UNITE RHOP 2019 Presenter Bios

Jerry Adair
Diversion Investigator, United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Mr. Adair began his career in 2006 at the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Officer as a Detention Officer, where he saw the effects of drug abuse and how drugs can ruin lives. In 2017, he was selected to become a Designated Immigration Officer under Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(g) program where he worked to remove convicted criminal undocumented immigrants from the community and return them to their country of origin. In 2012, DI Adair was hired by Immigration and Customs as the Enforcement and Removal Assistant for the Tulsa, Oklahoma Fugitive Operations Team. He also served as Basic Life Support (BLS) Faculty during this time and was responsible for overseeing eight BLS instructors and those that they had trained. In 2014, DI Adair was hired by the Drug Enforcement Administration and successfully completed the Basic Diversion Investigator Class 45. Since graduating the DEA Academy DI Adair successfully completed the DEA’s Basic Emergency Medical Technician Class 5 and serves as the London Resident Office’s tactical medic. DI Adair is also assigned as the Outreach Coordinator for the London Diversion Group and the Kentucky Law Enforcement Coordinator for the National Take Back Initiative (NTBI).

Andrea Begley
Field Representative, Fifth District Congressman Hal Rogers

Michael Clark
Community Liaison, Addiction Recovery Care (ARC)
After 20 years of drug addiction resulting in 10 years in prison, Mr. Clark has obtained sobriety for the last three years and been employed with Addiction Recovery Care as the first community liaison in the state getting individuals into treatment.

Allie Davidson
Family Nurse Practitioner, Hazard ARH
Ms. Davidson is a Board Certified Family Nurse practitioner working in Infectious Disease within Hazard ARH. She and her husband grew up in Perry County, and after being away for college and graduate school, chose to come back to practice and serve their hometown. Ms. Davidson was very fortunate to have grown up in Perry County, and now feels blessed to be back in this area to help other providers take care of the population. Infectious disease practitioners treat multiple disease processes, including Hepatitis. As the rate of Hepatitis C continues to grow, her goal is to raise awareness and increase access to screening and treatment for the people of Perry and surrounding counties.

Nancy Hale
President and Chief Executive Officer, Operation UNITE
Following 34 years as a teacher, career counselor, and administrative coordinator, Ms. Hale retired from public education in 2012 and joined Operation UNITE (Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment and Education) as Co-Program Director for the UNITE Service Corps (AmeriCorps) Program. In February 2015, she was named UNITE’s third President and CEO. Ms. Hale currently serves on the advisory boards for the Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit and SAMHSA Recovery Month Planning Partners, and is a member of the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Substance Abuse Advisory Council. Very involved in her community, Ms. Hale has served as an Executive Board Member and volunteer with the Rockcastle County (KY) UNITE Coalition for the last 15 years and with the Kentucky YMCA Youth Association for 28 years. As a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society, Pi Chapter, Ms. Hale was named “Kentucky Volunteer of the Year” four times (1998, 1999, 2000 and 2004). She received the “Golden Apple Achiever Award” from Ashland Oil, Inc. in 2000 as one of Kentucky’s outstanding educators. In 2001, she was chosen as the “Kentucky YMCA Champion,” and was the first inductee into the Kentucky YMCA Youth Advisor Hall of Fame in 2010. Ms. Hale twice served as President of the Kentucky Association of Professional Educators. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, Master of Arts in Education, and a Rank I in Administration from Eastern Kentucky University. She and her husband, John, also an educator and principal for 47 years, are the parents of two grown sons, one of whom is in long-term recovery from the chronic disease of addiction, and they have four grandchildren.

Catherine Hines
Education and Outreach Coordinator, Kentucky Injury Prevention Research Center (KIPRC)
Ms. Hines is the Education and Outreach Coordinator for the near-time substance use disorder treatment locator, FindHelpNowKy.org, developed by the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center. She holds her Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from Centre College. Ms. Hines currently works with treatment facilities to ensure they update essential information on the website as needed. She also reaches out to new treatment centers in an attempt to onboard them to the website. Since her career interest lies in education, she is working on researching and making connections with universities and colleges throughout the state in an attempt to educate them on the website and its use.

