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2025 OPPA Prevention Awards

The OPPA Prevention Awards honor Ohio's prevention professionals and advocates for their contributions to prevention on the local and/or state level. Only OPPA members can nominate award candidates.

The 2025 OPPA Prevention Award recipients are recognized below.

Nomination materials for the 2026 OPPA Prevention Awards will be made available to OPPA members in early 2026.

Cindy Clouner - OPPA Prevention Visionary Award

The OPPA Prevention Visionary Award recognizes an individual for exemplary efforts to advance prevention across Ohio.

Cindy is the Managing Director of the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery (HECAOD), an academic center at The Ohio State University created to provide tools, training, and technical assistance to professionals across the United States working to address collegiate substance misuse.

An Ohio Certified Prevention Specialist, Cindy began her career in school- and community-based prevention in Marion and Crawford Counties before transitioning to HECAOD in 2015. Over the decade since, Cindy has been an increasingly important voice for prevention in our state.

Cindy coordinates statewide and national trainings, workgroups, and committees and develops tools and services to support colleges, universities, and campus communities. She does so with a focus and attention to her work that her peers, both in the collegiate sphere and in Ohio’s larger prevention ecosystem, value significantly.

A few comments from higher education and state-level leaders about Cindy:

“Cindy has a knack for making sure the right folks are at the table and involved in the discussion. She also possesses a humility in opening the door to others who might not have been asked or thought of initially.”
“Cindy is data driven. Her advocacy for new prevention strategies for the higher ed population is thoughtful, innovative, and reflects trends and needs documented by current data.”
“Cindy sees connection. Whether recognizing two professionals who should know about each other’s work or understanding how a program or service can work within a particular community, Cindy just sees the possibilities.”
“Cindy cares deeply about the work and the impact she can have but has no love for recognition. She is all about results, and when Cindy is around, stuff is getting done.”
The concept of paying it forward is also fundamental to the way Cindy structures her work. A former youth-led prevention teen, she consistently supports the development of new behavioral health professionals through supervision of other HECAOD staff and mentoring Ohio State students engaged in their field placement under her leadership.

Cindy is a prevention leader in Ohio, influencing systems, universities, services, professionals and consumers throughout our state through her thoughtful, intentional efforts.

Tonya Birney - OPPA Community Champion Award

The OPPA Community Champion Award recognizes an individual who goes beyond expectations to champion prevention in their community.

Tonya is the Director of Prevention Services for the Mental Health, Addiction, and Recovery Services Board of Lorain County. An Ohio Certified Prevention Consultant and Internationally Certified Prevention Specialist, Tonya has been a champion for prevention in Northeast Ohio for many years.

Prior to joining the Lorain County MHARS team in late 2020, Tonya was a steady presence in the prevention and broader behavioral health world in Cuyahoga County. She worked at the Cuyahoga County ADAMHS Board for almost two decades, coordinating the Board’s extensive Training Institute, which has, for years, provided an array of trainings to the county’s behavioral health workforce.

While prevention can often take a back seat to clinical services, Tonya ensured prevention was well represented in the trainings offered by the Cuyahoga County ADAMHS Board. She was key in the development of a prevention training academy to support professionals in the pursuit of a prevention credential, and she didn't just coordinating training; she was a trainer, too. Countless prevention professionals in Cuyahoga and other northeast Ohio counties learned about prevention from Tonya.

Tonya took that energy with her when, almost five years ago, she went to Lorain County. She hit the ground running, bringing her years of prevention expertise to the county. In Lorain County, Tonya champions and supports the implementation of prevention services in traditional school and youth-based settings, while also advocating for prevention across the lifespan.

She also serves as Project Director for the Lorain County Community Collective Impact Model for Change 2.0 initiative, a four-year prevention plan targeting Social Determinants of Health in minority and underserved Communities in Lorain County.

A couple comments from Tonya's peers:

“Tonya has provided great leadership, innovation, and expertise in Lorain County’s prevention service delivery.”
“This is who Tonya is. She couples a passion for this work with a commitment to community that I have rarely seen in my years in the field. Lorain County is lucky to have her.”

Tonya has waved the prevention flag and has done the work to back up her enthusiasm and commitment, heartily championing prevention in Northeast Ohio for more than two decades.

Angela Patchen - OPPA Community Champion Award

The OPPA Community Champion Award recognizes an individual who goes beyond expectations to champion prevention in their community.

Angie, an Ohio Certified Prevention Consultant and Internationally Certified Prevention Specialist, is the Prevention Education Program Manager at Wood County Educational Service Center. Her contributions to Wood County through her more than 10 years with the ESC are a veritable smorgasbord of prevention and related services. Angela also supervises prevention staff at the ESC.

