Leading pediatric and family behavioral health provider builds leadership bench to drive innovation in care delivery and expand access to mental health care
SAN MATEO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Brightline, the leading family behavioral health solution supporting kids, teens, and their families, today announced the appointment of Rebecca Kavoussi as chief operating officer, Nick James as chief growth and financial officer, and Noel Miller as chief people officer.
The executive appointments support Brightline’s rapid growth. Since its founding in 2019, Brightline has served hundreds of thousands of children, teens, and their families. In a little over one year, Brightline launched four clinics in New York and grew its public-sector business, BrightLife Kids, by 165% in California.
Kavoussi, who co-founded Nest Health, a whole-family, value-based care provider, has deep experience in integrated behavioral health for high-risk populations. She helped scale Landmark Health’s in-home care model across 25 markets before its acquisition by Optum. Kavoussi also led global clinical operations for Babylon Health, and served in strategy and development roles at some of the country’s leading integrated health systems and health plans.
James brings more than 15 years of healthcare leadership experience spanning commercial and Medicaid populations, with a focus on behavioral health. Most recently, he served as chief financial and development officer at Autism Care Partners. Prior to that, James was a founding member of Humana’s Medicaid and Dual-Eligible Division, helping build and scale the business during the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. He later led payer- and public-sector growth initiatives across multiple markets at Carelon, and focused on serving medically and behaviorally complex populations at Commonwealth Care Alliance. As chief growth and financial officer, James will help drive Brightline’s next phase of sustainable growth, strategic expansion, and health plan partnerships.
Noel, who most recently served as executive vice president and chief of staff to the CEO at Docebo, has nearly 20 years of experience supporting operations and people teams in high-growth technology organizations. Noel was an early member of Docebo’s operations and people teams as it scaled from 40 employees to a global, publicly traded organization. She also helped build the people function at Lightship, a fully distributed clinical-trials delivery company. As chief people officer, Noel will strategically build Brightline’s talent and people engines to identify, recruit, hire, grow, and develop the talent its patients and their families depend on.
“Every child and family deserves access to high-quality, flexible mental health care, not just those with the means or geography to access that care,” said Kari O’Rourke, CEO of Brightline. “Welcoming Rebecca, Nick, and Noel to our leadership team is a direct investment into that mission, and they each bring expertise, passion, and advocacy to help Brightline scale and ensure that family centered, outcomes-driven health care is never out of reach for those families who need it. Their leadership will also help us meet growing demand from payers and public-sector partners seeking proven, evidence-based behavioral health solutions that improve outcomes for children and families.”
Over the past year, Brightline has continued to strengthen its leadership team by adding child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Nikhil Nadkarni as chief medical officer, and expanding Elizabeth Hart’s role to chief customer officer. As chief medical officer, Dr. Nadkarni helps guide Brightline’s clinical strategy and care model, bringing extensive experience in pediatric behavioral health. Prior to joining Brightline, he held medical director roles at Willow Health and Little Otter, and completed his adult psychiatry residency and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior. In addition to leading marketing, Hart is now responsible for Brightline’s member contact center and network development team, helping ensure families can easily access care and navigate the patient journey from initial outreach through treatment.
Brightline offers a flexible hybrid care model that combines in-person and virtual care in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island, and Westchester, New York. Brightline’s team of therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists provides outcomes-based care, including psychological testing and treatment for complex mental health needs.
BrightLife Kids is a free, statewide, online behavioral health platform designed specifically for families with children 0-12 in California. Developed as part of California’s Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, BrightLife Kids does not require insurance, referrals, or immigration status, and delivers free, high-quality behavioral health coaching to kids and families across all of California’s 58 counties.
About Brightline
Brightline is an award-winning therapy and psychiatry practice that delivers pediatric, teen, and parental mental health care to families and kids up to age 18 who live in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Washington. Brightline’s in-person and online outpatient services include diagnostic evaluation, therapy, psychiatry, medication management, and psychological testing to assess and treat symptoms of autism, learning differences, executive functioning, school readiness, and giftedness. Brightline also offers BrightLife Kids (a CalHOPE program) in partnership with the state of California and the Department of Health Care Services. BrightLife Kids provides free, online access to live behavioral health coaching, tools, and resources to California families and kids up to age 12. Founded in 2019, Brightline is headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., and backed by leading investors, such as Boston Children’s Hospital, Northwell Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Google Ventures, KKR, and Oak HC/FT. For more information, visit brightline.com.
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