Van Ingram
Executive Director for the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy
Mr. Ingram joined ODCP in November 2004, shortly after it was created with the mission of coordinating Kentucky’s substance abuse efforts in enforcement, treatment, and prevention/education. Van served with the Maysville (KY) Police Department for more than 23 years, the last six as Chief of Police. He is a former President of the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police, and was named “Kentucky Chief of the Year” in 2001. He is a former recipient of the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to law Enforcement, as well as the Melvin Shein Award for distinguished service to Kentucky law enforcement. Mr. Ingram is a certified law enforcement instructor and has trained officers across the state on a variety of topics, including community-oriented policing, case management, and “Kentucky Substance Abuse Issues” for chiefs, sheriffs, and command staff. He is a frequent speaker on a variety of substance abuse issues both in Kentucky and nationally.

Dawn Lang
Treatment Assessment Coordinator and Coalition Coordinator, Operation UNITE
Ms. Lang is a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC). She began her career with UNITE in March 2005 as a Substance Abuse Counselor at South Laurel Middle/High School in Laurel County and later at Jackson County Middle/High School. From 2011-14, Ms. Lang served as Program Manager for UNITE’s Community Transformation Grant through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That grant focused on healthy communities and covered 119 of Kentucky’s 120 counties. Currently, Ms. Lang provides substance abuse assessments for UNITE’s Treatment Voucher Program, serves as the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE) Treatment Access Program Coordinator, as well as a UNITE Coalition Coordinator for six counties. She has more than 30 years experience working in the field of substance abuse. Ms. Lang served as Chair for the Laurel County ASAP (Agency for Substance Abuse Policy) from 2005-08, and Chair for the Jackson/Clay ASAP from 2009-11. She remains active on many state and local committees to address substance abuse concerns in our state. Ms. Lang is a resident of London, KY, with her husband of 32 years, Michael. They have been blessed with two beautiful daughters – Christin, who graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2011 and presently resides in Dallas, Texas, and Cameron, who graduated Paul Mitchell Schools in 2014 and resides in Lexington, KY. As a friend to all animals, the Lang Family has four dogs and a cat.

Dr. Mark W. Linder, PhD., DABCC, FAACC
Laboratory Director, Prescient Medicine
Dr. Linder has more than 15 years experience directing clinical pharmacogenetics laboratories and is the Medical Director of Prescient Medicine Louisville laboratory. Dr. Linder is a fellow of the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry, a member of the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC), and has served on a number of committees for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, the International Association for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology and is a member of the International Federation for Clinical Chemistry Committee on Molecular Diagnostics.

Scott Lockard
Public Health Director, Kentucky River District Health Department
Mr. Lockard has more than 28 years experience in public health. Prior to coming to Kentucky River District, he served as the Director of the Clark County Health Department for 12 years. He is a 2006 graduate of the Kentucky Public Health Leadership Institute and a 2011 graduate of the National Public Health Leadership Institute. He is a past president of the Kentucky Public Health Association and the Kentucky Health Departments Association. Mr. Lockard was the 2010 recipient of the KHDA Trailblazer Award recognizing extraordinary accomplishments of a public health director who had served in that role 5 or fewer years, the 2014 recipient of the KHDA Outstanding Public Health Director of the Year, the 2017 recipient of the KHDA Lifetime Achievement Award, and a 2019 recipient of a University of Kentucky College of Social Work Unsung Hero Award.

Jill Martin
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Kentucky River Regional Supervisor, Mountain Comprehensive Care Center
Since 2009, Ms. Martin has worked in the non-profit sector as both a Mental Health Therapist, specializing in trauma and play therapy, and as an Administrator, focused on program development and service implementation. Being a Southeast Kentucky native, Ms. Martin was brought up to value community mindedness and hope to make an impact in the area that raised her. She continues to be fueled by bringing passionate, evidence-based treatment to children and families in Eastern Kentucky and believes that, that is where healing begins.

