Jim joined Alaska Behavioral Health as CEO in January 2018. Since joining ACMHS, Jim has focused on re-vamping the employee salary schedule, developing an incentive pay program for all staff, and expanding access to services across the company. Prior to joining ACMHS, Jim was the Executive Director of the Pediatric Mental Health Institute at Children’s Hospital of Colorado in Aurora, CO. As the first director, he led the creation of a strategic plan that resulted in significant expansion of mental health services. Before joining Children’s Colorado, Jim was the Business Director for PsychoSocial Services at Seattle Children’s Hospital. While there Jim led the creation of the Seattle Children’s Autism Center as well as the Partnership Access Line, a Child Psychiatry consultation program for primary care providers serving the States of Washington and Wyoming, and now Alaska as PAL-PAK.  Jim has an BAB in Decision Sciences from Eastern Washington University, an MBA from Indiana University and over 20 years of healthcare leadership experience. Before starting a career in healthcare, Jim served in the U.S Army as a Signal Intelligence Analyst at Field Station Kunia.

Joshua is an expert in trauma-informed care for children, and established the Alaska Child Trauma Center at Alaska Behavioral Health. He serves on the Steering Committee for SAMHSA’s National Child Traumatic Stress Network and is the Principal Investigator for the Military Family Child Trauma Program. He’s also on the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma and has presented at over 100 conferences on childhood trauma, including the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Joshua serves on the Board of Directors for FOCUS and has designed and taught courses on clinical practice with children and adolescents and childhood trauma for the University of Alaska Anchorage. Joshua has published in the journals, Child Welfare 360, Child Maltreatment, the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma and Trauma, Abuse and Violence. He’s been recognized by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce as one of Alaska’s “Top 40 Under 40” and has received a Business Achievement Award for Healthcare from the Anchorage Daily News.

Dr. Wengel is a board certified psychiatrist and is excited about working as part of a team that includes therapy and wrap-around services to fully meet the mental health needs of our clients. Dr. Wengel comes to us from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He and his family are excited to live in a place with snow!.

Originally from New Mexico, Kelsea joined the United States Army and served for four and a half years before being Honorably Discharged in order to pursue a calling in the healthcare industry. Upon completion of a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management, Kelsea joined Mountain Family Health Centers as their Controller in 2017. In 2018, Kelsea joined Memorial Regional Health in Craig, Colorado as their Chief Financial Officer and graduated with her MBA in Finance. Kelsea comes to us from White Mountain Regional Medical Center in Arizona where she was their Chief Financial Officer. Kelsea is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Business Administration.

Pamela Kennedy has worked at Alaska Behavioral Health (AKBH) for 16 years in various positions from providing direct clinical care to process improvement. She is passionate about the work she does to improve the care, quality of services and client experiences at AKBH. She leads the Organizational accreditation process with Council On Accreditation as well as actively works to improve processes that elevate the delivery of quality service at AKBH. Pamela is the HIPAA Privacy Officer for AKBH and is Certified in Healthcare Privacy Compliance (CHPC) through HCCA. She is a Licensed Clinician (LPC) in the State of Alaska, Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) as well as an approved supervisor for those seeking licensure as an LPC. She has been providing supervision for LPC licensure for 8 years. Her clinical focus is on providing person centered, goal directed, trauma informed behavioral health interventions using cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectal behavioral therapy techniques, and sensory integration techniques.

Cheryl Mounts, PHR, SHRM-CP has been with Alaska Behavioral Health since 1994 and has grown in her responsibilities as the organization grew. She attended the University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University before graduating from Brigham Young University – Idaho. She received her Professional in Human Resources certification in 1998 and SHRM-Certified Professional in 2015. She has lived in Anchorage most of her life and loves its natural beauty and wildlife. Although not fond of flying, Cheryl loves to travel with Europe a future destination! Cheryl truly believes our staff are our most valuable asset, and her goal is to ensure their needs are met so they can continue to devote their time to our clients.

Mary Beth Goodman is the Clinic Director at the Cohen Clinic at Alaska Behavioral Health, a role she took on in January 2020. Previously, she was a Clinical Director and Therapist working with military families and veterans her entire clinical career. She is responsible for providing oversight and inspiration to her entire dedicated staff of clinicians, caregivers and warriors. Other responsibilities include developing and monitoring measurable goals for staff, providing oversight of clinical cases, assuring quality of care and maintaining strong relationships with staff, clients, and external referral sources. Mary Beth has a background in administrative and clinical leadership and has worked collaboratively with others to achieve program goals in previous employment. She is dedicated to the Cohen Veterans Network philosophical approach and to supporting the clinical team in her role as clinic director. Her passion for direct work with veterans and military families over the years enhances her ability to be connected to the needs of clients and families and to the staff. She has over 20 years of experience as a clinician working directly with active duty military, veterans, and military family members. She is certified and/or trained in CBT, CPT, EMDR, and PE. Mary Beth received her undergraduate degrees in mathematics, physics, philosophy, and education from The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. She continued her graduate studies in counseling and psychology at Liberty University, in Lynchburg, VA. Mary Beth has been fortunate to have worked to help individuals who struggled with PTSD, trauma, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, grief and loss, divorce, addiction, and sensory integration issues. She works with adults, children and families. Mary Beth has worked in the mental health arena for 24 years and has yet to find a corner where hope does not exist. Her message to you is simple, “Be proud of the decision you made to seek treatment and to be proud of the courage it took to desire change. You are AWESOME. I look forward to meeting you.”

Jessica has worked at Alaska Behavioral Health since 2014, first as Executive Coordinator before moving into Community Relations & Communications. She previously worked for almost 20 years as a public radio reporter and producer in Anchorage, which gave her the opportunity to learn a lot about Alaska and gain an appreciation for the role of mental health in many issues affecting Alaskans. When not at work, she enjoys hiking, skiing, ice skating and generally being outside with her family.

Ksenia joined AKBH as the Executive Coordinator in 2020. In her role, she provides executive support for a wide range of complex high-level administrative duties. She also serves as the liaison to the Board of Directors and works closely with other members of the Senior Leadership team to facilitate communication and sharing of best practices. Ksenia also coordinates and oversees projects and initiatives assigned by the CEO. Ksenia is solely responsible for developing the organization-wide intranet (myAKBH) using Microsoft 365 applications like SharePoint. She has also coordinated the establishment of the AKBH Master Calendar. Among many other projects, Ksenia is responsible for developing the Policy Portal and Policy Lifecycle revamp, restructuring of corporate records, and corporate event planning (Employee Appreciation Party, Strategic Planning and Leadership team retreats, Board Meetings). Ksenia holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology (with a Chemistry and Health Sciences Minor) from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Initially, she pursued medical school, but she changed her career path due to personal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Passionate about evolving organizations and implementing innovative solutions, she thrives most when she can create problem-solving strategies to enhance resilience, adaptability, and operational efficiency. Ksenia also holds various certifications in corporate governance, knowledge management, DevOps, and other business processes. Her expertise extends to cutting-edge technical solutions, earning her recognition in the Microsoft365 community (she was ranked 5th on Leaderboard at the 2023 Microsoft365 Conference). She is nothing but dedicated to moving AKBH to the forefront of technological advancements in knowledge management and employee collaboration. When not working on a new project, Ksenia likes to sew, knit, paint, spend time with her husky named Freud, write music, play video games, read, and learn new skills.