Lindsey Sneed, Vice President of Clinical Excellence at Catalight, has been named a 2025 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 of age or younger, a passionate worker who knows how to put vision into action, and an advocate for patients and older adults, and the committed professionals who ensure their well-being.

Sneed sat down with Behavioral Health Business to share what drew her to the home health & home care industry, the biggest leadership lessons she has learned, her thoughts on the future of home health & home care, and much more. To learn more about the Future Leaders Awards program, visit https://futureleaders.wtwhmedia.com/.

BHB: What drew you to the behavioral health industry?

Sneed: I began working with autistic children in 2007 as a behavior technician for a very traditional applied behavior analysis (ABA) agency. From the start, I knew this was the work I wanted to do for the rest of my career. I was struck by the honesty of the children I worked with and inspired by how quickly meaningful improvements in communication could be achieved.

After completing my first master’s degree, I continued working with the autism community in Napa, California as a case manager at our local regional center. That role gave me insight into the political side of autism services. Around that time, California passed SB946 (2011), which required insurance coverage for behavioral health care for autistic people. Shortly after, Easterseals Bay Area secured a major contract to deliver these services. I immediately sought out a role there, recognizing the potential for innovation in autism care – and I was right.

For the past 13 years, I’ve worked at Catalight (which now includes Easterseals Northern California). I’ve been continually impressed by our organization’s innovation in meeting the needs of autistic and I/DD populations. We’ve grown far beyond the early days of high-hour, paraprofessional-mediated ABA to embrace evidence-based, community-driven approaches. Today, we see the impact of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI), parent-mediated approaches, innovative ABA models, and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) in supporting both skill development and mental health across the lifespan.

Ultimately, it was the autistic individuals I first worked with who drew me into this field, and it’s the ongoing innovation in care – and the profound meaning of walking alongside people across their lives – that has kept me here.

BHB: What’s your biggest leadership lesson learned since starting to serve this industry?

Sneed: Change is hard. And, when you lead that change, not everyone will like you for it. I’ve learned the importance of staying steady, kind and grounded, even in the face of resistance.

One quote from the book, “Leadership on the Line,” captures this perfectly:

“You disturb people when you take unpopular initiatives in community, put provocative new ideas on the table in your organization, question the gap between colleagues’ values and behavior, or ask friends and relatives to face up to tough realities. You risk people’s ire and make yourself vulnerable. Exercising leadership can get you into a lot of trouble.”

For me, that resonates deeply. True leadership often means stepping into uncomfortable spaces, holding steady when others resist and continuing to move forward with integrity and compassion.

BHB: If you could change one thing with an eye toward the future of the behavioral health industry, what would it be?

Sneed: I’d move the behavioral health industry toward value-based care and away from the traditional fee-for-service model. This shift feels especially critical in the context of ABA, where there has long been a belief that more hours automatically lead to better outcomes. However, this assumption is not supported by robust clinical or research evidence.

In a fee-for-service system, the push for high-hour ABA too often aligns with financial incentives rather than a truly person-centered approach. By contrast, a value-based model prioritizes outcomes – both individual and global. If a client genuinely needs more hours to make meaningful progress, then those hours can and should be provided. But we shouldn’t begin with the presumption that every young autistic child requires high-hour ABA. Instead, value-based care allows us to meet each client where they are, tailoring services to their unique needs and ultimately delivering better care because the focus is on outcomes, not just hours.

BHB: In one word, how would you describe the future of behavioral health?

Sneed: Person-centered.

BHB: If you had a crystal ball, what do you think will impact the behavioral health industry now and into 2026?

Sneed: I believe the biggest impact on the behavioral health industry – particularly in the context of ASD and I/DD care – would be a shift away from a “one-size-fits-all” model toward truly individualized care. This means focusing on the specific reasons a patient was referred, rather than assuming we already know what should be addressed. It also means listening closely to patients and centering what matters most to them. I see this shift toward personalized, patient-driven care as a key driver of meaningful outcomes now and into 2026.

BHB: In your opinion, what qualities must all Future Leaders possess?

Sneed: Future leaders in behavioral health must be willing to innovate – even if it means pushing boundaries and disrupting the status quo. Meaningful progress rarely comes from doing things the way they’ve always been done, so leaders must have the courage to explore new approaches and reimagine what care can look like.

At the same time, true leadership isn’t just about bold ideas – it’s about being deeply committed to the people we serve. Future leaders must ground every decision in the best interests of their clients, ensuring that change is always person-centered. And, through it all, they must lead with kindness and compassion, because innovation without humanity will never create lasting impact.

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

Sneed: I would tell myself to stay the course and trust my instincts. Following that guidance has led me down a path filled with opportunities and impact I could never have imagined at the start.