Courtney Maynard
Treatment & Referral Specialist, KY HELP Statewide Call Center, Operation UNITE
Ms. Maynard is a graduate from Eastern Kentucky University with a Bachelors in Psychology. She recently began her Master’s program for Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Eastern Kentucky University and is actively working on gaining her certification as an Alcohol and Drug counselor. She is currently a Screening and Referral Specialist for the KY HELP Statewide Call Center coordinated by Operation UNITE. She has worked the last two years within the SWCC helping create its core functions, data base of resources, and helping guide those that call towards treatment modalities that best fit their needs. In her previous roles she acted as a Substance Use Counselor for a facility geared towards the recovery of pregnant women, a family preservation specialist, and a child protective services investigator for the Cabinet of Health and Family Services.

Dr. Beth A. McNally
Director of Laboratory Operations, Prescient Medicine
Dr. McNally has been immersed in the field of personalized medicine for nearly 20 years. She is a passionate scientist and laboratory executive dedicated to advancing initiatives that foster precision medicine. She holds Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, two Master’s degrees (Exercise Physiology and Teaching and Learning), and a Ph.D. in Pathology from The Ohio State University.

Keila Miller
Dean of Community, Workforce & Economic Development, Hazard Community & Technical College (HCTC)
Ms. Miller, a native of eastern Kentucky, is currently working on her Master’s degree in Adult and Higher Education from Morehead State University, where she also earned her undergraduate degree. A graduate of Hazard Community & Technical College, Mrs. Miller has worked within the workforce solutions department throughout her 20 years in several different capacities. After earning her Associate Degree at HCTC, she began her tenure within the Business & Industry Technical Assistance Center (BITAC), an initiative designed to assist individuals start their own small business through entrepreneurial training and small business workshops. Later, she assumed the role of CE/CS Facilitator, Workforce Liaison, and Director of Workforce Solutions. Mrs. Miller can be credited with successful training programs such as Psychiatric Technician Training that won a state JTPA award for 100% completion and job placements. The Lineman Training Program won the Most Outstanding Workforce Development Award from the Community Colleges of Appalachia and has trained over 275 individuals, most of which were laid off from the coal industry. This one program has brought over 43 million dollars into the economy of southeastern Kentucky. Her workforce development expertise also stems from her manufacturing experience that began in 1995, working for Trus Joist MacMillan as a wood procurement accounting clerk and then in 2002 as the Human Resource Manager for American Woodmark.

Terry Minton
Chief Operating Officer, Prescient Medicine
Terry Minton is responsible for developing and executing operational priorities for the Prescient Medicine Louisville office. He has more than 30 years of experience leading operations.

Judge Kevin R. Mullins
Letcher County District Judge
Mr. Mullins was appointed as Letcher District Judge on December 17, 2009, and first elected to that position in November 2010. Since becoming District Judge, he has assisted more than 200 people in obtaining in-patient drug rehabilitation with 160 completions. Judge Mullins created a project to allow inmates the opportunity to be transferred from incarceration to treatment. Recently, the county has transferred 73 inmates to treatment in the last 71 business days.

Ronne Nunley
Chief Business Development Officer, Pathways, Inc.
Ms. Nunley has served as Director of the Pathways Regional Prevention Center, the prevention arm of Pathways, Inc. of Ashland, for more than 17 years. Pathways Regional Prevention Center serves a 10-county region in northeastern Kentucky with comprehensive alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention services. Ms. Nunley also served as Manager for the statewide Prevention Enhancement Site for environmental tobacco strategies for over 10 years. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration from Ohio State University where she received an award for Outstanding Achievement In the College of Business Administration in 1997. She earned her Masters Degree in Public Administration from Marshall University (Huntington, West Virginia). Also in 1997, she was recognized with the YWCA’s Tribute to Women and Industry Award. In 1996, she earned Prevention Professional Certification from the Kentucky Prevention Credentialing Review Board and was elected the 1998 Prevention Professional of the Year. For her outstanding work in the field of prevention, she was also awarded the 1998 Champions Governors Award. In June of 2014, she was awarded the Carter County Drug Free Coalition Community Change Agent Award for her work organizing and securing funding for the community and coalition. As manager for the Tobacco Prevention Enhancement Site, Ms. Nunley provided technical assistance, consultation, and training statewide for communities interested in reducing the negative consequences of tobacco through environmental strategies. She was pivotal in the campaign for a smoke-free ordinance in Ashland, and has assisted a number of cities and counties with their smoke free efforts.

