every member of Melmark’s professional staff.

Bethany has worked with children with autism and their families for over 25 years. She joined The New England Center for Children (NECC) 24 years ago and has held a variety of positions, most recently as the Director of Enrollment and Family Support. Founded by Vinnie Strully in 1975, NECC has served thousands of children with autism. NECC is a global leader in the provision of effective, evidence-based educational services for children with autism, serving more than 800 students across the world. With over 45 years of developing programs for children with autism, NECC combined research, year of experience and technology to create an educational prescription for autism, the Autism Curriculum Encyclopedia.

Bethany holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi, a master’s degree in special education from Simmons College and a law degree from The New England School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts.

In 2008, Lani left a 15 year career in logistics and technology related companies, and in 2009 he co-founded Trumpet Behavioral Health, a leading provider of Applied Behavior Analysis and related services to individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Since that time, Lani has been active in the ABA provider community, advocating for access to services and developing and sharing organizational and clinical standards. Lani was a founding board member and the first treasurer of The Council for Autism Service Providers (CASP), a nonprofit association focused on cultivating, sharing, and advocating for provider best practices in autism services. Lani has an undergraduate degree in Economics from Georgetown University and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Anderson received his Ph.D. in Developmental and Child Psychology from the University of Kansas. He has served as Adjunct Assistant Professor at number of colleges and universities including the University of Kansas, Northeastern University, the State University of New York at Buffalo and Buffalo State College. He has published journal articles, book chapters, and one book on the education and treatment of people with autism or other developmental disabilities. Dr. Anderson has served in leadership roles at the state and national level in several professional organizations and a consultant to the NY Department of Health Early Intervention. As a licensed psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst, Dr. Anderson has worked in the autism field for more than 40 years and has served as an expert witness and consultant.

Yvonne Bruinsma founded In STEPPS in 2010. She has more than 25 years of experience in the field. She previously gained extensive experience as the clinical director and clinical manager at several agencies and brought PRT to the Netherlands. She has been an active researcher and continues publishing in the field. Yvonne has written articles in peer-reviewed journals and in 2015, wrote and published a seminal article with other top researchers in autism treatment about Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions such as PRT. Yvonne also has co-written a book about Naturalistic Developmental Behavior Interventions (NDBI) currently in press. She has worked in a variety of settings, including developmental centers, group homes for adults with developmental disabilities, vocational sites, and schools. She earned her master’s in developmental psychology from the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, and her master’s and doctorate in special education, developmental disabilities, from University of California, Santa Barbara. Yvonne was certified as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral (BCBA-D) in 2008.

Dr. Joanne Gerenser is the Executive Director of the Eden II Programs. Eden II is a set of programs that provides educational, vocational, family support and residential services to children and adults on the autism spectrum. She has worked at Eden II for the past 38 years. She received her Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Sciences at the City University of New York Graduate Center.

Joanne teaches courses in autism as well as communication disorders at Temple University and the Penn State World Campus. She has authored several articles and book chapters as well as Co-Editor of the book ABA for SLPs: Interprofessional Collaboration for Autism Support Teams. Joanne has been an invited speaker at conferences in Ireland, Sri Lanka, China, Cyprus, Australia, and Canada.

Joanne has been the past president of the New York State Association for Behavior Analysis as well as the Interagency Council of NY. She was a founding board member of the Council of Autism Service Providers, serving as the first board president. Joanne is the Vice Chair of the Scientific Advisory Council for the Organization for Autism Research.

Joanne has been recognized for her work in autism as well as her work in her local community with numerous awards and honors. These include the Lou Miller Business Leadership Award, the Albert V. Maniscalco Community Service Award, the Autism NJ Distinguished Provider award, to name a few.

Jane Howard, Ph.D., is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and a licensed psychologist. She currently serves as Chief Executive Officer at Therapeutic Pathways and The Behavior Center. Based in California, these organizations provide behavior analytic treatment to pediatric, adolescent, and adult populations diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Dr. Howard is also Professor Emeritus (Psychology) at California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, California, where she taught graduate courses in behavior analysis and child clinical psychology and founded and directed its on-campus pediatric clinic.

Dr. Howard is the co-author of several outcome treatment studies in peer-reviewed journals such as Research in Developmental Disabilities, Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, and The Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. In addition to being a contributor at professional meetings, at the national level, Dr. Howard has been an invited speaker at conferences in China, Russia, South Korea, Italy, and Brazil.

She currently serves on the Board of the Council of Autism Service Providers, has previously been on the Board of Directors for the California Association for Behavior Analysis, and is the Past President of the Board of Directors of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board.

For over 30 years, Steve has served children and adults with autism and other intellectual disabilities. For the past 23 years he has served as CEO of Balance Autism, a nonprofit organization focused entirely on developing innovative solutions for children and adults with autism. At Balance Autism we balance science with imagination, evidence with creativity and research with compassion. Services span the lifespan and address skill development in residential, recreational, social, vocational and other needs. Steve has presented at state, national and international conferences sharing unique and entertaining stories to help families and professionals better serve this special population.

Dr. Daniel Openden became SARRC’s President and CEO in July 2013, after having served as Vice President and Clinical Services Director since 2007. Dr. Openden earned his doctoral degree in special education, disability, and risk studies at UC Santa Barbara. His first pivotal encounter with autism occurred when he was a college senior working as a second-grade aide with a girl with autism in a mainstream classroom. Attending school with her every day (while he took college classes at night), forever changed his perspective about what’s possible for people with ASD: “That experience led me to believe that kids with autism can be educated in the same environments as anybody else and integrated with the rest of the community.” Since then, Dr. Openden has worked extensively with families and children with ASD on both federal and state funded research projects. He has also provided consulting and training for school districts across the country, published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and presented research at regional, state, and national conventions. He credits taking acting lessons as a child and playing in small television roles until he was 14 with giving him the confidence to become a talented presenter and leader. He and his wife Erica have two young sons. The Phoenix Business Journal in 2011 named Dr. Openden one of Phoenix’s “Forty Under 40” up-and-coming community leaders.

John has been working in the fields of Human Services and Educations since 1988. As is common at Amego, he began his career providing direct services. John was named President & CEO of Amego in 2008. John has worked in leadership positions in both the private and public sectors. He holds Masters Degrees in Education and Public Administration. John is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and a Licensed Applied Behavior Analyst. John has held advisory and board positions for numerous professional organizations including past service as President of the Massachusetts Association of Applied Behavior Analysis. John has also served on many Human Rights Committees in various capacities.

Rosswurm earned a MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University and a B.S. degree in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from Purdue University. As an active member in the autism community and as a parent of a young adult with autism, Mary was appointed by Indiana Senator and Speaker of the House Brian Bosma to serve her first two-year term on the Indiana Commission for Autism. In 2007 she was appointed to a second two-year term by State Senator Gary Dillon and completed a third term on the commission in 2011. Her research interests include fad treatments in autism and organizational behavior management. Rosswurm has been with Little Star since 2004, taking 18 months off in 2008-2009 to spend time in Massachusetts to serve as the executive director of a Department of Education-approved school for children with autism, Crossroads School for Children. While in Massachusetts, she served on an insurance mandate board advocating for coverage for applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy.