 Mariel Fernandez, MS, BCBA, LBA
Mariel began working in behavior analysis in 2001 and earned her master’s degree in applied behavior analysis at Auburn University in 2004. She has extensive experience in clinical operations, compliance, and regulatory/public policy. Prior to joining CASP, Mariel led the Regulatory Affairs department at Blue Sprig Pediatrics, focusing on advocacy, public policy, and legislative initiatives across 19 states. Mariel is the presiding officer of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) Behavior Analyst Advisory Board, Former Chair of the Metro-Care Services Public Advisory Committee, and Advisor to the Texas Association of Behavior Analysis Public Policy Group (TxABA PPG). She also serves as a subject matter expert for the Policy Council on Children and Families. Mariel also serves as CASP's primary representative to the ABA Coding Coalition. Mariel was honored with the Blue Sprig CEO Award in 2020 for her work preparing the organization to shift to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was the recipient of the 2022 Autism Law Summit "Implementation Award" with the rest of the TxABA PPG Officers, and the 2026 Association of Professional Behavior Analysts Gerald Shook Award recognizing her advocacy work to enhance the value of professional credentials in the practice of applied behavior analysis.
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 Jenna Minton, JD
Jenna is licensed to practice law in Maryland and is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association. In her early career she spent 5 years in the metro DC area, working for medical non-profits learning the ins and outs of the regulatory process. Following that, she spent 10 years as the Director of Operations and Interim Executive Director for a large non-profit ABA organization in Michigan. In 2013, she founded Minton Healthcare Strategies, now known as Proactive Strategies, LLC (PS) who specializes in guiding clients through the development of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Codes which are used to report medical, surgical, diagnostic, and therapeutic procedures. We then support the subsequent valuation of those codes through the American Medical Association's process (the AMA Relative Update Committee). We also have extensive experience navigating the Medicare and Medicaid regulatory processes. Clients we work with include: applied behavior analysis provider organizations and coalitions, medical specialty societies, and virtual technology companies. Team Proactive provides assistance in the following areas: claims processing, audit, accreditation, contracting, and strategic / succession planning. In 2022, we grew our team to five, and in 2025, we've added our first clinically trained team member! We look forward to what the future holds.
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 Kristen Koba-Burdt, BCBA, LBA, CDP
Kristen Koba-Burdt, BCBA, LBA, CDP (she/her) is a licensed and Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP®). She serves as the Director of Clinical Operations for BAYADA, a not-for-profit organization. Whether in an official capacity or of her own volition, Kristen has tirelessly dedicated numerous hours to advocacy and advancement of the field of applied behavior analysis. In 2024, Kristen was awarded the Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP) Mission Award and in 2019 she received the Outstanding Sustained Advocacy Award at the Autism Law Summit for her efforts related to consumer access to services, supporting families in rural and underserved areas, and focusing on increasing provider knowledge related to autism policy. Additionally, she serves on the ABA Coding Coalition as a representative for CASP. She is devoted to supporting underserved communities to access ABA, creating career opportunities for a diverse workforce, and continuing to learn and grow to enhance equity and inclusion in all facets of her work.
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 Ashley Fuhrman, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Ashley Fuhrman, Ph.D., BCBA-D is the Senior Vice President of Research and Innovation at BlueSprig Pediatrics, where she leads the development, implementation, and expansion of specialty service offerings and leverages and contributes to cutting-edge research and emerging technologies to monitor and improve patient outcomes. She earned an M.A. in applied behavior analysis from the University of Nebraska Omaha, and her Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where she later worked before joining the Rutgers University Center for Autism Research, Education, and Services. She has presented and published extensively on ABA interventions for people with autism and severe behavior disorders, currently serves as an Associate Editor for Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, and has served on the board of editors for several behavior-analytic journals.
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 Julie Kornack
Julie Kornack has spent more than a decade increasing access to mental health services by shaping legislation, regulation, and policy at the federal, state, and local levels. Her work includes identifying, developing, and supporting federal and state initiatives that safeguard and increase access to autism services and supports, as well as analyzing the impact of federal and state legislative and regulatory developments on access to mental health services. She is co-author of The Diversity Is in the Details: Unintentional Language Discrimination in the Practice of Applied Behavior Analysis and A Response to Papatola and Lustig’s Paper on Navigating a Managed Care Peer Review: Guidance for Clinicians Using Applied Behavior Analysis in the Treatment of Individuals on the Autism Spectrum, published in Behavior Analysis in Practice, and is the author of The History, Pitfalls, and Promise of Licensure in the Field of Behavior Analysis, published in Handbook of Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Her analysis of the economics of autism treatment was published in the Handbook of Early Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders: Research, Policy, and Practice, and she was an editor of Evidence-Based Treatment for Children with Autism: The CARD Model. She is the ABAI representative on the ABA Billing Codes Commission. She co-founded and serves on the board of directors of the National Coalition for Access to Autism Services and serves on multiple state and national advisory councils, committees, and task forces. She has helped develop disability health policy for state and federal political campaigns, and she is a co-author of the Democratic National Committee’s Disability Primer for Democratic Candidates.
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