The Future Leaders Awards program is brought to you by Behavioral Health Business, a WTWH Media health care brand. The program is designed to recognize up-and-coming industry members who are shaping the next decade of behavioral health, home health, hospice, senior housing and skilled nursing care. To see this year’s Future Leaders, visit https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.

Sentari Minor, vice president of strategy and chief of staff at EvolvedMD, has been named a 2024 Future Leader by Behavioral Health Business.

To become a Future Leader, an individual is nominated by their peers. The candidate must be a high-performing employee who is 40-years-old or younger, a passionate worker who knows how to put vision into action, and an advocate for those in need of behavioral health services, along with the committed professionals who work across this important corner of health care.

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, EvolvedMD partners with primary care providers to create psychiatric collaborative care management (CoCM) models. The partnerships included EvolvedMD placing behavioral health specialists onsite in practices.

Minor, who joined EvolvedMD in 2020 after time as an executive consultant, spoke with BHB about the velocity of change in the behavioral health industry, and what Minor would like to see from providers in the future, among other topics. Highlights from the conversation are below, edited for length and clarity.

BHB: What drew you to this industry?

Minor: I’ve been in therapy since the mid-20s. And I’ve been a very vocal proponent and champion for men in mental health – men to access mental health, and then especially Black men.

This is my first foray into health care, but once I had the opportunity to be in behavioral health, it became something I was passionate about.

And then our founder, Erik Osland, I’ve known him for a number of years prior to EvolvedMD, and so when he pitched me on joining the team, I immediately jumped at it. I’ve been at EvolvedMD a little over four years and it’s been great. I’ve learned so much about the industry. I’m learning stuff every day, but mostly I was drawn to it because of my own personal experience.

What is the biggest lesson learned since starting to work in this industry?

I’ve learned that it takes a while for things to change, and that’s just not something I ever experienced. And so I learned that change takes a long time, and that while innovation is championed in the health care industry, it’s not immediately rewarded.

You can be disruptive, but you have to really articulate your value around disruption. Then, you have to be patient and know that your idea and approach is going to be the idea or approach that wins.

What did you do before entering the behavioral health industry?

Prior to EvolvedMD, I ran a CEO consortium, working with purposeful CEOs and building out their social and political impact strategies. Erik, our founder, was one of the CEOs that I worked with. And then during COVID, we sat down for literally happy hour, and he was like, “Hey, we’re expanding EvolvedMD.”

And at that time there were maybe seven employees. And he said, “I need someone to rebuild the brand and also build our first strategic plan.” And I was like, “Sure.”

If you could change one thing with an eye towards the future of behavioral health care, what would that be?

Behavioral health has to become more collaborative, more outcomes focused.

Unfortunately, in traditional behavioral health, people are doing great work but it’s not quantified. And I think for us to actually make a significant impact in the sector and the world, we have to start quantifying if people are getting better.

And then, because we’re in integrated health, we have to be able to marry both the physical and the behavioral health because those two things impact each other so much.

And so the future has to be with those two silos working together as one, and those silos creating some good outcomes.

What do you foresee as being different about the behavioral health industry looking ahead to 2025?

I think the sector is starting to understand that integration is the best way to scale and that we must collaborate to ensure the best outcome. What we want at EvolvedMD is definitely going to happen, and that’s going to be a big differentiator.

Also, this might be a little taboo, but virtual therapy and virtual services have a place in the market. We know that in rural areas and small towns that makes sense. But for true impact to happen, I think behavioral health has to happen more in-person than virtual.

In a word, how would you describe the future of behavioral health?

Collaborative.

What qualities must all Future Leaders possess?

I believe all future leaders must possess adaptability. Things are going to happen. As slow moving as health care is, it’s also very fast-paced, and you have to be open to accepting new ideas, new strategies and adapting.

If you could give advice to yourself looking back to your first day in the industry, what would it be and why?

Observe and learn. Take a step back and understand the people, why they do what they do, and how to best support them.

It was enlightening and rewarding to see our clinicians are so passionate about the work that they do. How do we best support them, while also being outcomes-based and evidence driven?

So, understand what makes people tick, and then build out a strategy to make sure those people feel best.

To learn more about the Future Leaders program, visit: https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.