Jody Levison-Johnson is a licensed clinical social worker with nearly 30 years of experience in the field of human services.  

Jody is a longstanding champion for systems change that results in the ability for individuals and communities to thrive. She is deeply committed to advancing policy that ensures equitable access to quality services and supports. Previously, Jody served as the Assistant Vice President of Practice Improvement at the National Council for Behavioral Health, where she oversaw the organization’s consulting portfolio and a large, privately funded adolescent mental health initiative.  

She has also served as the Chief Clinical Officer for a multi-state children’s care management organization, as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Louisiana Office of Behavioral Health, and as the Vice President of Coordinated Care Services, Inc. (CCSI), a non-profit management and consulting services organization where she was responsible for all of CCSI’s service quality, system development, and evaluation activities including oversight of the county administered children’s mental health system. Her experiences leading system reform efforts across the country prompted her interest in the environmental contexts that surround deep change in social and public systems.  

Jody holds a Master of Social Work degree from Syracuse University and a Master of Arts and PhD in Leadership and Change from Antioch University.

Jim Carr is the Chief Financial Officer at Social Current. Jim previously held Senior Financial Officer positions most recently at Cerami & Associates, Inc. and Crossborder Exchange Corporation. He has an extensive background in financial planning and control, accounting and reporting, treasury, financial analysis, and systems development. Jim graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University with a BS in Accounting and an MBA in Finance. 

Arabella Pérez is a licensed clinical social worker of 30 years and holds an MSW and DSW from Tulane University.

Prior to joining Social Current, Dr. Pérez was the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the National Association of Social Work, a social work professor at the University of New England, a system of care director from 2005-2015, leading three SAMHSA grants for the state of Maine and the founder and CEO of a non-profit, THRIVE, a technical assistance center for trauma and culturally informed care. Additionally, she is a graduate of the Hanley Leadership program and was named a teaching scholar on justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion creating curricula and toolkit guides for the Maine Educational System.

Dr. Pérez is a certified cultural competency educator and has consulted with states and communities on the development of behavioral health systems through federal site monitoring and coaching for SAMHSA. Her private consultation practice has focused on leadership and trauma informed organizational change management in the private and not for profit sectors.

She is a sought-out presenter and has published on the topic of trauma informed care and culturally empowering education. She is the proud daughter of Cuban and Puerto Rican parents, and in her spare time can be found salsa dancing with her husband.

Stephen brings more than 15 years of experience, driving revenue growth across both the nonprofit and corporate sectors. Most recently, he served as Executive Director of The Common Good, where he led the organization from startup to sustainable in just four years. During his tenure, he built a diversified fundraising strategy engaging major donors, foundations, corporations, and government partners, while expanding programs to serve more than 5,000 children and families each year.

Prior to his nonprofit leadership, Stephen spent nearly a decade at adidas, where he led large-scale national sales portfolios. Working across global teams, he helped launch new products, strengthen market share, and align sales and marketing efforts within a complex, matrixed organization. This experience strengthened his ability to build revenue strategies that are disciplined, collaborative, and scalable.

Stephen holds an MBA from North Park University in Chicago and undergraduate degrees in Journalism and Psychology from the University of Oklahoma. Outside of work, he is an avid runner, enjoys the outdoors, and spends most of his free time with his wife and three young kids.

Romero Davis is a senior director of practice excellence at Social Current. A mentor for professional development and community justice champion, Davis has worked nationally with agencies in areas such as poly-victimization; trauma in families; equity, diversity, and inclusion; juvenile justice; and domestic violence.

A data-driven business development and marketing executive, Michael brings over two decades of experience to the table. Prior to joining Social Current, he held senior leadership roles at respected, award-winning global communications agencies, where he had the privilege of working with some of the world’s largest and most iconic companies and brands. He also has significant experience working as a senior administrator in academia and for global broadcast corporations. Michael holds his BA in European History and French, MS in Information Science, and MPhil in Information Studies. A true global citizen, he speaks seven languages and is an avid traveler. 

Karen Johnson brings knowledge of the advancing science around resilience, brain development, adversity, toxic stress, equity, and trauma-informed approaches to the complex challenges we face. This expertise, coupled with her 27 years of experience in child welfare, behavioral health, and community services, enables her to successfully partner with leaders, staff, community members, and participants across numerous settings to promote individual and organizational resilience. 

Johnson leads the development of the Social Current Change in Mind Institute, leveraging the latest advances in neurosciences and trauma-informed approaches across sectors and at the practice, policy, and systems levels. She oversees the Texas Change in Mind Learning Collaborative, through which 10 organizations from multiple sectors across Southeast Texas are working to embed brain science principles with the goal of improving outcomes for children and families, as well as their organizational cultures and ability to collaborate with partners. 

During her five-and-a-half years on the National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s trauma-informed services team, and year-and-a-half as an independent consultant, Johnson trained and consulted with organizations, systems, and communities striving to advance trauma-informed, resilience-oriented approaches. She also led and developed community-based programs during her 19 years at SaintA in Milwaukee. Johnson combines the newest advances around adversity, relational health, and resilience to infuse hope and connection into our work. 

Johnson is a licensed clinical social worker certified in Dr. Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead and Daring Way and trained in Dr. Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics. 

Blair Kiser, Ph.D., joined Social Current in 2022 after working in health policy on Capitol Hill, the nonprofit sector, and as a biomedical researcher. Most recently, Blair served as director of government relations & advocacy for NephCure Kidney International.

During her time in public service, she served as a professional staff member of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. She led a corporate investigation regarding insider trading and financial improprieties, conflicts of interest associated with Operation Warp Speed’s leadership, and scientific information politicization. Prior to joining the Select Subcommittee, she worked for Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), where she served as a health policy fellow. In Senator Brown’s office, she led a range of legislative and oversight efforts involving public health and health care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked with several community hospice advocacy organizations and a Republican office to help craft the bipartisan COVID-19 Hospice Respite Care Relief Act of 2020.

Prior to public service, Blair spent several years as a medical research scientist on several industry and NIH-funded projects. Her work focused on developing research projects and clinical trials to improve the lives of African Americans with Sickle Cell Disease. She earned a doctorate in Biomedical Science from Morehouse School of Medicine in 2017 and a bachelor’s in biology from the University of Kentucky in 2011.

Stephanie Pacinella is the senior director of strategy & growth at Social Current, where she leads large-scale, collaborative initiatives. She is the co-founder and project lead of Social Current’s Five & Rising initiative, guiding its strategy and implementation to support nonprofit sustainability, workforce investment, community-centered innovation, and systems-level change across the social sector. Her career began as a social service provider, sparking a passion for broader systems change and capacity building for community-based organizations. She previously led Social Current’s Standards Development work, playing a key role in the research, design, and implementation of best-practice standards for nonprofit, for-profit, and governmental agencies. Stephanie holds a master’s in community psychology from Marist College and is committed to partnering with organizations to support community-led solutions.

Robena Spangler is an innovative senior executive with over 30 years of experience in behavioral health, human services, and advancing equity and inclusion work. The majority of her career has been dedicated to systems improvement within the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Spangler held several leadership roles in the public and private sectors. She has provided professional coaching and leadership development for teams and individuals on a national level.

Her current role, as an EDI and leadership strategist, is to design and manage all aspects of Social Current’s leadership and organizational development portfolio. Spangler holds a bachelor’s in sociology and human services along with a master’s in leadership and professional advancement.