Diane Parker
Consultant and Program Director, Appalachian Regional Healthcare
Ms. Parker is currently the CEO of Parker Consulting, which the home-based in Montana. She is a consultant at Appalachian Regional Healthcare and has held many positions as needed within the facility, including but not limited to, Community Chief Nursing Officer (Beckley and Hazard ARH) as well as Director of Throughput, Director of Cardiac Cath Lab, and Executive Director of Psychiatric Services. Ms. Parker earned a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, N.C., and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Gardner Webb University in Shelby, N.C. Ms. Parker has more than 20 years of extensive healthcare experience in operations management, strategic planning and marketing. She has previously served as CEO of LTACH in Billings Montana and Director of cardiovascular services within a regional not-for-profit healthcare organization that serves 40 counties in Montana and Wyoming. In addition, she has served in various leadership positions within the cardiovascular service line and as chief nursing officer with hospitals in other facilities within New Mexico, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina. She has a wonderful husband in Montana, two beautiful children and 5 grandchildren in North Carolina.

Melissa Quillen
Project Manager, Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP)
For the past eight years, Ms. Quillen has been involved in many aspects of workforce and economic development as a Regional Program Manager with the Office of Employment and Training and more recently with EKCEP. She has worked directly with the populations most in need of training and development as well as employers in the 23-county area served by EKCEP. She currently manages several local and state wide programs focusing on employment for individuals who are recovering from drug addiction.

Captain Jennifer Sandlin
Post Commander, Kentucky State Police Post 13 (Hazard)
Captain Sandlin began her career in law enforcement with the Kentucky State Police in 2003. She has held the rank of Trooper, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain. Captain Sandlin was awarded the Exceptional Valor award in 2010 from the Kentucky Women’s Law Enforcement Network, Citation for Bravery from KSP in 2011, and Leadership Award in 2012 from Kentucky Women’s Law Enforcement Network. She completed the KSP Legacy Leadership Class #1 in 2015. In December 2017, Captain Sandlin graduated the 270th Session of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va. Captain Sandlin is a 1998 graduate of Perry County Central High School and a 2002 graduate of Eastern Kentucky University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Forensic Science. She currently resides in Hazard with her husband, Wes, and their two children, Luke and Brooklynn.

Michael Sartin
Corporate Director of Client Access, Addiction Recovery Care Centers
Mr. Sartin joined Addiction Recovery Care Centers in early 2019 as a lifelong champion of under-served populations with a career in health services spanning more than 25 years. In his directorship capacity, Mr. Sartin oversees the following departments and programs: client intake, client assessment team, courtroom concierge referral system, and community relations/referrals. As a veteran of launching new initiatives, Mr. Sartin strives to meet the needs of all constituents while leading and influencing a positive peer culture with grace and tact. Lead by his belief that empathy and compassion are always best practices, Mr. Sartin works relentlessly to bring hope and healing to those people who are marginalized victims of the addiction crisis in our communities. Mr. Sartin discovered his calling to a life of human service as an 18-year-old college student while providing 24-hour care for children with multiple physical and developmental challenges in the adaptive recreational setting. After his calling to serve others, sparked while working at Easter Seal Camp KYSOC, Mr. Sartin decided to study health sciences. He graduated from Spencerian College in 1998 with a degree in Applied Health Sciences. After years as a healthcare administrator and marketing expert in the skilled rehab sector, Mr. Sartin has enjoyed may facets of career success through cross training and promotion. Those successes pale in comparison to the rewards of working on a team that excels in transforming lives from crisis to career. As a leader in his own church, he understands the value of ARC’s faith based recovery program and is eager to facilitate the very best outcomes for clients and communities. Mr. Sartin lives in Louisville, KY, with his wife, Angela. They share two college-aged children, Emma and Elijah. He also loves his church family, Dodgers baseball, and his loyal four-legged pals, Dodger and Vinny.

