Brissa Rubio - Interim Executive Director

Brissa Rubio is our interium Executive Director following her role as Learning and Development Manager for Arizona Peer and Family Career Academy. In this role she ensures that we are enhancing the professional growth of the peer and family support workforce, developing and offering training opportunities. It is no surprise that her passions in life include wellness, learning and living wholeheartedly.

Brissa is a certified Health Coach and received her certification from Dr Sears Wellness Institute. She followed her passion for wellness to become a Wellness Coordinator to support workplace wellness with a certification from the Chapman Institute. Brissa has received various wellness awards for both her contributions as a wellness coordinator and for the success of the workplace wellness plans, she created.

Brissa has over 20 years of experience in developing and facilitating training. Brissa is a certified trainer in Mental Health First Aid for both the Adult and Youth curriculum for the National Council of Mental Wellbeing. Brissa has over 15 years of experience as a national trainer for the Crisis Prevention Institute and received the Meritorious Trainer award for her contributions as a Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Trainer. Brissa is also a Red Cross instructor for a variety of courses that include CPR and Safety-First Aid for both Pediatrics and adults. Brissa is a certified trainer for other nationally recognized curriculums.

Brissa earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Arizona. She lives in Tucson, Arizona with her husband and beloved pets.

Destany Velazco - Program Coordinator

Destany Hollaway is the Program Coordinator for Arizona Peer and Family Career Academy. She joined our team as a contractor in April of 2022 and now serves in a part time role. Prior to coming to PFCA, Destany served as many roles within our medical system including medical assistant, consulting, and others. As program coordinator, she ensures that PFCA’s operations, logistics, marketing and student experience is exceptional. Destany is often the magician behind the scenes ensuring our team is successful in our programs, trainings and operations.

Destany is a family member to several individuals with mental health and substance use experiences which has given her a special heart and compassion to make a difference for others. She is a dedicated mom to 3 boys and 1 girl.

Teri Hollaway - Learning and Development Manager

Teri has over three decades of life experience as a mother, and a person who has been on a long recovery journey including substance use and a life of anxiety and a survivor of trauma. Teri was called to support other parents who have navigated similar life journeys. She entered the behavioral health field in her mid-thirties after navigating her journey to recovery and as a single mom of 5 amazing young people who had experienced trauma, school challenges, and behavioral health needs. As a mom, she focused on supporting each child in learning and growing through their love of learning and staying active in sports, scouts, and other experiences that they enjoyed. Teri became a Mom again when she was 45 and is now renewing her journey in motherhood with two little ones who are now six and four. They are busy, beautiful, and keep the days interesting. While they also have some unique needs Teri and her partner of 12 years, provide support and love throughout the process. Given this experience, Teri supports other parents and people with lived life experience, knowledge, compassion, and assistance in navigating systems.

Teri has a passion for supporting parents in having a voice in their child behavioral health services as well as in other child-serving systems such as the Department of Child Safety and Juvenile Justice and has supported many work groups, committees, and conferences at the local, state, and national levels.

Teri uses her voice as a parent of children and adults who have navigated mental health as wella s her recovery in both mental health and substance use to provide support and empower people to utilize their voice in the community and their own families. Before learning about family support Teri often felt alone. Her focus since that moment has been on supporting families to find the tools, they need to navigate their journey and most importantly to have support in the process.

Kassandra Figeroa - Workforce Development Champion

Kassandra Figueroa is our Workforce Development Champion for Arizona Peer and Family Career Academy. In this role, Kassandra empowers individuals through training and development strengthening the workforce while making meaningful community connections.

As a National Certified Peer Specialist (NCPS), Kassandra embarked on her journey in the behavioral health field in 2019. She began as a Peer Support Specialist, where she helped individuals navigate their own paths to recovery. Her career advanced as she took on the role of Peer Navigator (Case Manager) with HOPE Inc., where she actively contributed to the Santa Cruz County Overcoming Addictions (S.O.S.A) consortium. Kassandra's advocacy extended to justice-involved individuals and efforts to bridge gaps in treatment services.

In 2022, Kassandra was honored to represent rural southeastern Arizona as a speaker at the Taking Action Summit, hosted by the University of Rochester Medical Center, where she highlighted the significance of Peer Support services. Her commitment to advancing recovery services continued with her work on the Connections/Conexiones app, a digital recovery tool developed by CHESS Health, through which she provided recovery support nationwide and supervised a team of Peer Support Specialists.

Kassandra is dedicated to her own personal growth with over 6 ½ years of personal recovery. She recently achieved a significant milestone by completing a Bachelor of Science in Counseling with an Emphasis in Addiction, Chemical Dependency, and Substance Abuse from Grand Canyon University. She is a devoted mother and fiancé with a deep curiosity for holistic health. A fun fact about Kassandra is that she collects gnomes and loves authentic Mexican food.

Accepting Applications for Board Members

We currently have a few board positions which will be available next year. If you are interested in finding our more about our board position commitment, please see our application here or through the button below.

Board of Directors

Deb Jorgensen, Board Chair
Manager, Office of Individual & Family Affairs, Care1st Health Plan of Arizona

Brian Shrum, Board Vice Chair
Rehabilitation and Reentry Program Manager, Arizona Department of Corrections

Karin Kline, Board Treasurer
Director of Child Welfare & Juvenile Justice Initiatives, Family Involvement Center

Jody Gardner, Board Secretary
Associate Director - Employment Services, Banner University Health Plans

Tammy Mathews
Children’s Liasion, Department of Developmental Disabilities

Chelsea Grieve
Learning and Development Specialist, Southwest Behavioral Health Services

Kathy Bashor, Emeritus Board Member
President, Arizona Peer & Family Coalition

Susan Kennard, Emeritus Board Member
Bureau Chief, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS)