Welcome Reception

Join us Wednesday evening 6PM to 8PM for a welcome dinner! Use this opportunity to settle in, look at the exhibit tables, meet your fellow conference guests, and hear from our wonderful opening speakers.

Opening Keynote, 6:15PM

Lisa Furst, LMSW, MPH

• Pronouns: she/her/hers
• Title: Chief Program Officer
• Bio: Lisa Furst, LMSW, MPH has more than 20 years of experience in the mental health service sector. In her current role, Ms. Furst provides direction and support to Vibrant’s community programs, the H2H Contact Center and the Center for Policy, Advocacy and Education. Her expertise includes program development and implementation, training and technical assistance, quality improvement, fundraising and advocacy. She is an author of and contributor to several books on mental health, with particular expertise on older adult mental health. She also has published articles in Behavioral Health News, Geriatric Medicine, the Journal of Care Management, and other publications, as well as interviewed by national news outlets, such as The New York Times and CNN. Ms. Furst holds a master of social work degree from the Hunter College School of Social Work and a masters of public health degree from the CUNY School of Public Health & Health Policy.

Welcome from the Crisis Emotional Care Team, 6:45PM

Amy Carol Dominguez, MPA

• Pronouns: she/her/hers
• Title: Program Director of the CECT
• Bio: Amy Carol Dominguez serves as the Program Director for the Crisis Emotional Care Team at Vibrant. She has been working in Disaster Mental Health since 2007. Amy’s international development career has taken her around the world to countries like Ethiopia, Liberia, Colombia, Argentina, Canada, and Mexico and she has coordinated international disaster mental health responses in Haiti, Nepal, Puerto Rico, and across the United States. She is a writer and speaker, focusing on best practices in volunteer engagement and leadership. Amy is actively involved in strategic program development for youth in Latin American countries and leads the Board of Directors for the Hands Offering Hope Foundation. She holds her Masters in Public Affairs from Indiana University and splits her time between Mexico and Connecticut with her husband, Adiel, and daughters Sofia and Lucia.

April Naturale, PhD

• Pronouns: she/her/hers
• Title: Assistant Vice President of National Programs
• Bio: April Naturale, PhD, is a traumatic stress specialist with 30 years of experience as a health/mental health care administrator, and a clinician specializing in response to traumatic events. Dr. Naturale directed the New York State mental health response to 9/11, served as project director for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Disaster Technical Assistance Center (SAMHSA DTAC), helped launch the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the BP Oil Spill Distress Helpline and the National Disaster Distress Helpline. She was the architect of the Boston Marathon Bombing Behavioral Health response has been the program consultant for the San Bernardino terror attack and the TN Christmas Day bombing as well as the Las Vegas Harvest Festival, Pulse Nightclub, Parkland, Thousand Oaks, Pittsburgh Tree of Life, Virginia Beach, El Paso and Highland Ranch shooting incidents. For the past five years she has trained Psychologists in the Ukraine Military Service, Humanitarian Aid workers for the European Union and recently helped launch the new European Centre of Expertise for Victims of Terrorism. Dr. Naturale has returned to Vibrant Emotional Health as the AVP of National Crisis and Wellness Services.