Angie trains Wood County schools in Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines and Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports. She has also played a key role with the implementation of the PAX Good Behavior Game, Mental Health First Aid, and myriad other interventions.

She is actively involved with the Wood County Prevention Coalition, the Wood County Suicide Prevention Coalition, and the Wood County Addiction Task Force. A forward-thinker, Angie also created a Community Engagement Coordinator, a Community-Based Diversion Program dealing with school-aged absenteeism.

Angie recognized years ago that statewide engagement would help build stronger services in Wood County. She actively engages in learning and dialogue opportunities with Problem Gambling Network of Ohio, Prevention Action Alliance, and the Ohio Prevention Professionals Association. She also serves on the Advisory Committee for the Statewide Prevention Coalition Association.

A couple comments from Angie's peers:

"Angie’s efforts serve as an inspiration to others, demonstrating the profound impact one individual can have on community well-being."
"Angie's unwavering commitment to fostering a safer and healthier environment through proactive strategies exemplifies the core values celebrated by OPPA."

Angie has made prevention a priority in Wood County in innumerable ways, championing prevention both within the schools and community and with her colleagues and local systems.

Zachary Thomas - OPPA Prevention Advocate Award

The OPPA Prevention Advcocate Award recognizes an individual for advancing the mission of OPPA: employing the power of dialogue, education, networking, and advocacy to amplify a united voice for effective prevention in Ohio.

Zach, an Ohio Certified Prevention Specialist, is the Director of Wellness & Education with Hancock County Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services.

On the local level, Zach listens and engages and pays attention to the people of Hancock County to figure out how prevention works best in a continually evolving world. His work with the Hancock County Community Partnership is rooted in the fundamentals of linking community-based passion with prevention science.

As a local leader in Hancock County states, “Zach understands the importance of using your voice to ensure laws, policies, and practices are consistent with the needs of those we are here to serve and the communities they live in.”

Zach brings that same energy to prevention on the state level. He has become an understated thought leader for prevention, raising questions and considerations with state prevention leaders on everything from how we talk about marijuana in an age of legalization to real-life application of the prevention services rule to the legitimacy of new interventions without demonstrated efficacy.

Zach’s advocacy is entrenched in OPPA’s priorities of dialogue, education, and networking. He knows and models a foundational element of our profession: We create change when we engage in meaningful and intentional ways, even when that engagement may be uncomfortable or challenging.

Zach's advocacy is rooted in relationship. As another local leader states, “Zach’s warmth, authenticity, and deep engagement create a space where leaders feel empowered to stretch their involvement and expand their influence.”

Through his advocacy on the local and state levels, Zach nudges, convinces, and, when needed, pushes his local community and our statewide prevention system to ask and answer the tough questions that lead to healthier communities.

Jayla Lee - OPPA Member of the Year Award

The OPPA Member of the Year Award recognizes an individual for exemplary contributions to the Ohio Prevention Professionals Association and its membership through service to or on behalf of OPPA.

Jayla is a Program Coordinator with PreventionFIRST!, where she builds skills for prevention within schools and faith communities and supports coaches in the Ohio Coaching and Mentoring (OCAM) Network.

An Ohio Certified Prevention Specialist Assistant, Jayla is an active member of the Ohio Prevention Professionals Association. She is a member of the OPPA Young Prevention Professionals Partnership (YP3), OPPA's team of younger members who convene monthly to network, build skills, and provide support to Ohio’s prevention professionals community.

Jayla has been involved with almost every YP3 project implemented over the last two years. Her crowning YP3 achievement is coordination of the team's monthly resources project. The YP3 resources -- infographics, one-pagers, and other narrative and visual tools -- are capsulized versions of content relevant to prevention professionals, developed by YP3 and made available to our prevention networks. The content is published in Monday Mornings with OPPA, through the Ohio Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Prevention and Promotion's blog, and various other platforms. (See next article for the latest YP3-developed resource.)

Jayla works with other YP3 members on content for these resources, and, most importantly, she takes lead on distributing the content to key prevention communication portals in the state. Jayla has been pivotal to the organization, consistency, and sustainability of the resources project.

While the OPPA Member of the Year Award is focused on Jayla’s service to OPPA and our membership, she also extended her service to the field beyond PreventionFIRST! and OPPA. A few months ago, Jayla joined the Prevention Committee of the Ohio Chemical Dependency Professionals Board, which provides critical input and diligent, detailed work related to prevention credentialing to the OCDP Board.

Jayla’s nominator states: “Jayla deserves this recognition for her outstanding service, advocacy, and dedication to OPPA and prevention in Ohio. Her contributions have made a difference in the lives of many of our members, and by extension, our communities.”

The commitment of our membership to the work of OPPA is essential to everything we do. Jayla elevates that commitment through her diligent and forward-thinking service to OPPA and to you, our members.