About Us
Holly Zweizig, MPA, OCPC, ICPS
Associate Director, Mental Health and Recovery Board of Union County
President, Ohio Prevention Professionals Association
Holly Zweizig has more than 25 years of experience in the behavioral health field, spending the majority of her career in the prevention field. Holly served previously as the coordinator of the Union County Drug Free Coalition, a federally funded project from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Her earlier career roles included assistant director of Drug-Free Action Alliance (now Prevention Action Alliance) and early childhood behavioral health director for the Council for Union County Families.
OPPA Teams
Who We Are
Ohio Prevention Professionals Association (OPPA) is the membership association for prevention professionals and advocates actively engaged in efforts to champion prevention in Ohio. Formed in 1984 and incorporated in 1988 as the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Association of Ohio (ADAPAO), OPPA provides training, resources, and networking to our members while advocating on behalf of Ohio's prevention community and the people and communities our members serve.
Advocacy Team
The Advocacy Team leads OPPA advocacy initiatives, both internal and external to the prevention and behavioral health system, and provides opportunities for OPPA members to increase their advocacy skills.
Current initiatives:
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OPPA Community Spotlight on Advocacy: Hosts a quarterly webinar for members, featuring a local-level advocacy effort.
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Marijuana Task Force: Co-facilitates a collaborative project to provide Ohio's prevention community with tools to educate consumers and communities about marijuana health and safety risks.
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Representation: Provides a prevention voice on several state-level committees, workgroups, and task forces.
Co-Chairs
Belon Hill, OCPS, ICPS
Rebecca Jones, OCPC, ICPS
Contact the Advocacy Team at advocacy@ohiopreventionprofessionals.org
Christi Valentini-Lackner, OCPC, ICPS
Chief Program Officer, PreventionFIRST!
Vice President and Education & Training Team Co-Chair, Ohio Prevention Professionals Association
Christi Valentini-Lackner has two decades of experience in the prevention field, including a prior role as project director with Envision Partnerships in Butler County. In her role at PreventionFIRST!, she works with coalitions, systems and fellow prevention professionals and community leaders to implement best practice prevention strategies. Christi is also a coach with the Ohio Coaching and Mentoring (OCAM) Network, helping to build prevention capacity in Ohio. In 2016, Christi received the ADAPAO Advocate Award.
Vision
Ohioans united to champion the advancement of effective prevention
Communications & Marketing Team
The Communications & Marketing Team coordinates member communications, OPPA promotion, and social media activity.
Current initiatives:
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Ohio Prevention Professionals Facebook Group - Moderates OPPA's Facebook group for real-time dialogue and networking among prevention professionals and advocates.
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Monday Mornings with OPPA - Develops content for OPPA's membership e-newsletter.
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OPPA Website - Identifies, secures, and creates content for the OPPA website.
Co-Chairs
Sarah Malich, OCPS, ICPS
Lisa Tuma, OCPS, ICPS, CHES
Contact the Communications & Marketing Team at communications@ohiopreventionprofessionals.org
Rachel Miller, MEd, LSW, OCPC, ICPS
Prevention Specialist, Greene County Educational Service Center
Secretary and Education & Training Team Co-Chair, Ohio Prevention Professionals Association
Rachel Miller began her prevention career in 2015 as the sole prevention professional at TCN Behavioral Health. Within a few years, she became the prevention team leader for the agency’s growing prevention reach within five counties. She changed roles in early 2022, becoming a prevention specialist at Greene County Educational Service Center, where she delivers prevention education and engages in coalition work. While Rachel has experience with an array of prevention services, suicide prevention has been a significant focus of her prevention career. Rachel was also an early member of the OPPA Young Prevention Professionals Project.
Mission
The Ohio Prevention Professionals Association employs the power of dialogue, education, networking & advocacy to amplify a united voice for effective prevention in Ohio.
Education & Training Team
The Education & Training Team manages OPPA member-only and broader education and training events.
Current initiatives:
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OPPA Conference - Plans and implements annual conference, held in May.
