Safety Planning for Educators

Texas Educators

Psych Hub is approved as a continuing professional education (CPE) provider for the State of Texas.

Nevada Educators

Psych Hub is an approved online provider for Nevada educators.

Montana Educators

Psych Hub is approved as an OPI Renewal Unit Provider.

Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber, PhD

Dr. Kelly Posner is a Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University and her work is saving lives all over the globe across 6 continents. The President of the American Psychiatric Association noted her work with the Columbia Protocol could be “like the introduction of antibiotics.” The U.S. Department of Defense said that her work is “nothing short of a miracle” and stated "her effective model of improving the world will help propel us closer to a world without suicide.” The CDC noted that her work is “changing the paradigm in suicide risk assessment in the US and worldwide.” 

Dr. Posner’s work has been noted in a keynote speech at the White House and in Congressional hearings, and she gave the lead presentation in a forum on school safety at the U.S. Senate in her partnership with the Parkland community. Through her advocacy she has changed local, national and international policy, which in turn has helped achieve reductions in suicide across all sectors of society. Israeli government officials said her work “is not only saving millions of lives but in Israel it is literally changing the way we live our lives.” 

She gave the invited presentation on tackling depression and suicide at the first European Union high level conference on mental health, was recognized as the Most Distinguished Alumna of her graduate school at Yeshiva University in the past 50 years, and received the New York State Suicide Prevention Award. She was also named one of New York Magazine’s “Most Influential.”

The Columbia Protocol is policy across all 50 states, many national agencies, and most countries. Dr. Posner was commissioned by the FDA to develop a scientific approach that has become the gold standard for suicide monitoring and is ubiquitous across the U.S. and worldwide. The FDA has characterized her work as “setting a standard in the field” and a lead article in The New York Times called it “one of the most profound changes of the past sixteen years to regulations governing drug development.” Her scholarly work has been included in the compendium of the most important research in the history of the study of suicide. 

In 2018, Dr. Posner was awarded The Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service.

Keita M. Franklin, PhD, LCSW

Dr. Keita M. Franklin was Psych Hub’s, Chief Clinical Officer from 2019 to 2020.  In this capacity, she served as a key member of the executive team overseeing the development and production of all clinical content for Psych Hub’s ever-expanding repository of educational videos and informational materials. A nationally-recognized expert, Dr. Franklin, ensures all clinical content is on the cutting edge of the intersection between health care and information technology. Key to Psych Hub’s goal of revolutionizing how mental health care education and training are delivered, Dr. Franklin leads the esteemed Psych Hub, clinical team, ensuring all Psych Hub products are evidence-based and trauma-informed.

With over 25 years of progressively responsible experience, Dr. Franklin is spearheading efforts to improve mental health literacy across the Nation by championing the development of specialized evidence-based training for providers thereby improving mental health care outcomes for at-risk population groups.  A public health expert and transformational leader, Dr. Franklin has spent her career driving complex organizational change in the federal sector, always improving the systems that provide care for our Nation’s military, family members, and veteran populations. 

Before joining Psych Hub, Dr. Franklin served as a senior executive at both the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Department of Defense.  In these roles, Dr. Franklin served as the principal advisor to Department leadership for all matters on suicide prevention, and she is widely credited with leading a transformative, enterprise-wide shift from a crisis intervention posture to an upstream, broad public policy approach focused on continuous surveillance and early prevention.  Dr. Franklin was also responsible for leading a multi-disciplined team of experts in advancing evidence-based prevention practices for over 20 million Veterans and reaching our Nation’s heroes wherever they live, work, thrive, and receive care. A poised and articulate communicator of strategic messaging, Dr. Franklin has been frequently asked to testify before committees in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and led numerous caucus roundtable discussions with members of Congress.

While serving as a senior executive within the Department of Defense, Dr. Franklin was responsible for suicide prevention policy, programs, and oversight. During her tenure, she conducted a first-of-its-kind comprehensive, program review and authored new DoD policy directives and instructions, optimizing higher headquarter guidance for all military service branches. She also chaired several DoD senior leader committees charged with developing solutions for vexing mental health issues impacting our service members and their families. 

Adept at building partnerships and coalitions, Dr. Franklin was singularly responsible for bolstering relationships with both the private and public sector in the advancement of key suicide prevention initiatives.  An experienced manager of large programs, she proved critical during congressional-level advocacy for budget and programming activities while simultaneously directing a multi-million dollar research and evaluation program.  Her efforts resulted in high-quality service delivery for active duty, reserve, and National Guard members and their families.

Dr. Franklin is a licensed social worker with a specialization in children and families. She earned a Ph.D. in social work with specialized training and certifications from the Center for Advancement of Research Methods and Analysis (CARMA). Dr. Franklin began her career in child welfare and has dedicated much of her work to researching the impact of wartime trauma and post-traumatic stress on families. She serves on several national panels, including the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Dr. Franklin has received numerous federal and civilian awards for her efforts leading military, family, mental health, and suicide prevention programs.  Dr. Franklin has published work in the areas of military social work, child abuse, domestic violence, suicide prevention, and substance abuse. She and has served as an adjunct professor in the graduate programs at Virginia Commonwealth University and George Mason University.  Dr. Franklin holds certificates from Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education on “Leading Large Organizational Change” and Women in Leadership” as well as the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School course on “Executive Leadership.”

Danielle Kinsey

Danielle teaches first grade at Piper Prairie Elementary in Kansas City, Kansas. She began teaching in August 2012 after receiving her Elementary Education degree from Kansas State University. Danielle has taught first grade in Junction City and Topeka, Kansas, and learned a lot along the way. She grew up in the outskirts of Manhattan, Kansas and attended the Riley County school district Kindergarten through High School. In 2020, Danielle received her Master’s Degree from Baker University in Elementary Education and Instructional Technology. Her professional philosophy is to “Do what’s best for our kids.” She enjoys making learning practical for the 21st century with critical thinking and technology skills.

Dianne C. Vap

Dianne Vap has been in education for close to 30 years. She was a Para Educator for 17 years in special education. Dianne went back to school and completed her BS in Education with a minor in Special Education. She has taught fourth grade for 3 years and is now in her 10th year teaching 6th grade. She has enjoyed coaching junior high girls volleyball and basketball teams and is active in many school and community related activities. Dianne and her husband farm and ranch and have three children together, two daughter in laws and five grandchildren. They love to relax by riding their Harley Davidson and spending time with family and friends.

Melissa Pratt

Melissa Pratt is the senior professional programs manager in AAE’s Washington D.C. office. In this role, Melissa assists with a wide variety of projects, including office management, specialty recruiting programs, and research. Melissa also spearheads professional development initiatives and oversees the AAE Foundation National Teacher Scholarship & Classroom Grant program. Melissa graduated from Grove City College majoring in both History and Education. She spent ten years teaching middle school in private and public settings in North Carolina, Washington D.C., and Virginia. Melissa’s passion is Social Studies education. Her teaching techniques in these subjects focused on implementing methods that stressed authentic learning and critical thinking skills, with heavy emphasis on primary documents, simulations, research, and the integration of technology. Having taught in rural, urban, public, and private settings, Melissa has observed that teachers in all situations face similar difficulties. She is passionate about helping teachers, no matter their teaching circumstance, and providing a professional option for all teachers. Melissa was raised in Liverpool, New York, a suburb of Syracuse, where she developed an appreciation for snow. She currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida where she appreciates the lack of snow.

Roseangela Mendoza

Roseangela Mendoza has been an educator since 2007 and is a middle school social studies teacher at The Ethical Community Charter School(TECCS). She is also the middle school lead teacher. Ms. Mendoza attended New Jersey City University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. Ms. Mendoza is an alum of the Advocacy Fellowship for the Association of American Educators (2019) where she learned the skills and knowledge to advocate and organize, as well as become familiar with charter school policy that provides more equitable outcomes and opportunities for educators and students. In 2020, she was also 1 of 12 fellows of the NJ Teacher Leader Policy Fellowship and spent the summer as a WW Foundation History Quest fellow. In October 2019, Ms. Mendoza was named 2019 Charter School Advocate of the Year by the New Jersey Charter School Association! During her free time, Ms. Mendoza enjoys spending time with her family.