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June 2024 Grassroots Fly-In
Speakers and Panelists
Deborah C. Baker, JD is the Director of Legal & Regulatory Policy in the Office of Legal & State Advocacy of the American Psychological Association's Practice Directorate. Since joining APA in 2004, she has worked with state psychological associations, APA leadership and members, regulatory bodies and outside stakeholders on a variety of issues involving scope of practice/licensure including prescriptive authority, telehealth and digital therapeutics, HIPAA compliance and patient data security and other legal and regulatory issues. She works with APA governance groups, such as the Board of Professional Affairs (BPA) on legal/regulatory issues affecting professional practice. She has provided support to several APA task forces, including the current work group tasked with revising the 2013 APA Guidelines on the Practice of Telepsychology as well as past task forces established to review and revise APA policies on prescriptive authority for psychologists, designation of psychopharmacology training programs and the APA Guidelines for the Use of Social Media. She has made numerous presentations addressing telehealth, HIPAA compliance and scope of practice issues. She has also authored numerous articles on telehealth issues as well as co-authored a chapter on interjurisdictional practice – see Campbell, L. F., Millán, F. A., & Martin, J. N. (Eds.). (2018). A telepsychology casebook: Using technology ethically and effectively in your professional practice. Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association.
Grace Banfield is the Legislative Director for Congressman Dan Kildee, who represents Michigan's 8th District and serves on the House Ways & Means and Budget Committees. Grace has been with the Congressman's office since early 2023. Before joining the Congressman's team, she served as a Health Care Policy Specialist at Arnold & Porter, where she represented health-focused clients, including those in the mental health and child welfare spaces. Grace is an alumna of Brown University, where she earned bachelor's degrees in both Public Policy and Economics.
Scott Barstow, MS is a Senior Director of Congressional and Federal Relations for the American Psychological Association and has helped lead the organization’s advocacy work in addressing the drug overdose epidemic. Scott began working on federal mental health policy as a staff member for U.S. Representative Mike Kopetski (OR), spearheading the congressman’s efforts to establish the House Working Group on Mental Illness and Health Issues, and subsequently worked for the National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association and the American Counseling Association.
Amy R. Beck, PhD is a clinical psychologist who earned her doctorate in 2009 from Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, CA. From 2010-2023, she practiced as a pediatric psychologist in the Weight Management Program at the Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. She was the first Black female at that institution promoted to Professor of Pediatrics through the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine in 2022. She is currently serving as a Licensed Psychologist contracting with The Black Girl Doctor, an online therapy practice prioritizing Black professional women. At the state and national levels, she is involved with the Missouri Psychological Association as the Federal Advocacy Coordinator, Legislative Chair, and past Diversity Board Officer, the Society of Pediatric Psychology as the Division Advocacy Partner with APA, and the American Psychological Association, where she is a graduate of the Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology and the PSLC Diversity Delegate Program. She has won several national awards for her advocacy and service.
Cynthia de las Fuentes, PhD is the 2024 President of the American Psychological Association. A former member of the APA Board of Directors and a past chair of the Council Leadership Team, de las Fuentes has been active in APA governance for more than a decade. She was a member of the Board of Educational Affairs, chair of the Committee for Women in Psychology, and currently serves on the Policy and Planning Board. She also served on the APA Council of Representatives representing Division 45, the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race. De las Fuentes is a founding member of the National Latinx Psychological Association and was elected a member and secretary of the Board of Trustees for the Texas Psychological Association. In 2022, she was awarded Psychologist of the Year by the Texas Psychological Association, and in 2019, she received the National Latinx Psychological Association Distinguished Madrina Recognition for Outstanding Accomplishments. She earned a PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1994 and has been licensed by the state of Texas since 1996. From 1993-2007, she was a tenured associate professor of psychology at Our Lady of the Lake University and held numerous leadership positions within the university and department, including training director. Her scholarship focuses on ethics in psychology as well as feminist, multicultural and Latinx psychology.
Molly Gabriel-Champine, PhD graduated with her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Detroit Mercy. Dr. Champine completed her predoctoral internship in clinical health psychology at the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center. Following graduation, she completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in health psychology from the Michigan State University Consortium for Advanced Psychology Training Program through McLaren Flint. Dr. Champine is the current Behavioral Health Academic Program Director for McLaren Flint’s Internal Medicine Residency Program, as well as the Clinical Health Psychology Practicum Site Director for McLaren Flint. She serves as the American Psychological Association’s Federal Advocacy Coordinator for the State of Michigan and is a Member of the Board for the Michigan Psychological Association. Dr. Champine’s professional interests include advocacy efforts related to mental health and the profession of psychology, medical education, curricular development, and Consultation-Liaison psychology.
