2026 speakers
keynote speakers
decolonizing treatment
LEN PIERRE
Len Pierre is Coast Salish from Katzie (kate-zee) First Nation. Len is an award winning entrepreneur, professor, consultant, TEDx Speaker, social activist, change agent, & traditional knowledge sharer. He specializes in the development of educational programs and services with decolonization and reconciliation as its core values. Len holds a Masters degree in Education from Simon Fraser University focusing on Indigenous curriculum and instructional design. His experience includes Indigenous education and program leadership from various organizations across colonial Canada. He comes to us with an open heart and open mind, and hopes to be received in the same way.
resilience and climate change
ADRIENNE HEINZ, PH.D.
Adrienne Heinz, Ph.D., is a psychologist and clinical research scientist at the VA National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Stanford University School of Medicine. She conducts research to improve treatments for trauma and related struggles and develops digital mental health solutions to democratize access to care across the nation.
As a member of a community repeatedly impacted by mega-fires in Northern California, Dr. Heinz champions educational and advocacy initiatives to increase global awareness and spark innovation in the intersection of climate change, disaster, and mental health. She is a National Science Foundation Climate and Health Scholar, an appointed member of the California Disaster Mental Health Coalition, and regularly serves on volunteer delegations to Maui and Los Angeles to support disaster recovery. Dr. Heinz recently co-founded The After Collective, a non-profit that harnesses psychological science and ethically responsible agentic AI to support disaster survivors.
MARY GAUDREAU HUGHES, LPC
Rev. Mary Gaudreau Hughes is an Oklahoma licensed professional counselor, ordained United Methodist deacon, and nationally known disaster response specialist with more than 30 years' experience working in crisis and disaster response. Rev. Hughes first entered into disaster response work following the 1995 Oklahoma City Murrah Building bombing. Her extensive field experience ranges from low-attention incidents to high profile disasters.
Rev. Hughes serves as the Executive Director for Crisis Care Ministries in Oklahoma. She serves on the National (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) Emotional and Spiritual Care Committee and chair of the Oklahoma VOAD Emotional and Spiritual Care Committee.
A frequent teacher and presenter, she has authored and provided key leadership in developing numerous curricula, resources, webinars, and national operational and ethical guidelines for disaster spiritual and emotional care. She has provided training, consultation, and technical guidance in more than two dozen states and has facilitated the establishment of dozens of regional and local disaster emotional and spiritual care teams.
JOLIE WILLS
Jolie is a cognitive scientist and a leading expert in disaster recovery, with a focus on human resilience, emotional wellbeing, and community support. She has spent more than a decade translating the science of how the mind works under pressure and the complexities of post-disaster life, into practical tools for those navigating the challenges of disaster recovery.
Jolie and her family lived through the Christchurch earthquakes, and she understands firsthand the weight and complexity of a recovery leadership role. She led the psychosocial recovery program for New Zealand Red Cross in the wake of the earthquakes and has since worked with disaster-impacted communities and recovery leaders here in the USA and around the world.
Jolie conducted international field research to practically address the challenge of preventing burnout for mission-driven supporters in the wake of disaster, thanks to a Winston Churchill Fellowship. She is also an Edmund Hillary Fellow, a Leadership New Zealand alumna, and an advising member of the global Counter Terrorism Prevention Network. She is the lead author of New Zealand’s Psychological First Aid Guide and co-author of Leading in Disaster Recovery: A Companion through the Chaos.
reconnection & technology
ADRIAN AGUILERA, PH.D.
Adrian Aguilera, Ph.D., is the Chancellor’s Professor and Associate Dean for Digital Initiatives in the School of Social Welfare. He also holds appointments in Computational Precision Health at UC Berkeley and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UC San Francisco. At UC Berkeley, Dr. Aguilera directs the Digital Health Equity and Access Lab (dHEAL). He is a licensed clinical psychologist and is an expert in cognitive and behavioral (CBT) approaches to treating depression and anxiety.
His research is focused on utilizing mobile phone technologies and data science methods to design, implement and test mental health interventions to address health disparities in low-income and marginalized populations. He partners with community organizations to leverage capacity and conduct research that is relevant to their needs. He has extensive formal training in implementation science, community-based research methods and integrating cultural sensitivity all while developing innovative digital technology-based interventions.
ROBIN AUPPERLE, PH.D.
Dr. Aupperle was born and raised in rural Oklahoma and obtained her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Oklahoma State University. She received her master’s and doctoral education in clinical health psychology at the University of Kansas and completed clinical internship and postdoctoral training at the VA San Diego Healthcare System and University of California - San Diego.
Dr. Aupperle is currently an Associate Professor and Director of Translational Psychotherapy Research at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research and Associate Professor with the School of Community Medicine at the University of Tulsa. She also serves as Director for the Northeastern Oklahoma Psychology Internship Program (NOPIP).
Dr. Aupperle conducts translational neuroscience research with the aim of informing our understanding and optimization of psychotherapy interventions for individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, or trauma-related symptoms. This work includes consideration of how to develop more effective or efficient psychotherapy interventions and how brain imaging may be used to inform personalized medicine approaches or novel treatment strategies.
UMA R. CHATTERJEE, M.S., MHPS
rebuilding community
RUTH S. SHIM, MD, MPH
Ruth Shim, MD, MPH, is the Luke & Grace Kim Professor in Cultural Psychiatry and Vice Chair of Faculty Development in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Shim provides clinical psychiatric care in the Healing and Optimizing Psychotic Experiences (HOPE) Clinic at UC Davis Health. She received an MPH in health policy from Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and an MD from Emory University School of Medicine. She also completed residency training and a fellowship in Community Psychiatry at Emory.
Dr. Shim is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is chair of the board of the Steinberg Institute. She serves on the Editorial Boards of JAMA Psychiatry and American Psychiatric Publishing, and edits two columns in Psychiatric Services: Social Determinants of Mental Health and Racism & Mental Health Equity. She is a regular contributor to JAMA Health Forum, where her articles focus on mental health policy issues. She is co-editor of the books The Social Determinants of Mental Health and Social (In)Justice and Mental Health.
Dr. Shim is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including the Charles Prudhomme Human Rights Award, the UC Davis Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring, and multiple award lectureships, including the John P. McGovern Award Lectureship in the Art and Science of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, the Dr. Harold Jordan Diversity and Inclusion Lecture at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and the James H. Carter, Sr. Memorial Lecture at Duke University. In 2023, she was named a Black Changemaker by the Sacramento Bee.