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OCPC Development Fellowship - Coordinates advanced professional development opportunity for prevention professionals working toward their Ohio Certified Prevention Consultant credential.
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Training & Events calendar - Maintains comprehensive list, located on the OPPA website's Members tab, of conferences, workshops, trainings, webinars, and other events sponsored by state, regional, and national partners.
Co-Chairs
Christi Valentini-Lackner, OCPC, ICPS
Rachel Miller, MEd, LSW, OCPC, ICPS
Claire Spada, OCPC, ICPS
Contact the Education & Training Team at training@ohiopreventionprofessionals.org
Kristina Latta-Landefeld, MS, OCPS, ICPS
Chief Operating Officer, Envision Partnerships
Treasurer and Resource Development Team Co-Chair, Ohio Prevention Professionals Association
After many years as a rowing coach and club director, Kristina had the opportunity in 2017 to step into her first official prevention role with Envision Partnerships, serving as the Coalition Coordinator for Healthy Hamilton Coalition. In 2018, she was promoted to Director of Community-Based Programs where she oversaw the Healthy Hamilton Coalition, Butler County Tobacco Policy Coalition, and Butler County Suicide Prevention Coalition, among other collaboratives and structures for planning and implementing environmental prevention strategies. Kristina's background in health and wellness has contributed to her desire to build healthier, happier communities.
Belon Hill, OCPS, ICPS
Prevention Specialist, Envision Partnerships
Advocacy Team Co-Chair, Ohio Prevention Professionals Association
Belon Hill coordinates youth-led prevention services in Butler County, working with teens, adult allies, schools, and community organizations. In a separate role, she also supports youth-led prevention work in Madison County. Prior to her role with Envision Partnerships, Belon worked at Youth to Youth, developing and coordinating youth-led prevention programming in Montgomery County. Her career history also includes several years working for the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio as a senior recruitment manager, recruiting volunteers and girls to form new troops in Montgomery County and providing school-based direct service programming. Belon has also served on the Montgomery County Prevention Coalition.
Guiding Principles
Membership: We exist because of and for our members
- Utilize members as a resource
- Ensure members drive decision-making and activities
- Provide opportunities for idea exchange and critical debate
- Disseminate information
- Connect members to resources
- Advocate on issues critical to members
Integrity: We stay true to our principles in all our endeavors
- Ensure our actions are aligned with our principles
- Take risks on behalf of effective prevention
- Commit to ongoing evaluation of our values and beliefs
- Model ethical decision making
Visionary Leadership: We are at the forefront of critical prevention related issues
- Anticipate and address future needs now
- Confront critical issues
- Maintain a continuous improvement process
- Stay abreast of current influences
- Articulate a vision for the advancement of prevention
- Be solution oriented
- Cultivate leaders in prevention
Growth: We promote the growth of prevention as a concept, a field, and a lifestyle
- Cultivate and expand the spirit of prevention
- Advocate for prevention and effective practices
- Unify voices for prevention § Proactively share our vision with others
- Continuously refine our understanding of what works in prevention
- Encourage innovation
Collaboration: We cultivate a standard of working together to achieve a more dynamic outcome
- Explore innovative collaborative opportunities to achieve goals
- Nurture critical debate and dialogue
- Model collaboration through membership engagement
- Foster opportunities for collaboration within and outside our membership
- Seek out and maintain meaningful external relationships to our association
- Convene members and key stakeholders to address timely issues
Membership & Networking Team
The Membership & Networking Team coordinates member recruitment and renewal, provides member networking opportunities, and identifies member engagement opportunities.
Current initiatives:
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OPPA Networking Lunch & Learns - Hosts series of one-hour topic-specific learning and networking opportunities for OPPA members.
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OPPA Young Prevention Professionals Project (YP3) - Provides support for member-led initiative of young prevention professionals in the OPPA membership.
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Membership campaign - Recruits new prevention professionals and other prevention advocates to OPPA to increase their professional development and connection to Ohio's prevention community.
