Leadership
Heidi Baskfield
Executive Director
It all started with a college internship at Rock the Vote. “I caught the bug, I knew I was only going to do meaningful work that brought about social change going forward and that meant going to law school.” Getting her start as a young attorney defending children and youth with disabilities, Heidi has been championing the needs of kids with mental and behavioral health needs for over two decades. “I understood something very early on in my career: we don’t support youth and families with mental health needs, we penalize them. That understanding has been further re-enforced throughout my professional career.” Heidi worked as an attorney with both the Colorado Protection and Advocacy Agency for People with Disabilities but also with the federal government, as an attorney with the U.S. Office of Civil Rights.
Baskfield took her legal experience and blended it with politics and policy, serving as a legislative liaison to former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. “This experience was invaluable because this where I really learned how state government operates and what is required to bring about effective and long-term change.”
After serving under Governor Ritter, Baskfield left to head up government affairs for Children’s Hospital Colorado, a role that expanded over a decade where she ended up serving as the Vice President of Population Health and Advocacy. “It is hard to articulate the impact this experience in particular had on me. I was afforded the chance to work side by side with some our nation’s best and brightest when it comes to serving children and youth. Even then, where every second of every day is spent working to improve the lives of children and their families was a struggle to address the overwhelming needs of kids and families with mental health needs.”
Baskfield brings this unique collection of diverse experiences in law, policy, politics and healthcare to advance the work of Speak Our Minds. “This is a time like none other so far. We have captured the attention of not just the country, but the world. People understand this current crisis, is the issue of a generation. It feels daunting, but we have the solutions and we will advance them and bring about powerful change that ends this crisis, saving the lives of an entire generation of children and youth. Who wouldn’t want to do that? And don’t you want to join us?”
Matt cook
Board Director
Matthew Cook is CEO of Children’s Hospital Association (CHA), representing over 200 children’s hospitals and health systems as the leading national advocates for children’s health.
Cook is an established health care industry executive with decades of unparalleled leadership which includes leadership roles at children’s hospitals and maternal health programs. Cook also previously served as a member of CHA’s Board of Trustees and Public Policy Committees.
Prior to joining CHA, Cook served as president of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals and senior vice president of Children’s Services at UCSF Health, where he oversaw strategic direction, operations, and clinical services for all pediatric services in both Oakland and San Francisco, as well as serving on the UCSF Health leadership team.
Cook previously served as president of Riley Children’s Healthand chief strategy officer for Indiana University Health and served as executive vice president of strategic planning and business development at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Cook was also a principal at the Chartis Group, a health care consulting firm based in Chicago.
Cook earned a Master of Business Administration from New York University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Leslie Hulvershorn
Board Director
Dr. Leslie Hulvershorn is a child and adolescent and addiction psychiatrist, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the IU School of Medicine, the largest medical school in the country and Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Riley Hospital for Children. Dr. Hulvershorn is an active researcher and clinician and has authored numerous publications on various topics in child psychiatry. She has received multiple grants to study the neurobiological basis of addiction risk in children.
She is the director for Indiana’s Department of Child Services Psychotropic Medication Consultation Program and serves as the consulting Medical Director for Indiana’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction.
Nick Lashutka
Board Director
Nick Lashutka joined the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association (OCHA) as President & CEO in 2007 and has over 30 years of public policy experience working in the private sector and state government.
OCHA serves as the statewide advocacy leader for children focused on achieving the vision of making Ohio the best place for child health. The organization advocates in partnership with children’s hospitals and their patients, families, and communities for continuous child health improvement with a focus on bringing solutions to complex public policy challenges at both the state & federal levels.
In 2009, Nick was instrumental in the creation of Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS), the largest pediatric patient/employee safety network in the world with over 140 member children’s hospitals. Nick has served as President of SPS since the network began. Achievements of SPS include over 23,000 children being spared serious harm and over $447 million in health care costs saved.
Nick is a 1990 graduate of the College of William and Mary in Virginia, where he studied both government and history. Nick and his wife, Megan, are the parents of four sons – Kuyper, Duke, Ike, and Drake – and live in Upper Arlington, Ohio.
Beverly Razon
Board Director
Beverly Razon is a strategic leader that brings an independent voice, a unique perspective, and 10+ years of experience in reputation and relationship management to both corporate and non-profit boards. Since joining the COPIC leadership team in 2014, the company has grown its footprint 500%, tripled its customers, seen a 25% growth in total assets and maintained staff retention at 90%. Through this ambitious growth, Beverly has helped focus the company goals and band on its mission, internally and externally.
She built the Public Affairs department at COPIC which oversees the legislative and regulatory strategy across its regional market. In her 13 years with the company, she has grown the department from traditional government affairs to a wholistic external relations department; supporting company strategy, aligning corporate social responsibility efforts to elevate brand and purpose, strengthening community engagements and ROI, as well as establishing a more focused, proactive funding approach for COPIC’s Medical Foundation.
Convene, collaborate, coordinate, and communicate are the four “Cs” that Beverly activates to unify coalitions and build broad support to achieve successful outcomes. She attributes her legislative success to her ability to clarify and articulate complex subjects, build connections, and empower others toward common goals.
In addition to overseeing COPIC’s corporate political strategy across its markets, she also oversees the corporate social responsibility strategy, which encompasses its community engagement and oversight of its corporate foundation. She has supervised the implementation of measurable KPIs and development of goals for its corporate social responsibility operations. COPIC continues to proudly meet its total community investment pledge of 2% of its revenue into the communities it serves each year.
As a senior leader at COPIC Beverly presents strategies and updates to the board of directors quarterly and has experience in the strategic management process from identifying purpose to goal setting to development of accountability metrics to messaging and implementation. She received a master’s in business with an emphasis in strategic management which she has utilized to support plans that achieve growth while ensuring culture and staff retention. As a board director she has contributed to organizations experiencing restructuring, embarking on strategic planning, transitioning due to executive turnover, and improving processes for decision making and accountability.
Melissa I. Sachs
Board Director
Melissa is Link Logistics’ chief communications officer, responsible for corporate reputation, brand equity, employee engagement, marketing and elevating the company’s narrative across all audiences. She oversees the firm’s integrated Communications and Marketing function, which works together to strengthen Link Logistics’ relationships with its customers and communities, articulate and amplify business strategy across the organization, and market Link’s portfolio of last-mile industrial real estate and warehouse properties across the U.S. Melissa also leads the firm’s digital and internal communications programs and serves as a strategic advisor to senior leadership on a variety of critical topics.
Prior to joining Link Logistics in 2021, Melissa served as vice president, head of global corporate communications at Prologis. In this role, she was responsible for the company’s reputation and visibility globally, leading strategic planning and execution of corporate and global external and internal communications initiatives. Previously, Melissa was vice president, corporate communications and investor relations, at DCT Industrial Trust, where she built and led corporate communications, investor relations, marketing and branding. In addition, Melissa spent more than five years with International Flavors & Fragrances in New York, where she managed a global communications function. She worked for several boutique PR agencies earlier in her career.
Melissa received a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications (Broadcast Journalism) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from The University of Miami, as well as a Master of Science in Strategic Communication from Columbia University. Along with her son, she is a member of the Marin Chapter of the National League of Young Men, Inc. which invests in young men’s personal development and leadership skills. She is also a member of the Chief professional network of women executives. Previously she served two terms on the board of Special Olympics Colorado.
Melissa and her husband, Dan, live with their two sons in Marin County, California, where they enjoy exploring the outdoors and watching their sporty boys play in games and tournaments.
Trudy Fountain-James
Board Director
As Atos’ General Counsel, Trudy leads legal affairs as well as participating in Atos’ businesses and growth strategies. She is developing and empowering a cohesive, collaborative, diverse and agile organization embodying the highest standards of legal practice while contributing to the organization’s strategic goals and objectives. Trudy rejoined Atos five years ago as the Global Negotiations Leader after a four-year sabbatical to care for her father who was diagnosed with Dementia and her son who was diagnosed with Autism. She led and closed billions of dollars in strategic deals and helped create strategic global partnerships with some of the largest technology industry leaders. Trudy spent ten previous years with ACS/Xerox as SVP Deputy Global General Counsel/Head of Software and Business Management, where she led a 250+ person global department and was the primary corporate officer-in-charge of global commercial legal, software and contracts management.
Prior to ACS/Xerox, Trudy was the Lead Negotiator and Contracts Manager for Northrup Grumman Ship Systems, managing a 15+ person team. During her tenure at NGSS she led the negotiations of the largest multi-billion-dollar Navy contract at that time. That position followed a successful term as SVP of Legal and Regulatory Affairs for Park Place Entertainment (currently named Caesars), managing 125+ attorneys, contract managers, paralegals, and regulatory officers.
She is a prolific advocate for the neurodivergent population, including youth. Having seven of her nine children with a neurodiverse gift she has learned the challenges of fighting for the level playing field for the “neurogifted”. She learned to conquer and excel with neurodiversity herself having three (3), Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and Dyscalculia. She has learned to make those neurogifts her Super Powers and encourages others to follow her example.
She resides in Dallas with her husband, nine children and rescue dogs. When not working, she likes to run, does Lagree fitness, and is a Pilates instructor. She enjoys and supports the arts as a member of the National Arts Club in New York.
Christina Suh MD MPH
General Pediatrician
Christina Suh MD MPH is a general pediatrician who spent her career delivering primary care to low-income children. She serves as Director of Clinical Content at Phreesia where she provides clinical expertise in the areas of social determinants of health, primary care, vulnerable populations, and the Patient Activation Measure (PAM®). She has spent her career at the Department of Pediatrics at University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Colorado where she has health services research experience in immunization delivery and obesity prevention. She has extensive experience working in the areas of social determinants of health, particularly food insecurity, and co-located behavioral health in primary care. In 2022, Dr.Suh was appointed by Governor Jared Polis to the Colorado Board of Health, which serves as an advisory body to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Dr.Suh has an MD from Indiana University School of Medicine, completed her pediatrics residency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and has an MPH from the Colorado School of Public Health.
Laurel K. Leslie, MD, MPH
Executive Director
Laurel K. Leslie, MD, MPH is the Executive Director of the Mental and Behavioral Health Institute (MBHI) at Cincinnati Children’s. The MBHI was started in 2023 and encompasses three divisions at Cincinnati Children’: Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Practice, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics. Dr. Leslie is also a Research Professor-Affiliated, with the Department of Pediatrics at University of Cincinnati.
Dr. Leslie has had a long-standing commitment to improving mental, behavioral, and developmental health care delivery for children, from infancy through early adulthood, through clinical care, research, and system change efforts.