Autism Care Provider CARD Names New CEO, President

One of the autism care industry’s largest providers has made some major changes to its leadership ranks.

The Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) named Jennifer Webster as its CEO on Wednesday. She replaces Tony Kilgore, who had been in the position since 2019 and resigned for undisclosed reasons. 

Webster has been with CARD since 2018, where she has served as the provider’s chief financial officer. Prior to coming aboard with CARD, Webster was a senior vice president for pharmaceutical and health care supply company McKeeson Corporation and also held a finance position with General Electric.

As CARD’s new CEO, Webster will be responsible for the provider’s full business portfolio, as the company looks to expand into new markets. CARD currently provides services such as applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy at 221 locations in 24 states.

Along with Webster, CARD appointed Alisa Ulrey to be its president.

Ulrey joined CARD last November as its chief operating officer. She had come to CARD from CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), where as a regional vice president she oversaw retail teams of the pharmacy giant in New York state, Pennsylvania, Ohio and across New England.

As CARD’s new president, Ulrey will oversee the company’s daily administrative and operational functions.

“Jennifer and Alisa are accomplished and well-respected industry leaders,” CARD Board Chair David D’Alessandro said in a press release. “Serving in these new roles will further strengthen our commitment to excellence in the Autism industry while building opportunities for growth and enhanced patient care.”

CARD was founded in 1990 by autism researcher Doreen Granpeesheh, who sold a majority stake in the company in 2018 to global investment powerhouse Blackstone Inc. Grapheesheh retained a minority stake following the deal and also gave ownership shares to longtime employees who helped to found the provider.

Granpeesheh, who currently remains with CARD as its executive director, commented on the deal in an interview early last year with Behavioral Health Business.

“I chose Blackstone as the partner that I wanted to go with because everything about Blackstone reminded me of CARD,” Granpeesheh told BHB at the time. “They were the largest and strongest in their field, and I felt like it really went parallel with us.”