Stephen Gillaspy, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist with extensive experience integrating psychological services into larger healthcare systems. Dr. Gillaspy is recognized throughout the field of clinical psychology for his hard work and dedication as a Health Psychologist, as well as a vital member of American Psychological Association (APA) staff, serving as the Senior Director of Health and Health Care Financing since August 2019. He has also been long-standing, active representative of APA to the American Medical Association, and currently serves as Advisor to the Relative Value Update Committee (RUC) and Alternate Advisor to the CPT Editorial Panel. Prior to joining APA staff, Dr. Gillaspy was a Professor and Director of Pediatric Psychology in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma, College of Medicine. During his tenure in the Section of General and Community Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC), he served as the Director of Research, the Director Clinical Psychology, and Associate Section Chief. He is also a past President of the Oklahoma Psychological Association (OPA), served as Director of the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline, and has authored or co-authored numerous articles published in scientific journals.
Christopher Kush, as CEO of Soapbox Consulting, has trained hundreds of thousands of citizens from all over the United States to effectively influence Congress, state, and local governments. He has helped design sophisticated key-contact networks, Lobby Days, and grassroots training programs for many national associations, including the American Cancer Society, Human Rights Campaign, Easter Seals, Goodwill International, United Way Worldwide, and the American Wind Energy Association. Mr. Kush is the author of three books on grassroots organizing, including Grassroots Games (ASAE, 2002) and, most recently, The One-Hour Activist (Wiley, 2004). He has appeared on National Public Radio, ABC and Fox-news affiliates, CSPAN’s “Book TV,” and in U.S. News and World Report, The Los Angeles Times, and on the Sirius Satellite Radio Network.
Katherine McGuire, MS is the American Psychological Association’s first Chief Advocacy Officer. With more than 25 years of senior-level policy experience in Congress, the executive branch and the private sector, McGuire was most recently assistant secretary for congressional and intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor. Previously, Katherine served for five years as chief of staff to Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.), advising on science and technology issues. Before that, she spent five years as vice president for government affairs at the Business Software Alliance, a trade group comprising the world’s leading software companies, including Apple and Microsoft. She served almost 18 years in the U.S. Senate, where she held numerous senior leadership roles, including Republican staff director of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. She also previously served as staff director for two subcommittees of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and as legislative director for Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.). Katherine McGuire holds a BS and an MS from the University of Wyoming. She also received a certificate in executive leadership from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Megan Porter is a Legislative Assistant for Congressman Troy Balderson (R-OH). Her issue portfolio includes health, tax, trade, education, and the workforce. Rep. Balderson serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has the largest jurisdiction of any committee in Congress. Rep. Balderson is the founder and co-chair of the Digital Health Caucus and the Pandemic Preparedness Caucus. Megan previously served as a Legislative Assistant for Ronny Jackson, M.D. (R-TX), as the Member Services Assistant for the House Republican Conference chaired by Liz Cheney (R-WY), and as a Staff Assistant for Pete Sessions (R-TX). Megan is from Dallas, Texas, and graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in History and from the Batten School of Public Policy and Leadership.
Stefanie Reeves FASAE, CAE is the Deputy Chief of Public Policy and Engagement with the American Psychological Association. In this role, she manages the team that advances psychological science on the federal level to increase access to mental health services, combat discrimination and promote health equity. Stefanie was previously the Executive Director of the Maryland Psychological Association. Stefanie has an MA in Government from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in Psychology from the George Washington University. A member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), she was named a Fellow of the association in 2020, served on their Board from 2018 - 2021 and is a 2008-2009 DELP Scholar. A native Washingtonian, Stefanie lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Andrew Strickland, JD graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2007. After a brief stint in private practice, Andrew began his advocacy career to enforce the rights of people with serious mental illness and other disabilities—first in 2009 with Disability Rights North Carolina in Raleigh, NC, and later in 2013 with AARP Foundation in Washington, DC. Andrew joined the lobbying staff of the American Psychiatric Association in 2017, and later joined the American Psychological Association in June 2020, where he currently serves as it’s Legislative and Regulatory Officer. Andrew’s current advocacy focus includes telehealth, digital therapeutics, Medicaid, and disability-related policy.
Karen Studwell, JD is the Deputy Chief Advocacy Officer for Strategy and Operations at the American Psychological Association. She designs and leads designated advocacy campaigns to increase the impact of APA’s advocacy to advance the discipline and practice of psychology and increase the application of psychological science across both the public and private sector. She leads APA’s advocacy efforts to expand federal funding for graduate psychology education and training programs and inform elementary, secondary, and higher education policy. Karen previously worked in the APA Science Directorate Government Relations Office advocating for psychological research funding at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. Karen received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ohio University and her law degree from Seattle University.