Durand Crosby

Durand Crosby is the Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, and an Adjunct Professor at Oklahoma State University where he teaches undergraduate and graduate students in several courses, including Business Ethics, Organizational Behavior, Nonprofit Fundraising, and Nonprofit Management. He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma, and his Ph.D. in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University.

Dr. Crosby began his professional career working for the San Francisco-based law firm law firm Morrison & Foerster where his practice concentrated on intellectual property, commercial litigation, and employment law. He later worked as a Senior Trial Attorney at Allstate Insurance Company and was also previously the General Counsel for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. He has written and published articles on issues related to organizational behavior, such as employee engagement, commitment, and organizational justice, and well as ethics. He has also served as board member for the Oklahoma Board of Licensed Social Workers.

Heath Holt Hayes

Heath Holt Hayes resides in Oklahoma City and serves as the Chief Communications Officer for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Heath’s responsibilities are focused on leading a cross-functional team engaged with strategic initiatives that include policy implementation, program development, and service delivery, as well as community organizing, governmental affairs, and public relations. Heath is a nationally recognized leader helping others embrace lived experience with mental health and has successfully integrated recovery-oriented, holistic, and person-driven continuums of care at the local, state, and national levels.

In addition, Heath is a member of the American Psychiatric Association’s Policy Advisory Board, Co-Chairs the National Association State Mental Health Program Directors’ Division of Recovery Support Services, and is alumni of the National Council for Behavioral Health’s Addressing Health Disparities Leadership program. Heath received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Central Oklahoma and several graduate degrees from the University of Oklahoma in Human Relations, Administrative Leadership, and a Women’s and Gender Studies.

Nisha Wilson

Nisha Wilson serves as the Chief Clinical Strategy Officer for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS). In this role, Nisha is responsible for the development and implementation of comprehensive approaches to clinical services across the statewide continuum of care. Nisha has served in a variety of roles at ODMHSAS in both the provision of direct care services and program administration, including the oversight of criminal justice initiatives and the operations of state-operated Community Mental Health Centers. She is passionate about bridging the gap between research and practice and is focused on outcomes that deliver quality care and treatment.

Nisha received a Bachelor’s Degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern State University. Nisha is a Licensed Professional Counselor and served as a board member for the Oklahoma State Board of Behavioral Health Licensure from 2014-2022.

Jessica Wisdom

Jessica Wisdom is the Chief Clinical Integration Officer for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS). In that role she oversees all ODMHSAS treatment system acute care hospital functions, system-wide performance improvement and compliance requirements.  She began her career with the department in 2006 as part of the Griffin Memorial Hospital (GMH) treatment staff.  

Jessica began work at GMH as an outpatient mental health therapist and participated on the crisis response team.  She worked on the hospital psychiatric inpatient acute care unit for 15 years as a therapist doing group therapy and psychological testing, and transitioned to managing grants for the facility and implementing best practice initiatives.  Jessica also served as the GMH grievance coordinator and as director of admissions. She was part of the hospital’s executive management team for over a decade.   

Not originally from Oklahoma, Jessica moved here from Washington with a plan to one-day return, however she has never left and has adopted the state as her home.  She was a collegiate soccer player at Tacoma Community College and Eastern Washington University, an experience that taught her the value and importance of team work and an understanding how every role contributes to overall success.

Her key professional interests include inpatient psychiatric care, improving consumer outcomes, person centered trauma informed care, improving efficient processes across the state, and implementing nationally identified best practices in services.  Jessica is passionate about consumer advocacy and protecting the rights of persons receiving care.  

Jessica holds a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Gonzaga University.  She has maintained a private counseling practice since 2018.

Rich Edwards

Rich has worked for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) since 2013 and previously served as the Budget Director for the department.  Mr. Edwards is responsible for planning, directing, and managing the agency’s more than $475 million budget. This includes providing oversight for all the department’s federal grants as well overseeing the operational functions of the finance department.   

Before working at the department Mr. Edwards was a Senior Budget Analyst at the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), where he was responsible for approving and administering budgets totaling over $3 billion in state appropriations for state agencies within the cabinets of Health, Education, and Veterans Affairs.  In that capacity he also served as the Co-Chair of the Finance Workgroup for Governor Fallin’s Task Force on an Oklahoma Health Insurance Exchange.  Mr. Edwards received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma and his Master in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma.

Wendy Larsen-Bond

Wendy works for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) as the Chief of Provider Relations. Wendy is involved with various special projects at the ODMHSAS. One of her most impactful is the Enhanced Tier Payment System, which is a Pay-for-Performance structure of contracting. She enjoys the vast amount of people she gets to interact with, to include co-workers and contracted providers. 

Wendy received her bachelor’s degree from Northwest Nazarene University and completed two graduate level degrees:  a Master of Business Administration from Liberty University and a Master of Arts in Administrative Leadership from the University of Oklahoma. 

Ron Sims

15 + years’ experience specializing in implementing new emergency mental health programs, team building, and strength-based leadership.  Ron provides daily coordination with statewide urgent recovery centers, crisis centers, and mobile crisis teams. Provides training and technical assistance on crisis care in Oklahoma.  Coordinating adult and adolescent care regarding placement to and from certified community behavioral health centers, inpatient facilities, crisis centers and adolescent and adult urgent recovery centers. He also works with decision support on the collection and analyzation of data as well as representing crisis care on the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance abuse (ODMHSAS) leadership team.