Bert Slone
Letcher County Jailer
After working 25 years in law enforcement, Mr. Slone was elected Letcher County Jailer in November 2018. For the 13 years prior, Mr. Slone was a Lieutenant in the Letcher County Sheriff’s Office where he was assigned as the School Resource Officer for Letcher County Public Schools.

Tesa Turner
Grant Manager/Success Coach, Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP)
For the past six years, Ms. Turner has worked as a Career Pathways Coordinator and has engaged both clients and employers while creating sustainable wage Careers for people with disability. She has worked directly with this population as both a Supported Employment Specialist and as a Career Advisor utilizing Individualized Career Planning and relationships with Community Partners throughout the EKCEP Region. Ms. Turner currently manages the Eastern Kentucky Addiction Recovery and Training Program within EKCEP’s 23 counties and serves as a Success Coach for individuals in Letcher, Knott, Perry and Breathitt counties who are currently in treatment and/or recovery.

JoAnn Vanzant
Program Director, Rural Health Opioid Program, Operation UNITE
Ms. Vanzant is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Corrections and Juvenile Justice. She began her career with Operation UNITE as Program Director for the Rural Health Opioid Project (RHOP) in January 2019. Prior to UNITE, Ms. Vanzant was employed nearly seven years by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, with the last five years working as a Child Protection Social Service Worker, investigating abuse and neglect while providing services for families. Ms. Vanzant enjoys staying busy and helping people in her community and is an advocate for recovery in the seven counties she serves in the Kentucky River District. Ms. Vanzant has four beautiful children and a wonderful boyfriend that she spends all her spare time with outside of work. Ms. Vanzant believes that every single person has the capability to do good things, and when we all pull together good things are going to happen.

Dr. Connie G. White, MS,FACOG
Senior Deputy Commissioner, Clinical Affairs, Kentucky Department for Public Health
Dr. White practiced as an OB/GYN physician in Frankfort, KY, for more than 20 years. In her current position at the KDPH, she oversees all of the clinical services provided by the Department throughout the state including chronic disease programs, women’s health services, maternal child health, and development of new programs. She serves as the Principal Investigator of the CDC grant enhancing Coordinated School Health, Diabetes, Heart Disease and Stroke, and Obesity and the CDC grant to develop “Organized approaches to increase Colon Cancer Screening” in Kentucky. Dr. White also serves as co-PI for the “Supporting Mothers to Achieve Recovery through Treatment and Supports (SMARTS) Initiative” grant, administered through SAMHSA by the Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectually Disabilities and KDPH that has piloted Medically Assisted Therapy (Buprenorphine) to pregnant and parenting women through two years after delivery with appropriate supportive services in an urban and Appalachian setting. Dr. White retired from clinical medicine and first worked at KDPH as the Director of the Division of Women’s Health from 2009-10. She then joined the College of Public Health as a Clinical Professor at the University of Kentucky from 2011-2012 in the Department for Health Behavior. In 2012, she returned to KDPH in her current role in the Commissioner’s Office. Dr. White is a graduate of Kentucky Wesleyan College with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. She earned an MS in Toxicology and worked as a researcher in Teratology at the National Center for Toxicological Research in Little Rock, Arkansas. She completed medical school training at UK and an OB/GYN residency at University of Louisville. She is certified in OB/GYN by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. White’s professional activities include the Board of Trustees Frankfort Regional Medical Center (chair 2007-08) and American College of OB/GYN (ACOG).