Co-Chairs
Jodi Salvo MSW, LSW, OCPC, ICPS
Matt Petersen, OCPS, ICPS
Contact the Membership & Networking Team at networking@ohiopreventionprofessionals.org
Rebecca Jones, OCPC, ICPS
Associate Director of Community Care, Talbert House
Advocacy Team Co-Chair, Ohio Prevention Professionals Association
Rebecca Jones began her prevention career in a rural Ohio junior high school when she became involved with Teen Institute. After college, she worked with the local Family and Children First Council to implement programming in Logan and Champaign counties. Becca also provided prevention services in Miami County before moving to Hamilton County where she's served rural, suburban, and inner cities through cross-cultural prevention work. She was first credentialed in prevention in 2003 and became an Ohio Certified Prevention Consultant in 2017. After many years of implementing school-based prevention services, Becca transitioned to her current role overseeing prevention programs serving young children, youth, and adults in a wide array of settings.
Resource Development Team
The Resource Development Team secures material, personnel, and financial resources to support OPPA initiatives and sustainability.
Current initiatives:
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OPPA Youth Prevention Showcase - Plans and coordinates OPPA signature fundraising event.
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Resource development initiatives - Leads efforts to raise funds, further organizational development, and identify sponsorship and individual support for OPPA and prevention.
Chair
Kristina Latta-Landefeld, MS, OCPS, ICPS
Contact the Resource Development Team at development@ohiopreventionprofessionals.org
Sarah Malich, OCPS, ICPS
Associate Director, Prevention Awareness Support Services (Delaware & Morrow Counties)
Communications & Marketing Team Co-Chair, Ohio Prevention Professionals Association
Sarah has spent more than half her life working in or volunteering with prevention. A former youth-led prevention leader as a teen, Sarah coordinates and supervises prevention services in Delaware and Morrow Counties for Prevention Awareness Support Services (PASS). Her prevention history also includes state-level work with Drug-Free Action Alliance (now Prevention Action Alliance) and the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation. Sarah is one of the leads on the OPPA Young Prevention Professionals Partnership (YP3).
Matthew Petersen, OCPS, ICPS
Prevention Specialist, Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers
Membership & Networking Team Co-Chair, Ohio Prevention Professionals Association
Matthew Petersen grew up as a leader in youth-led prevention and has been working professionally in the prevention field in 2015. In his role with Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers in Northeast Ohio, he implements universal prevention strategies for youth and adults, ranging from youth-led prevention to delivery of prevention services in classrooms and workplaces. Matt has also been involved in multiple local and statewide coalitions, including leading the prevention committee of Geauga County’s Opiate Prevention HUB. Matt is also very involved with his local 4-H community where he has been a 4-H volunteer for almost 20 years. He was also an inaugural member of the OPPA Young Prevention Professionals Project.
Claire Spada, OCPC, ICPS
Program Manager, Problem Gambling Network of Ohio (PGNO)
Education & Training Co-Chair, Ohio Prevention Professionals Association
Claire Spada has over 15 years of experience working in the prevention field. She has a passion for educating others on issues that can greatly impact their lives including substance use and gambling prevention, coping with emotions in positive ways, building capacity within communities for prevention work, and empowering young people in leadership roles. In her role at PGNO, Claire manages the Ohio Gambling Endorsement Support Services program, the Stages Training program, and coordinates the Ohio Problem Gambling Conference. Claire is a member of Ohio's Problem Gambling Advisory Board and serves as a co-chair of the Prevention and Promotion Committee. She is also a co-chair of the Cuyahoga Problem Gambling Coalition.
Lisa Tuma, OCPC, ICPS, CHES
Prevention Coordinator for School-Based Services, Prevention Action Alliance
Communications & Marketing Team Co-Chair, Ohio Prevention Professionals Association
Lisa has worked in prevention at the local and state levels. After four years as a prevention specialist with Crossroads Health in Lake County, providing community-based prevention services, she served as prevention coordinator for school-based services with Prevention Action Alliance. At Prevention Action Alliance, Lisa managed and supported deliverables associated with the MEB Curriculum Training and Implementation grant as well as the Prevention and Wellness Academy of Ohio. Prior to joining the prevention field, Lisa worked in both pediatrics and in school-based health services.